Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is a big deal in the States - they celebrate everything with gusto.  The stores were filled with chocolates and hearts, and the boys had parties and card exchange at school.  I had no idea what the card exchange was, but once in Walmart or Target, there are so many to choose from.  They are sold in packs of 16 or 32, and Luke got Sponge bob, Ryan got Angry Birds, and Quinn chose Superheroes.  They write on them for all of their class mates, and they had to take in a decorated box or bag, to bring home them home in.  Ryan's cards came with tattoos, and Luke's came with stickers, so that was their 'gift' to go with the card, but most people put candy, or a pencil or something with their cards, so it was like Christmas for the boys! This is a picture some of the Valentine's loot they came home with.  Some places have become very enterprising too, and use it as a marketing exercise. There is one from a Taekwondo centre, which says "Have a Kickin' Valentine", and offers two weeks free, with their Valentine's cards, which they obviously give out to children already attending the centre.  It was a good writing exercise though, and that was their homework one night, to prepare all their cards to take into school the next day.  It is pretty over the top though, as there were 'Daddy-Daughter' date nights at some fast food outlets, and a 'Daddy-Daughter' ball being held at the Rec Centre.  There were also dad's at school with bunches of flowers for their kids when they were picking them up!  Quinn and I went up to school and had lunch with the boys for Valentine's Day, and some of the parents had bought their kids big boxes of chocolates to lunch - it

is pretty crazy. Phil said heaps of the kids at Mesa Middle School, where he teaches had big bunches of flowers, and when you went to the shops, everyone wished you a Happy Valentine's Day. 

The boys started Taekwondo this week (with the same people who offered a few free weeks for Valentine's Day - Murphy's Law!)  It is an introductory course for six weeks, and they go Monday and Wednesday from 5-5.45pm, and get to keep their uniform at the end of it.  The school is run by Han Lee, who competed at the Olympics, and also coached the USA team for the Sydney Olympics.  Not that I think it makes a lot of difference to our boys - it was just something to try and burn up some energy while it is too cold to go outside and play!  Ryan is really enjoying it, and says he wants to keep going with it, Luke thinks it is OK, and Quinn thinks he is a little ninja.  He just keeps spinning around, and wanting to kick things (mainly his brothers).  We are hoping some of the discipline element will rub off on him, cause goodness knows he needs it!  Trouble is, he looks a bit cute in his uniform, and he gets away with murder.  He has been pulled up a couple of times for trying to wrestle out on the floor, as it is all non-contact, but he does like it when they have to do kicks, and try to knock over some stationary pads!  Luke and Ryan just want to know how they can get a coloured belt - there is a long way to go.  I think it is really good though, as to progress with the belts they have to do well at school work, and outside things, as well as being able to perform the Taekwondo.

Friday was a pupil free day at school, so the boys got an extra long weekend, as the following Monday was a public holiday, being President's Day. However, not that many people get the public holiday - only really teachers and public servants, apparently. It had snowed on Thursday, and it was still pretty cold, so we went to an indoor play centre, called Jumpstreet.  It has lots of trampolines which extend up the walls, and a foam pit which they can either jump off a trampoline into, or swing off a rope.  You had to be 4 to be able to go on it, and so when the guy

 asked Quinn how old he was, he told him he was 3! I think he took pity on him though, and allowed Quinn to have one go.  We realised why though, as Quinn was fine to jump, but struggled to get out.  They had an area for smaller kids with blow up slides and play equipment, and there was also a maze that the kids could go and get lost in for a while, as well as the usual arcade games, that they could go and play.  We took Avery in with us, as well, and while it got quite busy as the day went on, they were quite happy to play in there for a few hours. 

The weekend was predicted to be fine and around 50 Fahrenheit, and Saturday was a beautiful day.  We had been talking about climbing Castle Rock since we arrived, although we were going to wait until Spring when it was a bit warmer.  However, we decided to go and have a walk on the paths up around the rock on Saturday, and once we got there, of course we had to climb it! It was quite a nice walk, but once you get up a little higher, there aren't any safety railings, and it was a bit frightening travelling with little dare devils who liked to go too close to the edge.  This is a picture of the rock, and it is quite a landmark which can be seen from all over the town.  At night it is lit up with a star on top of it.  You can see some small patches of snow on the side of the hill in this photo, and there was a lot more snow on the other side, which does not get as much sunlight.  There were lots of people doing the walk though, and there is a sign which lets you know if you want to train for the 14ers (there are 54 mountains in the State of Colorado, which are over 14,000 feet high, and some nut cases think it is a good idea to try and climb some or all of them!), you had to do this particular hike 4 or 5 times.  Once was enough for us! 

On Sunday we went up to Lovelands, for a day skiing.  It was another lovely day, and apparently we missed the big crowds which were there on Saturday, which we were pretty happy about!  Quinn had a lesson for the first time, and was doing well.  However, the instructors  wouldn't let him go on the lift until he could do a 'pizza' - or snow plough - so that he could hopefully minimise any injury to himself or anyone else, coming down the slopes, so he decided to call it quits. Ryan had had enough of his lesson as well, so the three of us spent the afternoon together!  Luke and Phil finished their lessons, and as they had completed three, they were entitled to a season pass, and went to get their photos taken.  We are hoping to encourage Ryan to take another lesson, so that he and I can get our season pass!

In Georgetown, which is a town close to Lovelands, there is a frozen lake. Some friends had been up skiing the day before, and told us that there were cars out on the frozen lake, driving around. When we got here, there weren't many cars, but there were a few people out ice fishing, so we stopped and had a look - and of course, we wanted to walk on the water as well! It was absolutely freezing, and the couple who were fishing were rugged up with all the gear, and there were a few beer cans around too!  They had caught some rainbow trout, and had two fishing rods each, which was the maximum they were allowed.  Apparently the lake is only about 10 feet deep, and they had to cut through the ice

about 3 feet, to get to the water. It was pretty hard work to get through the ice, and they had to keep doing it, as it would ice up as they fished.  They had fish finders with them, and told us the fish usually moved through in large schools, so all the lines would get bites at the same time. It was pretty fascinating talking to these people, and he was obviously pretty passionate, and knowledgeable about the ice fishing.  Neither of them had ever been outside of Colorado, though.  They were out in the middle of the lake, and the wind was blowing, and we were soooo cold!  Quinn was crying by the end of it, and told me that he never wanted to walk on a frozen lake again - traumatised for life!