R-pod

Well it's Friday morning and snowing. But the big news is we finally got our new r-pod camper.

We found it online, in Ohio of all places, and had it delivered here yesterday. It's really cool! Can't wait to hit the road next week and start having fun in our cool little pod.

J

Cold War--Cold Day

Last Saturday me, Ezzy, Levon and Uncle Ron (retired U.S .Airforce Colonel) spent a cold and windy day at Peterson Airforce Base in Colorado Springs. We toured their Museum of North American Civil Defense Aircraft. It was really cool. There were dozens of jets, planes, rockets and even some surface to air missiles.

The displays were very cool, focussing mostly on "cold war" related aircraft. Lot's of 1940-50's era warplanes and trainers. Totally logical since we were just outside of the headquarters for NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) which is tasked with domestic protection and early warning. Just across the valley is Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC). This is the mountain that houses all the high-tech monitoring systems looking for any nuclear threats from the Soviets. I'm thinking they have updated their mission over the past couple of decades, but it's an interesting slice of history.

One of the best things that day was a personal private tour of the Lockheed EC-121T "Warning Star". This is one of the early predecessors to the AWAC plane that is currently in use. And when I say we got a personal tour I mean the retired pilot of that actual aircraft was our guide. It was really cool to hear some of his stories and experiences piloting that plane. The boys were very engaged and got to check out all the radar and communication equipment. And there was a lot!

We had a great time and got to see something very unique. The museum is a beautifully restored art nouveau building from the 1920's. It was the first commercial passenger terminal in Colorado. Too much stuff to include. Here's the link to the museum: http://www.petemuseum.org/

J

A little bit of work

Aside from all the fun we've been having. I have to occasionally get some work done. I have a couple of clients that I'm still able to provide services for on the road, and I have my publisher. The deadline on my first book is getting very close, February 1st, and with a few late nights and a little luck, I just might meet it.

It's challenging to find good internet connections while traveling. There's WIFI and there's wifi. Seems like in some places as long as you can upload a text message in under a minute it qualifies for "high-speed" internet. Being here in Colorado with my in-laws has been great, in more ways than one, but specifically the internet is fast and reliable. My sister-in-law runs an on-line quilt shop out of her very well equipped and stocked garage http://www.homespunhearth.com/.

Currently I'm working on page number 26 for the book I still have 8 more to complete before I'm finished. But here's a couple sneek peeks at what I've been working on while everyone else is out having fun all day.

J

Do that THIS year...

We got a great post this morning that I wanted to share...another reason we love unschooling!

The words of Kelly Lovejoy:

If you knew you only had a year more with that child, what would you expose him to? Where would you go? What would you eat? What would you watch? What would you do?

If you had only ONE year—and then it was all over, what would you do? Four seasons. Twelve months. 365 days.

Do that THIS year. And the next.

That's how unschooling works. By living life as if it were an adventure. As if you only had a limited amount of time with that child. Because that's the way it IS.

SandraDodd.com/doit
photo by Sandra Dodd

Lemon

Levon at 2-years-old

Levon made an announcement today as we were strolling through Winterpark. He said, "Hey guys. Don't call me Lem anymore. Call me Levon." He picked the name Lemon when he was two, and it seems he may have decided he's grown out of it. I'm not sure we're ready to let go of his sweet nickname. It came into being when he told a little girl at a playground, "I call myself Lemon." And from that point on he insisted we call him Lemon. Our baby is growing up.

P

Wolf and Wildlife Center

The boys and I had a great day touring the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. It's a beautiful place. Here's their mission:

- Educate the public through tours and programs about the importance of Wolves, Coyote and Fox to our eco-system.

- Educate the public about the importance of Preservation and Conservation of the forests, land and water that supports wildlife, flora and fauna for futuregenerations to enjoy.

- Provide natural habitats and exceptional lives for the animals entrusted to our care since they cannot live in the wild.

We heard the stories of each of the animals they care for, some of which were saved from "canned hunts "(where the animal is placed in an area for the hunter), fur factories, and animals used as photo models who weren't "perfect" enough for calendar covers. Many of them are very socialized with humans and just seemed like sweet, cuddly animals, but we didn't get close enough to find out how cuddly.

P

More weekend fun

Here are some random pics from the weekend! I'm about done with all this cold weather...

Ice Skating

Earlier today we spent the morning in Winterpark Village. Very cute. We took a very cold gondola ride (15 degrees) over to the quaint little shopping area where we found a very welcome Starbucks. The boys have been wanting to try ice skating and there was an awesome little outdoor skating rink right in the middle of the town. We all got in on the action.

Sidenote: falling down ice skating really sucks...

Winterpark Weekend

We just got back from a very fun weekend up in the Colorado Rockies. We spent 2 days playing in Winterpark. We rented a house with about 15-16 family members and had a really great time. Saturday was all about snow-tubing, very fun! I'm uploading a couple of pics, but I think one of our cousins has some better group shots I need to get. It's pretty cool to go down the hill with about 12 innertubes all locked together. One of the guides said you hit about 65 MPH going down the hill. That sounds a bit far fetched, but it does feel like you're about to break the land speed record.

Homebirth

I just read a very cool interview featuring Ina May Gaskin in the Sun magazine. She is one of my heroes. Ida has been living and working in an intentional community called The Farm in Tennessee since the 1960’s. During that time she has been a leader in the resurgence of midwife assisted childbirth. Here’s a link to the interview: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/433/oh_baby

I feel so fortunate that the idea of home birth was presented to me. The person I should thank is my beautiful friend Jennifer Suchman. I’m pretty sure she planted the seed, and I feel it’s my mission to plant the seed for others. We DO have choices. Educated women have the right to make educated choices for themselves and their children, and everyone should know that planned midwife assisted homebirth is as safe as hospital birth. In fact, it’s safer in terms of maternal mortality rates for healthy women. We do seem to have forgotten that birth is not often a medical condition and that the female body knows how to birth instinctively and without intervention. Of course there are times when medical assistance is crucial, but it is extremely rare.

Homebirth was an amazing and profoundly beautiful experience. I can’t begin thank those who lead me to such a wonderful gift, which I could so easily not have even known or thought about. I hope others research this option for themselves.

Garden of the Gods (dogs...)

We had a beautiful (and very cold) day at the Garden of the Gods. It's an area full of beautiful red and white sandstone rock formations. There are also many hiking trails and climbers doing their thing - which the boys were enthralled by and tried to emulate - scary. Levon decided to call it the Garden of the Dogs since almost everyone we saw had a dog. It was chilly, and we were fine until the wind picked up. Then it was absolutely frigid. We weren't prepared for it.

http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm

Mini Golf

The boys and I went miniature golfing (not one of my favorite things to do). We were on our own that day and made a last-minute decision to go, and right when we showed up at the place so did three of the cousins! So weird! They had no idea we were going and we didn't know they were. It was meant to be I guess - I didn't even have to golf! The big boys took over for me, and the little ones enjoyed themselves thoroughly...but the hippo at the place was a bit vicious! We saved Levon at the last minute.

P

Bugs and Butterflies...

Wednesday was all about invertebrates. We went to a place called the butterfly pavilion, and it was amazing. We first checked out the stick-bugs, tarantulas, scorpions and cockroaches - eeewwww. Then we moved on to the most beautiful butterfly rain-forest. It was truly amazing with hundreds of butterfly species everywhere, landing on everything - and everyone. We got to see chrysalis' hatching, and new butterflies hatching out. Then at the outdoor nature walk we were the entertainment for dozens of chirping prairie dogs. Too cute.

It was an amazing day.