We arrived!

On Saturday the 29th December 2012, we left a sunny 25 degree Sydney, and after 16 hours in the air, and a 5 hour stop-over in LA, we arrived in Denver to a chilly 3 degrees.  The boys had a pretty good flight - Luke and Ryan loved the in flight entertainment, played on their i-pods and slept.  Quinn had his afternoon nap shortly after boarding at 3pm, then proceeded to stay awake for the next 13 hours, falling asleep just as they were serving breakfast, before we landed in LA!  We got off the plane in LA to rain, ice and wind, and poor little Ryan only had his thongs, as he had outgrown his runners which we had packed for the flight.

We met up with Carl, Jessica, Sienna and Max - our exchange family, at LA airport, and it was lovely to have a few hours chatting and discussing what each of us could expect when we arrived at our destination.

Our neighbour, Ryan, picked us up from the airport, and drove us to our new home for the next 12 months.  The boys were really excited to finally be here, and were outside in the snow at 10pm at night - just because they could!

We were very warmly welcomed by our neighbours with a gift basket and presents, and met a lot of the neighbourhood at a pizza night, kindly hosted by Jen and Ryan.  We are living in a cul-de-sac with a lot of young families, and most of them have little boys, so we have done nothing to even out the gender bias.  It snowed for us on Monday, and the boys loved it.  They were trying to make snow balls, and managed a bit of a snowman.  It was actually quite difficult to do, as the snow is really dry, and hard to mould.

 Everyone was enjoying having fun in the snow, but for the first few days they were in and outside, like they are at home.  Occassionally they would forget that it is not as simple as walking out the door - that you actually do need to get on your snow boots, gloves, hat and jacket before you walk out, or it is not that pleasant outside!  So after 5-10 minutes of getting all that on, they could go out to play.

Phil was the first one to brave going out to drive on the 'wrong' side of the road.  It was a bit difficult at first - your first instinct is to veer to the left side of the road, particularly when turning corners.  However, it doesn't take too long to get used to is - my biggest problem is knowing where I am going!  I have become very good friends with Google maps, and have lots of notes on where to turn to get to certain destinations.

On Tuesday we went sledding at Bison Park, which is up behind the boys school.  It was lots of fun, and it didn't take long before the boys thought they should try a bit of impromptu snow boarding.  They actually did really well.  It got a bit tough for Quinn walking back up the incline each time, and trying to keep up with the older boys, but he managed. 

On Wednesday we made the big trip into Denver, to the Museum of Nature and Science. It is a huge museum over four floors, with an imax theatre, and heaps of interactive exhibitions on everything from Space, to Dinosaurs (two of our favourites) to Wildlife, Health and Egyptian Mummies.  There was also a temporary exhibition on Pompeii, which Phil found particularly interesting, and the boys were facinated by a volcano erupting.  There was also a volunteer there who had a booth "Ask me about volcanoes",

which Luke just had to go and visit, and then delighted coming back and sprouting off all these facts about volcanoes!

Thursday saw Phil head into the 'office' for his first visit to Mesa Middle School, with one of his colleagues who kindly volunteered to give up a day of his holidays to show Phil around. We enjoyed being at home, and the boys were playing with Avery, another little boy who lives in the street. 

We headed up to the Rec Centre on Friday, and all went swimming - as you do, when it is freezing outside!  It is a great setup with an indoor pool, and water slides for the kids.  They have lifeguards on duty, and Quinn had to take his floaties off, as they were deemed a hazard if they were to deflate - go figure!  Unfortunately, we had not been there more than thirty minutes when the lifeguards blew their whistles, and everyone had to get out of the pool.  Someone had had an accident, and the pool was going to be closed for an hour while they put chemicals in, and cleaned it all up.  We were able to go to the lap pool next door and play for a while.  They had a basketball hoop in the pool, so the boys were happy shooting baskets for quite some time!

On Saturday the weather was starting to fine up - it got to 46 F (about 7C), so we thought we should make the most of it, and headed out to Colorado Springs.  It is only about a half hour drive.  We went along the highway, but later found out there is a more scenic route - next time.  We stopped off at the Air Force Academy, which was interesting, with all the cadets around.  It is a huge institution, and is also the site for the Olympic team to train at altitude.  The picture to the right shows the famous Cathedral in the background, which is a pretty funky piece of architecture!

We went into the city of Colorado Springs, and went to the Pioneer Museum.  The boys want to know why there are so many museums in America (we have been to two!) but had a really good time in there anyway. They had a part of the museum where you could dress up in 'old world' gear, and take photos.  As you can see, we have the usual suspects who are more than willing to show off for the camera, and our more reserved little man who was not at all happy to be a part of it!  Note the attitude excuding from the baby of the family - I am planning on it not being as fierce, next time you all see him.  He is certainly testing me, and all those who meet him in Colorado. 

There was also an exhibition outlining man landing on the moon, and it was all done through Snoopy going to the moon, so it really appealed to the boys.  They got a worksheet from the front desk, and had to find things that were on their worksheets, in the exhibition, so that kept them focussed for ages.  We thought it was going to be a quick visit, but it turned into a couple of hours, which was a good way to pass a cold, Saturday afternoon.