Fall Fun - Corn Maze & Coloured Leaves

Ryan playing goalie

Phil's mum arrived on Thursday afternoon, so the boys and I drove over to the airport to pick her up. Her flight was over half an hour early, so we only just made it in time!  Phil had parent conferences til 7.30pm on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so he couldn't get there with us.

On Friday, the boys had the day off, although Quinn still had pre-school.  We dropped him off, and then we went looking for Halloween costumes. Luke thinks he has to be the scariest person on the street, but we managed to get Luke and Ryan a costume that we were all OK with!

Saturday was soccer, and we all went along to the game.  Ryan knew he was playing second half in goalie, so was determined to score some goals, as Nanna was there, I think.  He scored 3 in the first half, and Luke scored a couple in the second half, so it was a good win for them, and they were happy to have everyone on the sidelines cheering them on.  

Phil & Luke at the front of MESA

Everyone went up to Phil's school after soccer, so that he could show Gaye where he works,  and gave her a little tour of Castle Rock.

In the kids maze

The seasons really define the year, in Colorado.  It is really nice to have distinct seasons, and there are lots of typical things that they do for the change of the seasons.  Winter is snow (hopefully!), Spring everyone gets out and plants flowers in their gardens and gets it all looking nice after Winter, Summer is holidays, and Fall means getting ready for Halloween, changing leaves, and baking with apples and pumpkin.  Everyone decorated their houses for the seasons, and also any holidays, like Halloween, 4th of July, St Patricks Day, Valentines Day etc.  They hang flags and other decorations - at the moment a lot of people have fall coloured wreaths on their doors, and pumpkins/ghosts and stuff in their yard for Halloween.  It looks good, but a lot of work!  Also, it is a whole industry, as there is so much stuff you can buy in the shops. 

At the start of the big Corn Maze

For Fall, lots of Corn Mazes are around, as tourist attractions.  They are literally fields of corn, which are mowed and planted so that they form a maze. Apparently a guy who owns one of the corn mazes, mows his with a GPS on his lawnmower, to be certain that his co-ordinates are exact!  I had heard of one which is part of the Denver Botanic Gardens, in Chatfield.  It opened on Friday 13th of September, and will remain open until Halloween.  We went out there on Saturday afternoon, and it was lots of fun! We started in the kids maze, which you couldn't really get lost in.  Then Quinn decided he would rather go and jump on the jumping pillow, so Gaye took him over there, while Phil, the boys and I went into the bigger maze.  We were lucky that it still has another month or so to grow, so we could see over the corn a little bit, and decide where to go!  I love mazes, but have no sense of direction, so I could get lost in the kids maze.  Phil & I don't have a good track record of getting out of them together, so it was going to be interesting.   They tell you a the start that it takes between 45-60 minutes to complete the maze, but you have the option to come out at halfway.  The boys started racing through, and there were markers throughout the maze, numbered from 1-10.  This gave us an indication that we were going the right direction, and there were also hint sheets they gave us at the start, so at each of the markers you had to answer a quiz question, and depending on the answer it would tell you whether to go left or right.  There were also 2 viewing platforms inside the maze, that you could climb up to get an idea of where you were.  It was lots of fun, and we made it out fine.

One of the viewing platforms in the maze

There were also lots of food vendors set up out there, as well as a jumping pillow and climbing web for the kids, pony rides and a hay ride, which was pulled along by Clydesdale's.  They also have a big paddock full of pumpkins for Halloween, and one weekend they have a festival and you can go out and get a pumpkin to carve.  It was great to take a look around, and a really warm and sunny afternoon.  Something else, that we would not get to do in Australia!  They are also open until 9pm, so as we were leaving, there were lots of groups of teenagers heading out there, and they have it haunted, and set up with lights, so could be a bit spooky!  



The Clydesdale's

The pumpkin patch 

Boys on the Spiders web

On Sunday, we wanted to head up to the mountains, and see the fall colours.  It is a big tourist attraction in Colorado, and lots of websites, and even on the weather, they are telling you where the best places are to go and see the changing colours.  We decided to take a drive up Guanella Pass.  This is seasonal road, that is often shut over winter when it gets too icy and wet.  It is also a well known spot to see the autumn leaves, and there were heaps of people.  The car parks were packed when we stopped at the Silverdale Trail, to take a little hike to an old mine (although, we didn't make the mine), and then again when we stopped at the Summit of the pass, which was at 11,600 feet above sea level.

We were really lucky to see some pockets of Aspens, which are in most of our photos below, and they get golden yellow leaves, before they fall off.  We didn't see many trees with red leaves, but it is all dependant upon the weather, and which trees are there, obviously!  Still, was really lovely to see pockets of yellow amongst the green on the hillsides, and another thing we don't get to see much of in Australia. 

We only walked down one trail, which was over a bridge and then along a stream, but it really was very pretty.  The boys were happy to get out and run around, and it was quite muddy from rain during the week, but surprisingly, Quinn was the only one who fell over! 



We drove a little further, and reached the Summit which was really cold.  We went for a short walk along here, but it was a bit cool out, and the rest of the way we just looked from the car.  There is beautiful countryside, and the scenery is lovely - I took a lot of photos.  The boys were pretty compliant, and I got a nice photo of them with Nanna, but you can see from some of the photos, they were getting over it!

 

We stopped along the way, and bought some lunch from a buy who had set up a BBQ stand (although, it is not BBQ as we know it in Australia - here BBQ refers to the sauce).  It was interesting food, and Nanna could not believe the turkey leg that Luke chose for his lunch.  We had seen them at fairs, and he was pretty happy to be trying it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash Floods, Forests & Field Trips

I have been a bit slack the last few weeks with the blog.  Time gets away just in the everyday.  We haven't done anything major, but keeping up our usual hectic pace!  The boys are enjoying school, and have started dodge ball.  This is a club that is run by the school each Tuesday morning from 8.15-9am, and the boys are really having fun playing it.  They hardly do any physical exercise at school, so this is really good for them.  They have one hour of gym each week, and that is it.  They can't arrive at school til 9am, as there is no supervision, and they go into class at 9.10am, so can't play in the morning.  They do get to go outside for 2 recesses, but then only get about 15 minutes of play time after they have eaten their lunch in the cafeteria, so they still have a lot of energy to burn!
Ryan had a class assignment, called Community Contributor.  They had parents and volunteers come into the classroom and tell them of their volunteer experiences, and he was quite taken.  One of the parents had volunteered at Haiti after the earthquake, and was telling his class how they took over water purifiers and other things for the people who had survived.  Ryan had to think of a way he could be a community contributor, and then present what he had done to the class.  The marks were really for how he presented his work to the class, but he had a great time performing his community work.  Phil had heard about a group called Ridgeline Wranglers, who look after a trail which is near where we live.  When we looked into it, we found out about a group called the Dirt Crew, who do work on the bike park at Rhyolite Park.  Ryan had been up here riding his bike on the trails and the jumps, and was very interested in doing this.  So I found out all about it, filled in all the forms to sign away any indemnity (as we are in the land of litigation), and sent Phil and Ryan off on Wednesday afternoon to help out at the bike track.  They were preparing the track by removing any weeds and clumps of dirt, so that the next day some council employees could come along and lay some matting and grass seed, so that the jumps might be a bit stable over the winter.  Ryan was so pleased with himself when they had finished, and Phil enjoyed the work as well.  They went and had an ice-cream afterwards!
We had tickets to another Colorado Rapids soccer match, and everyone really enjoys the games (well, Quinn enjoys the cotton candy!)  Unfortunately, it was on the weekend that Colorado had received about a week's worth of rain, and parts of it, particularly around Boulder were damaged from the storms.  We were watching the news, as it had rained all afternoon, and they were advising to stay off the roads if you could - but we checked, and could find  a way to get to the game which avoided Aurora, which had been affected by flash flooding.  We headed off, and luckily the game had been delayed as of lightening, and we got there just for the start.  It was a good game, no rain - although you can see by the empty seats, lots of people stayed away.  Luke & Ryan saw one of their team mates, Max, from soccer, so they were really pleased, and the Rapids won!  In the end, it was a good night.
The next week, I was looking around for something for Quinn and I to do, and came across "Critter Tales", which is on out at Castlewood Canyon, a State park, about 20 minutes from here.  Each month, they have a volunteer who takes children on a walk around the park, and discuss a different subject.  It is aimed at 3-6 year olds, and this month it was Autumn.  Quinn wasn't that keen, but we went along, and I learnt heaps!  We saw the Aspens, which are starting to change colour, and acorns which had fallen off the trees, as well as a heap of other flowers and plants that she pointed out to us.  Quinn was happiest climbing on the rocks, or the trees, and she was pretty good about telling the kids where they could and couldn't climb, as in most parks, they try to teach them to stay on the trails.

Phil had been trying to organise a day of bike riding for a while.  He and Ryan Batta had organised to go up to the mountains the Sunday that we had all the rain - so that didn't happen.  Fortunately, the following weekend they managed to get up to Winter Park on Sunday.  Winter Park is a ski resort in the winter time, and like most resorts, they offer summer activities also.  Most of them allow bike riders to go up on the chairlifts, and then ride their bikes down the ski trails.  Some have guided tours, and you can choose the green, blue, black or double diamond trails to ride on.  They headed off early on Sunday, with heaps of layers, as the weather can change really quickly up there.  The picture above is of Phil, Ryan in the full face helmet, and another random guy who was sharing the chair lift.  They had a great day, and luckily Phil made it home in one piece, as Jen, Ryan's wife told me later that anyone Ryan had been up the mountains with, usually came back injured!  The scenery is beautiful, and they had lots of fun.  Phil said it got really cold up there, they got covered in mud, and it was sleeting at times.  That night, the mountains got the first dusting of snow!
Quinn is still going to preschool - not that he is particularly happy about it.  At least he has stopped telling me he doesn't like it, but there are still mornings where he won't let go of my leg.  The teachers assure me that he likes it once he gets there, and is fine with free play, but he just doesn't like being told what to do!  They pulled me aside the other day, and asked me if he likes stickers, as they have put him on a reward system - he gets a sticker for each of the activities that he does without a fuss.  I had to ask, and there is another little boy on the same system.  He is doing really well though, and has got all of his stickers each day - so it is working, but makes me wonder what we are in for with Quinn at school, if we are dealing with this at preschool! 
They had their first field trip on Wednesday, to the Fire Station.  They asked for parents to volunteer, and I went along with them.  It is in downtown Castle Rock, and is not far from the preschool, so they all walked down there, and they all had to hold onto a rope.  It was very cute, and they had fun.  They learnt about fire safety, how to get out of the house if there is a fire, to get down low if there is smoke, and they were emphasising the fact that the firemen are not scary, and showed them with all of their equipment on.  They reckon that if there is a fire, a lot of kids hide, as they are scared of the fire fighters with all their gear on.  So they did all that, and got to sit in the fire truck.  Now our family has to sit down and do our fire plan, in case there is a fire!


 



 

Football Fever

This week was the start of the football season, which is a pretty big deal over here.   They have had the pre-season matches, and even the training sessions get thousands of spectators.  The Denver Bronco's played their first match against the Baltimore Ravens, who knocked them out of the SuperBowl at the beginning of the year.  You know when there is a game on, because even though they didn't play until 6pm, everyone downtown was wearing their Bronco's gear, as well as all the kids and teachers at school - it is a bit full on.  The game was delayed by an hour, as there was lightening around.  They won though, so that was a good result. 

Each afternoon lately, there has been a thunderstorm.  They can be short, but powerful.  Apparently Colorado is the 10th highest state for lightening deaths, I think because of the altitude, so they take lightening very seriously.  If there is lightening around, they won't release the kids from school to walk home, they have to be signed out of the classroom by a parent.  The boys soccer training has been cancelled a few times already, as of storms. 

Luke and Ryan played their first game of soccer for the Fall season.  They are playing on the same team, which makes it a lot easier for us.  It was Ryan's first game on a full sized field, and he played really well.  He also had some time in at goalie, which he enjoyed.  They won 5-1, and Luke scored 4 goals, so he had a really good game.  It is still really warm here, and was around 96 degrees on Saturday, which converts to 35 Celsius, so it was lucky they had an early game.

When the boys finished their soccer game, we met up with some friends and headed out to Colorado Springs, as CITEL, the exchange people, had organised tickets to a College football game between the Air Force Falcons, and Utah Stated Aggies.  A lot of the Australian exchange teachers and their families attended, so it was nice to catch up with everyone.  You can see from the photo at the top,  Quinn was pretty happy to be seeing his friend Astrid again!  We were told to arrive early (which is why there are so many empty seats behind them), as the car park fills up early.  The stadium holds over 30,000 people, and this is just for college football, not the pro-football!

So when the people arrive early to get parks near the stadium, they set up their tents and BBQs out in the car park, and do their 'tailgating'.  This is a new term for us, and basically it is having a cook out, out of the back of your car.  This is an event in itself, and people grill heaps of meat, start drinking, play frisbee, and generally have a big party in the car park!  Apparently, at bigger games, there can be just as many people partying in the car park, as there are inside the stadium.

As the game was at the Air Force Academy, it was a little different to other games (apparently).  Unlike other colleges, they don't have students who attend on football scholarships, or the like.  Everyone that was at the game, from the brass band to the players, to the cheerleaders, were all students at the Academy.  All the cadets are expected to attend the matches, and are also the ushers in the stadium, as well as part of the entertainment.   Apparently, the Academy is very difficult to get into, and most of the students, as well as being very smart, are recommended by their State senators, or congressmen.  As a result, they don't very often have a strong football team, and that was pretty evident in the final score!

I was more interested in the pre-game entertainment, and it did not disappoint!  When we first arrived, the team was out on the field warming up - and that went on for over an hour.  When the official entertainment began, about half an hour before the game, it started with five guys and girls jumping out of a plane, with parachutes, which you can see in some of the photos.  Their mascot, the falcon, also arrived this way.  Next was the brass band, who entered the stadium and were then followed by a lot of the cadets, who marched onto the football field in perfect formation.  Then the cheerleaders formed a line for the football players to run onto the field behind some big flags - there would have been over 100 players run through!  There are only 11 players on the field at a time, but they have a defensive team, offensive team, 'specials' team, and they would have had at least another 100 players on the sideline, all dressed to take the field, along with coaches and a heap of other staff.  You can see in the photos, the Air Force Academy players are in blue and white - there are heaps of them.



 The game finally started, and it is the most stop-start game ever.  A 60 minute game of 4, 15 minute quarters, usually last between 3 to 4 hours.  They are stopping the clock constantly.  If the Academy scored a touchdown, a group of about 100 cadets would come down onto the field and do push ups.  There was an acrobatic team on the sideline which had guys throwing girls, and balancing them  up in the air, the cheerleaders with their pom-poms and the band which would come up into the stadium randomly, and perform on the stairs. 

   I don't think it is like anything else I have ever attended!  It seemed to keep everyone entertained for the whole time though, along with all the food vendors who were there.  The score ended up 53-21, to Utah State, and I certainly wasn't disappointed when the game ended. 

Afterwards, our group of about 25 went back to Jane and Bruce's house, who are on exchange in Colorado Springs from Adelaide, for a BBQ and debrief of the match.

Here is a link to some video one of the aussie girls put together from our day at the footy.  Mostly of the Air Force Band warming up in the tunnel prior to the game, and shows just how good the entertainment was - which was mainly what I was there for anyway, as I didn't really have much idea of what was going on in the game!  If you look carefully, you can see them picking up the dollar bills that people were throwing down to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dbne3_Yt90

Pagosa Springs

After a lovely weekend with our friends in Bayfield, we stopped in Pagosa Springs on the way home. It is only about an hours drive North of their place, and is a pretty spa town on the San Juan River, and nestled at the base of the Continental Divide.  These pictures are actually looking back on the town, at a lookout on the way out, but give an idea of how picturesque it is.



 

 The town is renowned for it's sulphur springs, and their healing qualities, and also has the world's deepest geothermal hot spring, which feeds the pools hosted by three spas in town.  The largest is at The Springs Resort, where we stopped for a few hours.  This is the view from the side of the spa, and you can see the mineral build up behind Luke and Quinn, and the spa with all the pools and shelters, which then backs onto the river. 



There are 23 soaking pools at the spa, ranging in temperature from 83 - 114F, or 27 - 46C.  On some of the photos, you can see the temperatures on the sign, along with the name of the pools.  The one below was the first pool we went in, The Aspen, which was 99F (37C).  It was nice and warm, a bit like a bath.

The picture below, is of 'The Cliffs', which is a secluded pool.  We had to cross over a boardwalk, across the 'Golden Pond' to get to it, but you are not allowed to swim in the pond.  You can see the boys looking over the edge as there were heaps of goldfish and lilypads in the pond.  The cliff formations behind Phil, have been created over many years, from the minerals in the water.  This one was too hot for Quinn, and he just played on the stairs!  

 The pool in the photo below was called Waterfall, as obviously, a waterfall crashes into the pool, and you can sit underneath it.  The pools are all scattered around at different levels, above the river, and there are pool chairs and shelters so people can get in and out, and relax.

The pool below is called 'The Lobster Pot' and the boys and I put our foot in, but at 110F (43C), it was too hot for us to stay in.  Phil wasn't in for very long either, after I took this photo! 

Most of the pools were nicely finished with concrete, and usually a bench for you to sit in, in the water.  The last pool we went in, was right down on the river, called The Burg, and it was squishy mud on the bottom, which was really gross! It was pretty warm though, and Phil and the boys had a dip in the spa, then went into the river, which is runoff from the snow - just to let you know that you are alive!  As you can see from the sign below, they are not taking any responsibility for what goes on in the river, but there were people canoeing, tubing and rafting, so it was all fine!

The sun lounge was Quinn's spot for a lot of it - he was not a huge fan of the hot springs, but really enjoyed laying on the chairs around the place!  Ryan declare the place smelly, which it was, but he did like the warm water.  Luke like the Natural Mineral Pool best, which was an Olympic sized pool we swam in last, while Quinn soaked up some more rays by the pool!  I think a lot of that was also due to the fact that we had had a pretty busy weekend, with some late nights, so Quinn was just tired!  

We grabbed some lunch, and got on the road back to Castle Rock - we still had about a 6 hour drive ahead of us.  On the way, we came across our first herd Bison, which I thought was very exciting.  Phil didn't think it was very exciting, at the time, as I was driving, so I turned around and went back, and he had to go bush to get some photos of them!  A bit of a beast of an animal though, and it is the mascot of the boy's school at Clear Sky Elementary.  They get Bison Strong stickers, as part of their reward program.