3/20/08 Eldorado Canyon State Park

On our way to attend an event in Denver, we took a new route heading south out of Boulder following the Flatirons Mountains, a beautiful drive .. then i passed the sign for Eldorado Canyon Springs Park.. a week or so later we jumped in the car and headed south just exploring.. and we found our way entering the park.. gorgeous sandstone rocks towering overhead, snow frozen creek, snow dusted trees, red rocks and green trees, we spent the whole day there and saw less than 20 people, we practically had the park to ourselves. We hiked, rock climbed (folks come from all over the world to climb here) threw rocks and broke through the ice, watched hawks and looked for critters, and took in the amazing natural beauty. Did I mention this is 7 miles from our house??

3/9/08 The Big Lie!!

Since arriving in Boulder, we've discovered a new game called Go! It is an ancient Chinese strategy game, looks like Othello, plays more like Chess and a group gathers every week at the library on sunday afternoon to play. They have adults there to teach and there are usually 30 or so folks and they all play each other for 3 hours or so.. Reese had been attending for 4 weeks or so when they announced that they were having a tournament that the kids could come and compete in. The day of the tournament was a day they were spending with Steve and I gave him all the details so they could attend. Two days later Reese was back with me and I asked him about the Go Tournament, he told me yes they went, he spent 20-30 minutes telling me about each of the 4 games he played, he told me that he beat out his friend Gunner (who is 10) and about his other 4 matches and he said that he placed 2nd overall. He gave me lots of details about each of the kids he played, what happened in the game and so on.

Later that day we had a playdate with Gunner and I asked him about the tournament and he said yes, he really enjoyed it and he told me how he did. I asked him about the match he had with Reese and he said Reese was not there, he had not shown up. I was so surprised!! Yes, Reese has definitely experimented with lying before, I think most kids did, I certainly did probably more than most kids do. But never before had he had such an extravagant lie, so detailed, lasting almost 30 minutes.

Later we talked and I tried to dialogue with Reese and ask him why he told such a tale, what was going on for him.. after much thought, he was blank, unsure so I offered up some ideas and asked him why when his dad asked him if he wanted to go the the tournament he said no, he did not want to go.

After some talk, he admitted that he was nervous about the tournament, he was not sure he'd actually like it, a bit intimidated I think.. it reminded me of our experience with Ameritowne, after 2 days of preparation he did not want to attend the day of the event. I don't know how it will be, what it will be like.... of course you don't .. we never know how things will be before we do them.. so that spurred a great discussion about openmindedness and closedmindedness and contempt prior to investigation. I suggested to Reese that maybe he told the lie to make up for the fact that he missed an event that he really wanted to attend but he let his fear dictate his actions. He really saw it and vowed to be more openminded and more available for life, it was a beautiful moment. I feel like this is really homeschooling, using the activities of life to fuel discussion and learning, learning from our experiences, with counsel and assistance, to see what works well in life and not so well, and be able to adjust and grow. what a gift. I am so appreciative that I have the intimacy with my boys, this open discussion, to explore ouselves, our motivations, why we are inclined in the ways we are and to question our fears and how they operate in our lives and limit us..
what could be more important??

3/3/08 Let's let the kids run the world..

Reese is participating in one big event soon called Ameritowne, (sponsored by a kids bank) to teach kids about money, economics, investing, banking etc.. The kids basically run a town for a day as well the 13 businesses there including a bank, investment company, radio & tv station, parcel service, warehouse, hospital, market, snack shop, college, travel co, auto & appliance repair, Newspaper & Towne Hall. Each child has their own checking account, pays bills, invests in a mutual fund, donates to charity, sells products or services, potentially gets tickets from the police and has to appear before a judge, perhaps gets injuries and has to go to the hospital (and pay the bill), gets a paycheck and deposits it in the bank, gets to shop, & participates in creating a logo and slogan for the business they work for.

We spent 2 full days preparing the kids for the day long event, they all interviewed for jobs, each business had a business manager, accountant, and customer service people. We wrote out checks and deposit slips, studied investments and risk, researched charities, designed postage stamps (for a contest) and learned about profit and loss, pricing and supply & demand.

Reese got a job at the Travel Service selling products (chocolate airplanes, hawaiian leis, bookmarks and compasses) and rides on the flight simulator. He was a bit nervous on the day of the event.. because he did not know what it would be like.. how do you ever know what something will be like before you do it??? that spurred a discussion on openmindedness... ok.. he will be open ..

The day of the event was awesome, Reese said it was the best day of his life.. he had a blast. He did get cited by a policewoman (I told her he could not help it, genetics and all), he did go to college and took a 5 minute computer course and got his degree (only slight parental pressure there), he did shop and spend all his money (they were supposed to), and he was awarded Best Employee of the Travel Shop by his business manager for always smiling and being so helpful and good natured.

3/1/08 We're residents now..

I think it's official.. once you've been here for 3 months, you are a resident.. whatever that means.. officially I've been on Earth for 41 yrs now and I still feel like an alien. We are into a bit of a groove I guess.. we've made some friends and that is nice. I am officially not cold anymore, it took about 6 weeks here and suddenly I was ok with only one layer on, what a blessing. I often get up early in the morning and am out the door, I love watching the sunrise as it lights up the mountain and the sky. It seems to snow once or twice a week and it is the most beautiful sight everything covered with a blanket of white, especially the trees, every branch is lined with snow, everything sparkles, shines, looks alive and vibrant, I dig it..

So I am getting a bit of clarity as to why we may be in Colorado.. to slow down for sure.. more time hanging out just the boys and I, exploring the hills and canyons, reading, talking, the boys playing together. I am so amazed at what fun they have together, they are such best friends, so relaxed together, Reese is such a great teacher for Luc, he loves helping him learn things. As usual we love being very unstructured, each day is a new adventure, we never know just what will happen, we are relaxed and delighted in flowing along and seeing what unfolds. So we've been baking, exploring our neighborhood, meeting friends at the park, playing games, practicing our spanish, going to the Denver Art Museum and Denver Aquarium, swimming, basketball, racquetball, tickle tag, on and on..

1/14/08 Settling in a bit..

It's been a good 2 weeks here so far.. We've been checking out all the indoor play places, there are many.. Every town has these amazing Recreation Centers (Boulder has 3) with pools, water slides, lazy river, basketball courts, racketball courts, rock walls, gym.. exercises classes galore, yoga.. etc..
There is also a Childrens museum 15 minutes away in Layfayette, a giant rock gym, indoor soccer, roller skating, and loads more..
Yesterday we drove up the mountain.. and looked out over the Continental Divide (the line that divides North America from top to bottom), it is a line of jagged peaks covered with snow, very beautiful.. on the way down the hill.. we saw a fox walking across the road.. very cool, don't see a lot of them.. nature feels very close here.
Reese is starting a basketball class today, we've been playing lots of basketball! Indoor exercise is the key to sanity here, i am hoping my blood will thicken.. but so far no luck.. it's cold..

12/31/07 New Years Eve in Boulder, Colorado

I guess i needed a break from writing.. haven't had much motivation.. it was a strange December.. colder than i've ever experienced.. more relaxed and mellow.. beautiful scenery all around.
We celebrated Christmas morning at Martha's house with her and her boys in Longmont, much abundance under that tree.. legos galore.. and games too..

Then we headed up the mountain to Winter Park after picking up Lex, her kids and her mom at the airport. It was snowing and storming like crazy.. I was sure glad to be in my new Landrover (well new to me) with all wheel drive and all weather tires, it carried us safely all the way up the mountain.
We skiied a bit, jacuzzied, played loads of games.. went sledding and enjoyed our friends a lot. On new years eve day, we headed back to Boulder and actually moved into our new little place in downtown Boulder right up next to the mountain. We can walk to the Boulder Public Library and the Pearl Street Mall (when it warms up), very nice neighborhood, peaceful and quiet and only a few blocks from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

For New Years Eve, we went to a dance and the kids had a blast dancing the night away, here's to a great 2008!!

12/15/07 It's Cold Here...

After 5 months of traveling, it is very nice to be in one spot.. relaxing, peaceful, incredibly beautiful.. and cold...
I skied today and it was zero degrees, 20 below zero at the top of the Mary Jane ski run.. and 40 below at the top of the new Panorama chair (where i did not go). Crazy.. no wonder my kids don't like skiing.. well they don't like all the layers of clothes and the cold and the traversing and walking and flat areas of the mountain.. it is an adjustment to be made with our thin California blood.

But i have enjoyed Winter Park very much, staring out the window, watching it snow, so beautiful. I did less in the last 3 weeks than in my whole life, I just chilled out, played games, watched movies, skiied, jacuzzied, stared out the window, worked out in the exercise room.. very relaxing, kind of like being on retreat, away from it all, quiet, contemplative, peaceful..

We've been playing lots of Legos (shocker!!) and drawing, Reese actually made our Christmas cards this year, very cool. We've been playing Munchkin Bites a lot, such a fun game.. funny and always different.