maybe that's why we call it fall

Autumn is a gentle word, even genteel.  It evokes images of firelight and golden sunsets.  It's hues are warm and comforting, the color of pumpkins and the golds, reds, purples and oranges of the leaves.  It feels like the knits and wool sweaters that I take from the shelves and start to wear, like the flannel sheets that I put on the bed.  I love autumn.

Fall is abrupt. It is harsh and final.  It sounds like breaking glass and feels like wet, stinging wind.

We've had autumn for about a month now and it has been glorious.  We had fall this week.  It did some damage to our trees but not our property.  It did this kind of damage all over town and many people were not as lucky as we were.  Some people couldn't get out of their homes. Some people were without power for a day or two (unheard of here).  Some people couldn't get their cars out from under the broken limbs.  Some people will have to get new cars.  

Fortunately, fall is on it's way out and autumn is returning today with the sun and bright blue sky.  I don't know the etymology of the word fall.  I think it's an American thing.  I could look it up, but I prefer to imagine it's origins.  It's one of the things I like about the English language: all these words.  Marrying a South African and living in Europe has given me so many more words, fun and funny words.  

sans kids - thanks jenny and neville

We took advantage of Jenny and Neville's kind offer to watch the boys for us twice while they were here this year. We went to the cabin for one night. It was wonderful to be able to sit on the front porch and sip a cup of coffee and watch fish jump without having to chase a child around. We even got to fish at the same time!

fishing in pajamas is the best

that's my fish. paul's was bigger

a nice catch (paul's fish and my husband)

Our second trip away was originally going to be four nights in Washington DC seeing the sights, visiting Kate and Karen, and enjoying a big city again. We were going to use Dad's companion passes and fly stand-by. This means that we can't make any solid plans because there might not be any seats available. Thanks to the typical overbooking and hail storms that caused numerous flight delays and cancellations, we didn't get to DC. We did, however, go to Glenwood Springs where we enjoyed my first 18 hole round of golf on a course aptly nicknamed 'The Hill,' cycled along the Colorado to where the path was underwater due to flooding, and soaked in the hot springs. We ate meals while they were hot without interruption, stayed up until very late watching junk on TV and slept in the next morning. It was great!

 teeing off on my first 18.  it went right, like a bowling ball, of course

yes, the pin is on top of that hill (mountain)

the colorado river

cheese

the sun set while we were here

 the colorado hotel, our second historical colorado hotel

we'd planned to have meals at several of the different restaurants in town but just couldn't find a reason to leave this lovely spot at the hotel and ate here often

again the hotel cafe

we even made the short hike to the cemetery where doc holiday is buried.  this is just a memorial up there, as they don't know where his body actually is.

Thank you again Jenny and Neville for watching the boys for us so that we could do this.  We are already making plans for your next visit.

pawnee buttes

Another year has passed and my in-laws are here at last. With their visits always comes a camping trip. This time, we headed east to Pawnee Buttes. When Paul first suggested this to me, I had the same reaction any self respecting Front Ranger would have: 'You want to go camping in eastern Colorado? Why?' He assured me there were trees at the campsite, so I agreed. I've flown over the Buttes several times with Dad, and I know them well as Rattlesnake Buttes from Michener's book Centennial, so I wasn't too reluctant to agree to camping on the prairie.


wind farm (photo by neville)

We spent only one night, and it's only about an hour from Fort Collins, so it was an easy trip and well worth it. The campsite is about 45 minutes away from the Buttes near the town of Briggsdale. Main Street is a dirt road. The campsite is along a mostly dry creek bed with large cottonwood trees. They even have a 'farm museum' with every kind of rusty plow you can imagine and some literature about the Dust Bowl. To get to the campsite, drive east on 14 past Ault. To get to the Buttes from the campsite is a little complicated, but the wind farm serves as a good landmark.


part of the farm museum


tim made his hat at nursery school


camp chairs are so comfortable

We drove out and had a look the first evening, and then Paul and Neville went back at 06:00 the next morning for the four mile hike around them.


paul waiting for the early morning mist to clear (photo by neville)

Jenny and I were happy to watch the boys play around the tents and in the dirt.


luke climbed into the fire pit and tim followed closely behind. they played there for nearly an hour, but what a mess

We were back home by 12:30 on Sunday. It's no Maroon Bells, but it's worth seeing, especially if you're a native or near native and have never camped on the prairie.

horsetooth and mud

Kate, a former colleague of Paul's who now lives in DC, came out for a long weekend and we all took a walk up the foothills to a view for Horsetooth Reservoir and the city.


kate, luke and kathleen at the top of our walk

We were going to walk down again, but the mud was so thick and slippery that Paul volunteered to retrieve the car and fetch us at the top. While waiting for him, the boys did what boys do: played in the mud.








the family

mother's day

The weather and Paul made this not just a great Mother's Day, but a great day period. Tim woke me with a whispered 'Happy Mother's Day.' He was carrying a travel mug full of hot coffee and cards from him and Luke. Like most Sundays Paul was up before me; a side effect of Luke's sleep issues. We were all outside by 08:00, to and from the park by 11:00 and enjoying BBQ ribs by mid-afternoon.


paul doing the work on my bike (it is mother's day after all)


having a nap in his bike carriage at the park


he never stops


just a short bike ride from our house


next to running, he loves climbing


some mommy time


decided that getting in the water fully dressed was a good idea


spent the rest of the day in nothing but his sandals

I think we were outside for 12 solid hours, just soaking in the gorgeous spring weather.



It's a day for children to celebrate Mom, but when the children are as young as Tim and Luke, it all falls on the father. As with all his fatherly actions, Paul rose to the occasion. Thank you Love.


the perfect bouquet

easter weekend

tim is delighted with the whole process

Our friends the Brandt's contacted us early last week to see if we wanted to spend Easter at their condo in Breckenridge as no one was going to be using it. YES! YES! YES! The snow has been phenomenal this year and didn't disappoint in the days prior to our departure with lots of fresh powder falling daily. For my non-American readers, Good Friday and Easter Monday are not national holidays in the US, so Paul had to take Friday off and be back at work on Monday. I'd never heard of Easter Monday until I moved to Europe.

We started our holiday by coloring eggs with Timothy on Wednesday evening. Check out his blog of this from last year if you want to be reminded of how much he's grown.

this year the dye came with five plastic 'cups'

Mom put together Easter baskets filled with candy for them, (and a few treats for us as well), and I bought plastic eggs to fill with jelly beans and chocolate eggs and to hide in the back yard.

luke's first easter basket

our dye came with stickers too

We decided to do the egg hunting on Friday morning before going to the condo. Tim doesn't know the difference at this age, and I didn't want to haul all those eggs up there. We always leave some toy at the condo and the more we take the more likely we are to leave even more behind. It was a great decision because after several days of rain and more in the forecast, Friday dawned bright and clear. Luke actually found one egg all by himself. Tim was happy to share his booty.


hunting eggs

Driving up to the condo was pleasant with great weather and no traffic as everyone else was at work or in school. We got there with time for Paul to do some skiing and when he finished, we took the boys sledding. They both enjoyed it. We only saw the sign forbidding sledding on the ski run as we were packing up to leave on Sunday. Fortunately, it was very quiet on the slope, so I don't think we bothered anyone. We tried to stay to the sides.

getting ready to go sledding just outside the condo



sledding with dad

After sledding we took them to the condo clubhouse for a turn in the pool and hot tub. The hot tub was too hot for Tim, but Luke was happy to let Paul hold him while he soaked his muscles. Tim and I played in the pool. We took the inflatable car that we bought for him in Turkey back in '08, and he floated around in that. He invented a game. He sat on the top step in his car and told me to "Go under water on your front and be a mermaid." This meant that I swam underwater away from him and kicked the water once as I moved away. He would then push off the step and float after me, laughing. At first he told me to be a whale and I told him I would only play the game if he called me a mermaid. He needs to learn early how to please the ladies. We did this too many times to count, so many times, that Paul and Luke got dressed and went back to the condo. I finally made Tim stop when his lips started to turn blue and he couldn't talk for the chattering of his teeth. It's a heated pool, but you need to be in the water and moving around to combat the cool that hits the room when the sun goes down.

Saturday brought more snow. Paul had thought on Friday that he'd only ski Saturday morning and then we'd go to town for lunch; however, the snow was too good for skiing and too bad for town going, so he skied, stopped for a long lunch break with us, did some more sledding, and then skied some more.

last weekend of the season at breckenridge

The skies cleared around 16:00, and we made it into town for a walk along the main street and dinner. The city council was hosting an egg hunt for kids on the main street, and Tim found two eggs. He likes the Easter Bunny! Paul took Tim swimming again after we returned from town.



paul is holding the camera in one hand, two ski pole in the other and skiing on a black slope

I think it snowed all of Saturday night. Paul skied until about 11:00. We tried to go to the pool again, but it was closed. Tim handled the disappointment very well until I complimented him on it and he had a melt down. It seems we made it through two without too much trouble. Three is proving to be trying indeed.

spring in colorado

The back yard at 08:00


The back yard at 17:00



The front yard at 08:00


The front yard at 17:00

One of the things I love about Colorado is the weather. If you don't like it, give it a few hours and it will change.