Jurasic Shark

Spent the day at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center. The boys had a great time, and they had a really fun science guy there who did dozens of experiments like the effects of low atmospheric pressure in a sealed environment on a marshmallow. Spoiler alert: It gets HUGE!

Boing, Boing, Bong!

There's a great trampoline gym nearby. Ezzy has been taking gymnastics classes there every monday.

Snow Scooters

The boys got a couple of really cool "snow scooters" from their aunt and uncle. So after a couple of hours of assembly... we went outside and made use of them. Levon's favorite thing to do was to get moving down the hill really fast and crank the handlebars hard to the left making the scooter spin out! Very Fun!

Very Merry Christmas

Well we're a couple days late in posting, but that's just because we're having so much fun!

The boys had a wonderful Christmas. Lot's of fun, food and family... not necessarily in that order. Santa brought a bunch of new legos, toys, candy and even some clothes, yuk!

Hope you all had a great day as well.

Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow

It snowed all night and we woke up to about 8" of new white powder! The boys couldn't wait to get out there. It's still snowing and we're expecting another 6-12" before it's done. I hope Santa remembers to put on his chains...

The North Pole

We spent Sunday at the North Pole - Santa's workshop. Ezzy loved this place a few years back when we visited here, and still does. At the time Paula was very pregnant with Levon. Santa's Workshop is open seasonally just North of a cool little town called Manitou Springs, CO.

We scored one of the nicest days since arriving. The weather was a tropical 51 degrees, sunny and calm. The boys had a blast. Ezzy's favorite ride was the rollercoaster. Levon did not share his brother's enthusiasm. After getting off the ride he said, "I almost died on that thing". Paula is still trying to get her kidneys to stop bleeding...

Levon really loved the Christmas Tree ornament ride.

Lemon and the Funkadelics

Introducing Lemon and the Funkadelics -- 30% Grunge, 30% Rockabilly Punk, 30% 70's Hair band and 30% Goth Speed Metal. When these guys hit the stage it's always turned up to "11".

Cousin Sean on lead guitar, Ezzy on bass and Sir Lemon on keyboards.

Western Museum of Mining and Industry

The mining museum was a hit with the boys. It's full of lots of machinery, dynamite displays and small working mining models. Also, we panned for gold and came up with a bit of gold ore. Fun, but we won't be getting rich anytime soon. The museum has a re-constructed underground mine section inside, complete with rail tracks, mine carts, and blasting equipment and there was lots of hands-on stuff. Perfect for the boys.

http://www.wmmi.org

Colorado and SNOW!!!

We arrived in Colorado, and the boys can't keep their hands off the snow! They love it, and even old snow is fun snow. It snowed about a week before we got here, but the boys are enjoying what's left on the ground, though it doesn't form into a snowball at all - much to the boy's disappointment. We've assured them that we will definitely have a snow storm at some point while we're here. Levon's favorite thing about snow is it's edibility, and we've stressed repeatedly that discolored snow is best not eaten. Hopefully he's heeding our advice.

There is a very fun (and scary for mommy) tree fort here with a zip-line that starts about 20 feet up. Ezzy had a great run on it before James and Levon gave it a try. The cable broke seconds after this photo was taken. Fortunately James' feet were almost to the ground by that point. Whew. It could have been bad!

Santa Fe Church #2

We also visited the Loretto Chapel, a very cool gothic church built in the 1870's. This church's claim to faim is its "miraculous stairway". It's considered a miracle because the nuns of the church claim that a mysterious carpenter appeared and built the stairs without asking for payment and the wood used is of unknown origin.

Hmm.. a poor unassuming carpenter with magic powers and his own personal stash of mystical wood he happened to be carrying through the southwestern desert just in case he came upon someone in need of some free home remodeling... And giving his proximity to Mexico he must have had a spanish name; Jorge, Ignatio, Juan, maybe Jesus!

They were very cool none the less. Though all the boys wanted to do was climb them, and that will get you a quick rap on the knuckles by one of the sisters.

Santa Fe - Churches

We visited two churches in Santa Fe. The first one was the San Miguel Mission, which is the oldest church in the Country. It was built in the early 1600's. The significance was lost on the boys, but they liked the huge, 600 pound bell they could ring with a hammer. So having left all the other visitors deaf, we asked for absolution, said a few Hail Mary's, doused ourselves with holy water and got the Hell out. Well, maybe not, but we did each light an alter candle for good measure!

Somewhere in Arizona

Gotta love a ride-on Hare in the desert. This was the best part of our quick stop at "Jackrabbit Trading Post". You just can't believe the hype of a dozen large billboards along the highway. They did claim to have the largest collection of petrified wood in all of Jackrabbit, Arizona--population 13, including the four of us. Oh yea, and one very large Jackrabbit!

The Polar Express

The Grand Canyon Railway transformed into the Polar Express and took us on a 30 minute trip to the North Pole - through a time tunnel, of course. The trip consisted of a story (The Polar Express), cookies and cocoa. Santa boarded the train at the North Pole (much to Levon's dismay) and gave the kids each a silver bell. Though Levon does love the idea that Santa brings him gifts, he's really not interested in meeting him in person.

The Grand Canyon

Yup, it's a big crack in the earth. We traveled out of our way to show the boys this amazing landscape, and it just didn't impress them as much as you'd think! We enjoyed the geology museum at the canyon, but it got a bit chilly outside as the wind picked up. It was our first reminder about how cold a beautiful sunny day can be...36 degrees!

Pahrump

The boys are having lots of fun at Grandma and Papa's house.There are so many toys to play with (of course, none of the one's we're playing with actually run!)