wedding of nick and sivanny

Kathleen in a sari and Paul in a veshti

When we arrived, approximately 10 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, Nick was wearing just sandals and a bath towel.  After about 30 minutes, he put on a shirt.  Over an hour later his veshti and shirt arrived.  The bride came about 30 minutes after that.

We are near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park.

I loved wearing this.  It took me three hours and five YouTube videos to figure it out, but it stayed in place and made the wedding a real event for me.

Tommy and Lindsay flew in from Atlanta with their kids who by this point were exhausted and getting some down time with a video in the car.  What troopers!

line of totality

Paul took this with his phone camera through the telescope.

There was a lot of chatter on FB about how bad the traffic was going to be before and after the eclipse.  This is somewhere in Wyoming or Nebraska the day before the eclipse.  So much for FB chatter.  Nick chose this site because it's far away from any weather causing mountains.

Cheese

James and Timothy are bonding over french fries.

It was great to have the cousins together acting like cousins - not friends but not strangers either.

A large canal enters Lake Minatare near our campsite.

self applied mud treatment

Mud slinging for hours

and hours

The cousins have an evening mud game.

Timothy and Luke were out in it again the next day

Coffee before the eclipse with some Canadian friends of Nick and Sivanny.  We commiserated over the man who coughed up a lung at 5AM, threw his tent poles around on the cement, and seemed to leave in a hurry.  If he was looking for better conditions, he couldn't have found them.

We are all set up on the beach to view the eclipse.  Luke Townsend manning his telescope.  Everyone here was also at the wedding.

Not bad considering the ONLY thing that you can see through these glasses is the sun.

This is the shadow of the eclipse seen through the trees and onto the sand.

The boys with Nick, who organised this outing, and his new wife Sivanny.

As the sun disappeared, Luke said, "It's a banana."  Rightly so.

Total eclipse

The drive home on the day of the eclipse.  Thanks FB, not that I've ever relied on you for anything other than entertainment anyway.  To be fair, once we hit Interstate, we found traffic, but we clipped along at 75mph for most of it.  There were police and troopers out on the back roads keeping people moving away from heavy traffic and no accidents on the Interstates when we were driving.  

skiing at eldora

Our first family ski vacation was a smashing success.  Of course when you have charming accommodations with staff eager to please, loads of fresh powder, and children who can't get enough of the slopes, you've got the right ingredients for just that.  Boulder Creek Lodge

The day we arrived, Paul took a photo of the outdoor patio where we were told we could smoke whatever we pleased this being Colorado and all.

This is the same patio the day we left.  The snow started as we went to bed our first night and was still falling when we left.

This footbridge led from our hotel to the main part of the small town of Nederland. We enjoyed a curry out the first night.  We ate in our hotel the next two nights as we were tired from plowing through all that powder and happy to stay warm and cozy in our room with delicious pizza from a place at the end of the footbridge.

The slopes were a winter wonderland.  Although there were plenty of people up there with us, races with teams from all over Colorado even, we often found ourselves alone.  Paul is a far better and more adventurous skier than I, but we were able to enjoy the same runs as I could stick to the centre where other skiers had sort of groomed the slope and he could enjoy untouched snow on both sides of the runs.

Both days that we skied, the temperature stayed below freezing.  The second day, the wind picked up and made for some blizzard like conditions as the snow from the trees was blown into the air in places.  

This is Luke at the first slope he mastered.  It is almost flat and he did a lot of 'walking' on his skis.  They started him with just one ski going in circles to help him get used to the feel of things.  By lunch, his group moved over to a bigger slope with a longer magic carpet.

The first magic carpet.

This slope is so shallow and the powder so thick that he can't get going very fast.  It worked well for him though as he was able to get very comfortable with the feel and movement of skis.  We don't have any other video of him because our cameras (phone, camera and GoPro) all suffered from the severe cold.  Their batteries just couldn't manage.

Luke got quite cold but still managed a smile.  

Timothy started on this slope but was soon on the regular greens, riding the chair lifts like a pro.  

After his lesson the second day, he and Paul went up together.  Paul noted that Timothy is quite fast.

Paul enjoying some untouched, fresh powder.

Powder this deep means that skiing is a real work out, but it also means that falling doesn't really hurt.  Paul managed the whole trip without a fall, and I only went down once, when I was completely stopped and watching Timothy ski.  I got off balance and tipped over like a tree.  Getting up is hard for me because my knees don't bend enough anymore to get my weight centered so I can push myself up.  Paul rescued me.  I came close to another fall when I got turned backwards in the powder.  Fortunately, I managed to stay upright; otherwise, I might have needed a shovel to dig myself out!

Driving down the Boulder Canyon on our way home.

boating at horsetooth

Our neighbours Diego and Amy have a boat that they keep at Horsetooth, and we joined Diego and Henry for an outing over Labor Day weekend.

 We brought food and enjoyed a picnic on a beach on the east side

It was fun to watch Henry drive as Diego pulled in the anchor and stowed the ropes.   Timothy was keen to have a go as well.

Then a lazy 'nap' at one of the coves on the west side.

FISH!

Our neighbours, Diego and Amy and their twins Olivia and Henry made two trips to the cabin with us this August.  On the second trip, we had a fishing extravaganza.  Diego, Timothy and Luke all caught their first fish ever.  It's impossible to determine which of them had the biggest look of surprise and delight on their face when it happened.  Paul, Henry and I all caught fish as well.  The barbless hooks meant that removing the fish from the hook and returning them to the lake was easy.

Paul easily caught the largest

Timothy not only caught his fish but he helped land several fish, getting good at timing with the net.

Luke was the most persistent of fisherfolk in our family.  If someone was fishing, he was either fishing as well or waiting to help with the landing.  He and Timothy took turns netting the catch.

keystone

Once again Jenny and Neville stayed with the boys and let us take a break, this time in Keystone.

Our first course was The Ranch with sweeping vistas, narrow fairways and a rough that meant never seeing your ball again.  Our cart was gas powered because the elevation gains are too much for the electric powered carts.  Walking the course is impossible, probably prohibited.  The original ranch (1930's) is still around.

My game didn't improve or worsen with the help of this refreshing beverage, but my mood certainly lifted 

The 9th hole.  Par 3

This is the 18th hole of The River course.  Just after we teed off the horn for thunder/lightening blew.  We finished the game.

Along with golfing, we cycled along the Snake River the day we arrived and enjoyed the local pubs.  We managed to talk about things other than just the boys and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  Thanks Jenny and Neville!