Last week of term

The boys have their first game of soccer on the 30^th of March. We will miss this game, as we will still be on holidays, for Spring Break, but training started this week. Ryan trains on Tuesdays 5.45-7pm, and Luke trains on Mondays and Wednesday 5.45-7pm.  They are playing the same as they would have back in Australia – Ryan 4v4, and Luke 6v6, with a goalie.  Ryan really enjoyed his training, and is looking forward to the soccer season starting.  There are lots of different sports on offer, so it is a good way for them to meet other kids.  So far, they haven’t met anyone from their school who is playing soccer, so it will be a whole new lot of kids.

On Thursday, the boys had the day off, as it was parent/teacher interviews. The teachers have 15 minute time slots between 7.30am and 7.30pm, and there is an online schedule which you go in and choose a suitable time.  The school requests a certain number of parents to bring in crock pots full of spaghetti, and salads, and you can sign up for this online also.  It is a pretty good system for the teachers, as they get all their interviews over in one day, but a pretty big day!  When Phil had his parent/teacher afternoon in February, the parents provided chili for the teachers as well.

We were really happy, as both Luke and Ryan are doing well at school.  We have found that they both seem to be ahead of grade in their reading.  With math, Ryan seems fine, but there must have been a bigger jump for Grade 2, as Luke has missed out on some math which we are doing some catch up work on.  We spoke to some people who have exchanged between Australia and the US, who had found it similar, in that they seem to do harder math here at a younger age. I am sure it all levels out eventually.  Ryan has to work on his handwriting – he is a bit messy!

This is a photo of the boys school, taken when we first arrived.

We had guests for dinner on Thursday night, and I tried to cook something Australian.  Apart from a BBQ, I was struggling for anything typically Australian, but ended up making Tandoori Chicken and salad, and we had the pappadams which I had recently found.  They were excited, as they had never had that before, and we had a yummy apple crumble for dessert.  The boys played outside for most of the evening, as it wasn’t too cold, so it was very pleasant. 

Phil had a pupil free day on Friday, just before Spring Break.  The boys had a pupil free day, so we planned to tidy up and pack, and then go to the Recreational Centre for a swim.  We had tidied, and were about to go to the Rec Centre, when Phil got home from work about 11am.  Everyone at work had been telling him that there was a snow storm coming, with a lot of snow expected.  If we didn’t get across the mountain on Friday, it was unlikely we would get across for the weekend, so we madly packed suitcases and the car, and were on the road by about 1pm.

We caught up with Lindsay and Sharon, some other exchange teachers from Australia, in Grand Junction that evening.  When they came over the mountain, about 3 hours after us, there was snow and ice, and not very pleasant conditions.  We were pleased that we had left when we did!  The drive also gives me a chance to catch up on my blog, which has gotten a few weeks behind.  I can sit and type in the car, until the battery runs out J

 



 

 

Ice Hockey

Ryan gave our Australia presentation to his class on Wednesday this week.  He was very excited to tell everyone about Australia, and a prac teacher he has on Thursdays, Mr K had done some travelling through Australia a few years ago, so liked talking to Ryan about that.  Ryan liked that on two fronts – he enjoyed talking about Australia, and there are only about 3 male teachers at Clearsky Elementary!  I went up to school to help Ryan with his presentation, and it was lots of fun.  They were most interested in hearing about the Australian animals, and our money, which is very different to theirs.  However, I didn’t really think on the way over, and only had coins left in my wallet.  However, we have a poster which shows the Australian notes, so that has to do.

Luke did an extra Tae Kwon Do class on Thursday night, in preparation for the grading on Friday night.  The grading started at 7pm, and we were done by 8pm.  The boys both did a really good job.  There were only three Little Dragons who were asked to go for their yellow belts, of which Ryan was one.  Little Dragons are 6 years and under, so they were very cute, going through their moves.  There were more students going for their yellow belt with Luke, and he also did a really good job.

A lot of parents attended for the grading, and Master Lee gave a bit of a talk prior to the grading, informing us all that they had actually already passed the tests that they had to do to progress to the next belt. They do that in class, when they receive their stripes for mastering each component of kicks, punches and the pledge they need to learn. So Friday night was a celebration of their achievements, through a demonstration. This was news to Luke and I, who had told me that he thought he was‘probably not going to pass anyway!’ However, both the boys had worked really hard, and were proud of their yellow belts.

On Friday, it was a beautiful sunny day, and we decided to go into Denver Zoo, with Mindy and Ethan.  We had a really nice day – Mindy had a cart which we pulled the boys around in at the zoo (this was obviously what everyone does), and we checked out the sights.  It was a fairly nice zoo considering it was in the middle of the city, but it is difficult to top Taronga Zoo, on the harbour!  We took a picnic lunch, and had a ride on the carousel.  The boys really enjoyed seeing the monkeys and the elephants.  We will have to go back another time with Phil, Luke and Ryan, but there is also a zoo down at Colorado Springs, which is not far from us either. We are really spoilt for choice.

On Saturday, we had tickets to go and see the Colorado Avalanche play at the Pepsi Centre, in Denver.  We decided to take the Light Rail into the city, as it meant we didn’t have to battle the traffic into Denver.  There is a park and ride not far from our place, and we got there in plenty of time. It got really busy on the train, with everyone going into the Ice Hockey.  We met another Australian on the train who had married an American girl, and been here for about ten years.  There was also a teacher from Mesa Middle School, where Phil teaches, on the train with us, so it was nice to meet her.  It is a small world sometimes!  The ice hockey was lots of fun, and quite an experience.  Within the first five minutes there was a fight, and the refs don’t really try to stop it – it is all part of the entertainment.  They had some interviews with the players, up on the big screen between the 3 periods, and a lot of them are missing teeth.  Most of them are paid over a million dollars a season, but I guess it is pointless getting any dental work done, until your career is over!  Saying that, they are great on skates, and you hardly realise that they are on the ice (except, of course, it is cold!)  It was a good match between Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild, but unfortunately the Avalanche were not able to change their losing streak – they lost 6-4.  It was interesting in the last few minutes, they put on a complete attacking team, to try and get some goals, I guess, and we were wondering where the goalie had gone.  Apparently, it must be an option to take off the goalie and put on an extra player, if you want to.

We got the Light Rail home, and Phil left the navigating to me, which is not a very good option sometimes!  I got us on a train which was going in the right direction, but on the wrong line, and of course, by the time we realised, we were quite a few stops gone.  Anyway, we got off, and got on the correct line – but one of the positives of getting lost, was that we ran into a leprechaun!  It was a guy who was dressed up for a St Patricks day party, and he looked really good. He had a beard, and was on a skateboard at the station.  Quinn was fascinated by him, and had to go up and have a chat.  He was a nice guy called Seamus, in his early 20’s, and I think he was happy that someone was giving him some attention, as he had obviously put in a fair bit of effort with his costume.  Quinn wanted to know where the pot of gold was, as Avery had told him that for St Patricks Day, if you caught a leprechaun, they could tell you where the pot of gold was.  Seamus didn’t know, but asked Quinn if he found out, to tell him also! 

On Sunday, we went to SoccerStop to get the boys soccer uniforms.  They are playing for the Colorado Storm, and their uniform pack was two shirts – must be a home and away strip, one is blue, and one is white, and they have blue shorts.  They are nice uniforms, and the boys really like them.   We had to go to Centennial to find a SoccerStop, and there was an Indian supermarket in the mall.  I have been able to find some stuff that I usually cook with, but have not been able to find pappadams – but they had them here!  I also got some Patak’s Tandoori Paste and another curry paste, so I am pretty happy with that.  It is the small things.

 

Steamboat Springs

When we went snow shoeing, another aussie who stayed at Kim and Vern’s house, Lindsay was talking about going skiing the next weekend at Steamboat Springs.  Phil organised to get on the weekend trip away, and headed off on Friday after work. Lindsay, and his wife Sharon, are a lovely couple from up near Grafton, and this is their second exchange. They did an exchange twenty years ago to Canada, with 3 children similar ages to Luke, Ryan and Quinn now – I think they see a lot of similarities between us, and them, back then!  They are now empty nesters, and enjoying this exchange on their own.  Sharon had some girlfriends come over to visit, and they took off to New York for a week, which is why Lindsay and Phil decided to go skiing for the weekend.  A couple from Colorado also went up with them, and they had a great weekend.  It was beautiful weather, with clear skies all weekend, and apparently the four of them skied black runs all day, and had a great time!  Phil didn’t get any photos of Steamboat, so I have included some here, of the last time all of us went skiing at Lovelands.
 

The boys and I enjoyed having a weekend at home, as we have been pretty busy since we arrived!  We went to Walmart, as they wanted a football and a basketball.  We ended up with those, and a 

soccer ball – but they have all gotten plenty of use! We went up to Bison Park in the afternoon, and had a play up there. There is a great playground, as well as a big astro turfed sports field where the boys can run around and burn off some energy. We went up with Avery, and they had fun playing with the soccer ball – it was quite hot, after a week of snow and really cold conditions. However, although the sports field had been cleared, there was still snow and slush everywhere else, so we all came back with soggy feet! It was a worthwhile afternoon though, as while we were up there, I was talking to another mum whose kids were playing soccer, and found out how to register. It is all online, and while I had found the Colorado Storm website, it wasn’t clear how to sign up. Anyway, lucky I spoke to her as registration was due this weekend, so we managed to get signed up before the cut off date.

We had been to the library, and got some books and movies, and were going to have a pizza and movie night.  We started our pizza, and our neighbours, Luke & Mindy, called to see if we wanted to go for dinner.  We obviously didn’t make dinner, but we met them up afterwards for dessert.  There is a yoghurt bar in Castle Rock, called Smart Cow and it has about 30 different flavours, from Peanut Butter to Watermelon.  It is really yummy – tastes like ice cream, and you serve yourself, then pay by the ounce.  At the end there are a heap of toppings to choose from, like M&Ms, peanuts, candy and fruit.  It is a very popular place, and the boys ran into friends from school.  We decided we would have to go back and take Phil!

On Sunday, Ryan had a play date at Isaac’s house, a little boy from his class.  Ryan was most impressed, as Isaac had an electric scooter. They spent the afternoon going around the block on their scooters, and playing the Wii.

 

 

Sledding

This week, Ryan was asked to do his yellow belt for Tae Kwon Do.  They have to pass a certain level with all their kicks and sequences, and he had got enough stripes to do the grading.  Once we filled in the form, and paid a fee, he was OK to do his grading, which was to be on Saturday.  However, by the time we got to the end of the week, there was a storm warning for late Friday night, or Saturday.  They were predicting a big dump of snow – up to a foot, so all schools were closed for the weekend.  The TaeKwonDo grading was to be at a school, so it was postponed to next weekend.  In the meantime, Luke managed to pass all his tests, to sit for his yellow belt.  Ryan is in Little Dragons, so he did not have as many sequences that he had to remember, as Luke.  

On Friday night, I had signed up for a wine tasting night.  It was at an independent wine bar, called Water 2 Wine, in Denver.  It was part of the Denver restaurant week, where lots of restaurants have good deals on their meals.  We didn’t get along to any of them, but at Water 2 Wine they had a special whereby you tried a selection of wines, paired with cheeses, meats and fruits.  We started with 5 white wines, moved on to 5 red wines, and then finished with two dessert wines.  I went along with two of our neighbours, Jen and Mindy, and it was lots of fun.  Apparently it is owned by a group of people, and one of them was a guy who was involved in politics – everyone got excited and wanted their photo taken with him, but I had no idea who he was!  At the winery, they import grapes from all over the world, and then make them into wine here.  It was very interesting, and people can sign up to go along and be part of the wine making process.

We made it in, and home on Friday night, before the storm came.  It started snowing about midnight, and then proceeded to snow all day on Saturday.  We had about 8 inches of snow,  and were housebound all day.  It had been predicted though, so we had stocked up on DVDs, and had a pretty good day indoors.  We tidied up in the basement, and set it up for the boys to do craft down there.  They have been making a house, and they played in the basement for a good part of the day, and made a rocket!

On Sunday, there was obviously a lot of snow around.  We went up to Bison Park, near the boy’s school, and did some sledding.  It was a beautiful clear day, and we had a great time.  When we first arrived, it was just us and another girl.  We only have two sleds, and she kindly lent us one of her sleds – which of course, was better than ours!  We spent about two hours up there, sledding down the hill.  Then it got too busy as everyone got out for the afternoon, so we had to move to another spot, which didn’t have as good a run, but was great for snow fights, and we built a snow man.  Quinn and Ryan also built a ‘rocket’ out of an old jump, which was on the astro turf field; that they could sit in.  Then, to finish off our afternoon, we went to Smart Cow, and had frozen yoghurt.  It was a great day, according to the boys!

 

 

Snow Shoeing

After all the snow we had during the week, it was perfect conditions for our snow shoeing weekend in Estes Park. It was organised by CITEL for all the Australian exchange families here, and any people in Colorado who had been on exchange, or involved with the process.  We drove up on Friday night, as it was about 2 hours from Castle Rock, and we were meeting early on Saturday morning for the walk.  Kim and Vern, a lovely couple who exchanged to Australia a few years ago, offered their holiday house in Estes Park, which was great, so we stayed there on Friday night.

The photo above is our group of around 25, which headed up the mountain.  It was all teachers and their partners, apart from our three boys and Rylan, an eight year old boy who had been on exchange to Albury last year, with his mum Erin, who was our leader.  Estes Park is part of the Rocky Mountain National Park, and it was beautiful. 

We all stopped and got our snow shoes and poles from a hire store in Estes Park, then headed up into the National Park.  It was beautiful conditions at the bottom, without a hint of what we were walking into!

The boys charged off ahead, and Luke, Ryan and Rylan got on really well, and were up the front of the group all the way up, and then down the mountain, as well.  They discussed the differences and similarities between Australia and the USA, and what they liked, and didn't like!  By the end of it, they were great friends.  Quinn and I were last in line, as it was a pretty big ask for a 3 year old to walk up the mountain.  He did a really good job, and we got through a whole packet of Starbursts, (if we just get to the next rock, we can have another lolly!) and had plenty of breaks.  We had nearly made it to the first lake, which was my only goal for the day, when Jim, one of the Americans from the group was walking back, and offered to take Quinn back to the house.  Quinn didn't need to be asked twice, and was more than happy to go back with him.  Apparently he talked the whole way back in the car, and then sat and watched Spiderman for the afternoon, while everyone finished the walk.    By the time we caught up with the rest of the group, they had made it to the second lake, but a storm had started to come in, and the conditions were horrible.  It was blowing snow and ice through the air, and it was very cold.  We have a photo of Phil, Luke and I - it was so awful, we didn't have time to try and coerce Ryan into having a photo!

The snow shoeing was relatively easy - much easier than learning to ski or snowboard!  We all made it back down the mountain, and then headed back to Kim and Vern's house for lunch.  Everyone had brought along either chili, salad or dessert, and it was really nice to go back and catch up with everyone that is on exchange, that could make it along.  The boys played outside, as their house backed onto Woodlands, and had a great time.  We stayed again Saturday evening, as well as another couple here on exchange from Grafton, Lindsay and Sharon, and some friends of theirs who were visiting.  There  was a hot tub outside, which hot tub was really warm, but it was a freezing walk from the back door over to the tub.  Of course we all had to do it though, and it was a nice way to end the day.

The house where we stayed did not have telephone, Internet or television, so on Sunday, Kim arrived to let us know that there was a severe storm warning for Estes Park, and for Castle Rock.  They were predicting a foot of snow, and advising anyone who did not need to be on the roads, to stay home.  Sharon and her visitors had a flight to New York booked for Monday, so they were keen to get home, and headed off about 9am.  With the conditions on the road there was the potential for a 2 hour drive to turn into a 5 or 6 hour drive, and in the end, we were pleased we decided to stay.  There were a lot of accidents, and people who had just pulled over off the highway as a result of the snow and ice.  We figured that school would possibly be called off anyway, for a snow day.  Phil e-mailed  

some lessons through, and advised that he would not be in on Monday. As it turned out, both Phil and the boys schools were on delayed start, so no-one went in until around 11 am.  The boys had a great day, being snowed in at Estes Park.  The neighbours had a four wheeler, and offered to take the boys for a 'ride', towing them around, while they were at the back on sleds.  They also went tobogganing down the hill out the front, and climbed in a tree house which was next door.  It was freezing outside, but most of the snow had fallen the night before, so it was dry, and the boys were outside for most of the day.    You can see in the photo below, Quinn had a bit of a stack off his sled, and was not too happy at losing his

glove - they have only taken a little while to figure out that the snow is cold! Everyone had a good day, and were early to bed.  On Monday, the sun was out, and it was a bright, clear day.  A lot of the ice had melted, and we had a little walk around the town of Estes Park, before driving back to Castle Rock.  While Estes is good for snow shoeing, it is a little tourist town, which is a popular summer resort.  There are lots of trails for hiking, there is camping, and it is also famous for being home to the Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, traversing Rocky Mountain National Park, from Estes Park in the East, to Grand Lake, Colorado in the West.  It is a very picturesque place, and we would like to get back to see what it is like in Summer, and to do the Trail Ridge Road.

 

 

Buffalo Bill

Monday was President's Day, so everyone had the day off work/school.  We travelled home from Georgetown, where we stayed after our day skiing.  On the way back, there was a sign for the Buffalo Bill Museum, which my Pop had been telling Phil that we had to go and see.  So we turned off the highway and followed the signs - it was well off the beaten track, but turned out to be lots of fun.  It tells his story of how he was a pony express rider and Indian hunter, and then he turned into a showman, with a wild west show.  He was quite altruistic, and ahead of his time, in that he gave equal employment opportunities to Indians, and women, in his shows, with the most famous being Annie Oakley.  The boys posed out the front of the museum behind these cut outs.
Once inside, it started with a movie of his life and then there was quite an interactive display. The boys could dress up in vests, chaps and hats, and sit on bulls and horses and use a lassoo, as well as look at other displays that they had on the wall. There were also animal skins, which were inside a tee pee, and the boys had great fun dressing up in those as well, which was a little bit gross! You can see a photo below, where Ryan is selecting his animal skin from inside the tee pee, and Luke is helping Quinn put a badger on his head. Outside, was Buffalo Bill's grave - he chose to be buried at this point, which was very scenic and had a great view out over the mountains. 

 The rest of the week was pretty uneventful for us - Quinn and I went to the gym on a couple of days.  We tried to go to the park with our neighbours, Mindy and Ethan for a picnic lunch.  It looked nice outside, but although it is sunny, the sun has not got enough warmth in it for us to be outside for any length of time, yet! I started my volunteering in the boys classrooms this week.  Jen, another of our neighbours with two little boys that Quinn loves to play with, offered to have Quinn one afternoon a week, so that I can go and help out in Luke and Ryan's classrooms. It is lots of fun going in and seeing what work they are doing - I am generally helping with math or writing, and it is fun to meet the other children in the class as well.  One of the games was a money game, and they had to change their pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters into the largest coins that they could - it was a learning experience for me as well! 

There are free days for different attractions in Denver throughout the year, and Thursday was a free day for the Zoo. I was thinking about going in with Quinn. However, the snow started to fall on Wednesday afternoon, with predictions of really big snowfalls overnight. People were even suggesting that Thursday might have been a snow day, so that school may have been called off. Phil had been doing a unit on International Town, with his Grade 7 Geography, which culminated in a 2 day field trip for over 150 children into Denver, to commence on Thursday. So he had to put in place a whole heap of contingency plans for if it was a snow day, or sometimes if there is a lot of snow, they won't call a snow day and call school off completely, but will have a delayed start, so school may not commence

until 11am, or whenever it is deemed safer to be on the roads. Luckily, we did not get as much snow as was predicted, and Phil had his two days at International Town. International Town is experiential learning facility set up by Young Americans Bank, and is undertaken in Geography to teach the concepts of global economics and trade to the school kids. It was a lot of work to set up, and required a lot of collaboration between all the teachers, but from what Phil has told me, it was quite successful!