A Grand Canyon Preview

29. July 2014 · Comments Off on A Grand Canyon Preview · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I  have several posts to write about our trip out west in June, but between my full time work and making sure the kids are squared away this summer, I’ve been quite slow.

Feel free to browse these Grand Canyon photo albums and at the end of this post I’ll attach the text of the post I wrote for GeekMom about the Grand Canyon, which has a little of everything but not quite so much detail.

Drive to the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon Mather Campground Elk Sighting

Grand Canyon Hermit Trail

Grand Canyon Bright Angel Trail

Grand Canyon Visitor Center & Mather Point

Grand Canyon Sunset at Mather Point

Timmy the Junior Ranger

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When Geeks Go on Vacation: Grand Canyon, originally published at GeekMom.com 24 July 2014 More »

Colorado Discoveries 35: The U.S. Mint in Denver

24. July 2014 · 5 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,
The Denver Mint is an interesting place to visit, but the security requirements are pretty stringent.

The Denver Mint is an interesting place to visit, but the security requirements are pretty stringent. No photography inside the facility, so I took a couple photos outside.

My sons have always been interested in money. Not only saving money, but also how money is manufactured and distributed. I have memories of looking at U.S. paper money and seeing the Federal Reserve Seal. The letter ties in with a location, with “A” being Boston, Massachusetts in the northeast and “L” signifying San Francisco in the west. When I was a kid, most of the dollars circulating in my part of the country had an “E” for Richmond, Virginia.

We enjoyed the trip to the American Numismatic Museum in May where we learned all about the history of money and coin collecting.

Getting to the U.S. Mint in Denver is much more difficult. Not only is it farther away, but the word on the street was that we needed 90 day advance reservations. So not long after moving here in June 2013 I hopped online at the U.S. Mint’s website to try to get a reservation. It always seemed to be filled on the days that our family was available to visit. I got on the website in October to try to get reservations for the holidays, but the mint was closed to tours during the holidays. More »

My Garden Has Been “Featured”!

15. July 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:
This was the photo featured in my friend's blog!

This was the photo featured in my friend’s blog!

My friend, former GeekMom writer, and fellow gardening fan, Kris Bordessa has a really informative blog called Attainable Sustainable.

She blogs about tips for a simpler lifestyle, whether it’s via recycling, living off the land, or reducing your personal energy consumption. I encourage you to follow her online community on Facebook, it’s a hopping place to go to discuss gardening and recycling topics.

She set up a Facebook page where we can share photos and stories of our gardening, and today she picked some of the photos to feature in a blog post about different gardens around the country (and perhaps the world!).

I’m honored to have our garden be part of the post!

Flowers, Too!

15. July 2014 · Comments Off on Flowers, Too! · Categories: Uncategorized

I forgot to talk about the flowers in front of my yard. Here are a few, and I’ll photograph more tomorrow.

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It took FOREVER for the “early spring” flowers to bloom at our elevation (6800′). This was around May 1st.

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Hyacinth.

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The columbine is the Colorado state flower. They bloom in the wild on mountainsides.

I’m Finally in the Mood to Do a Little Writing….So I’ll Talk About My Garden!

14. July 2014 · Comments Off on I’m Finally in the Mood to Do a Little Writing….So I’ll Talk About My Garden! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:
My backyard garden. It isn't big, but it's been a great time seeing what can (and what cannot) grow in Colorado.

My backyard garden. It isn’t big, but it’s been a great time seeing what can (and what cannot) grow in Colorado. See the sprinkler in the lower right? That’s on a timer to run for 15 minutes every night. In this climate, you will never have too much water for your garden. A far departure from Florida.

This may sound strange, but now that we’re done with all of our June/early July travel, our lives will be calming down. We will still be busy, but things will be less chaotic.

I have so much to write about, I’m thinking, where to begin???

The boys’ never-ending baseball season?

The Denver Mint?

Our trip to Pennsylvania and West Virginia (with a little side trip to Penn State in there)?

My returning to work full time?

How about our travels to Durango, the Grand Canyon, and Moab?

I’m going to start with my garden, because that’s been quite the adventure in itself.

We need to go WAY back in time, to late March/early April. That’s when I started working on a seedling plan. The growing season is so short here, one has to start seeds indoors, particularly those plants that aren’t frost tolerant: tomatoes, peppers, squash. More »

Meet Ranger, Our New Family Member!

12. July 2014 · Comments Off on Meet Ranger, Our New Family Member! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,
Meet Ranger!

Meet Ranger!

I have a solid 6 weeks worth of adventures to write about, but for now, meet Ranger, the newest member of the family (pictured here).

It’s been about 3 months since we lost our beloved Howie, and the house just isn’t the same without a four-legged friend to keep us company.

He’s a ~2 year old smooth-coat border collie, and he’s so smart! He was found as a stray in Garden City, KS and was rescued from a rural Kansas shelter in mid-June. He had been fostering with a Denver family through the Western Australian Shepherd Rescue since then.

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Colorado Discoveries 34: Colorado Springs Sky Sox with Timmy’s Little League Team

27. May 2014 · Comments Off on Colorado Discoveries 34: Colorado Springs Sky Sox with Timmy’s Little League Team · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,
Timmy is #2.

Timmy is #2.

The first weekend of May, Timmy’s Little League baseball team did the Little League fan experience thing** with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the AAA Minor League Baseball team that plays right up the street from us. They’re the Colorado Rockies AAA affiliate team.

**It took me a second to sleuth around for the name of the program that Timmy participated in. It’s called the “Junior Sky Sox“.

This is very similar to what Timmy’s team did in Florida last summer with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos “Field of Dreams” experience.

This was also one the Sky Sox’s multiple Military Appreciation Nights, along with Timmy’s free ticket, the rest of us got discounted box seat tickets with our military IDs. That was nice.

Timmy’s team got to run out on the field with the Sky Sox players. It was very cute and I’m proud of how well the boys did. Alas, the Sky Sox didn’t win that night. More »

Today…We Remember: Memorial Day 2014

26. May 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

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I know I’ve been scarce lately. I did a couple weeks of Air Force Reserve work in mid-May, and now we’re wrapping up the boys’ baseball seasons and their school years. I have several great places in the community to write about, and I’m looking forward to all the great places we’ll be visiting this summer, including the long-awaited trip to the Denver Mint next week!

But today, we remember. 

I grew up not far from Washington, D.C. I visited several times with my family, and also took at least three school field trips up there to see numerous attractions. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall is the most emotional place I’ve visited in Washington, D.C. I’ve been there several times, with the first time probably in the mid-80s not long after it was dedicated. I think it was a middle school field trip. My feelings about this are in part because my father served in the conflict, but mostly because of how bitter it is. The pain and suffering emotion is palpable, not just from the starkness of the black marble, but from the other visitors who you will never see smiling or laughing. It’s raw silence.

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Colorado Discoveries 33: American Numismatic Association Money Museum, Colorado Springs

09. May 2014 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,
The American Numismatic Association Money Museum is located on the campus of Colorado College near downtown Colorado Springs. Here, Timmy is looking closely at the "error notes", bills with mistakes.

The American Numismatic Association Money Museum is located on the campus of Colorado College near downtown Colorado Springs. Here, Timmy is looking closely at the “error notes”, bills with mistakes.

On a day off of school on May 1st, the boys and I took a short trip down to Colorado College near downtown Colorado Springs to visit the American Numismatic Association Money Museum. More »

Colorado Discoveries 32: Western Museum of Mining & Industry, Colorado Springs

08. May 2014 · Comments Off on Colorado Discoveries 32: Western Museum of Mining & Industry, Colorado Springs · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,
The Western Museum of Mining and Industry is a fun 1/2 day trip in the Colorado Springs area. We learned so much!

The Western Museum of Mining and Industry is a fun 1/2 day trip in the Colorado Springs area. We learned so much! Here’s Timmy posing at a headframe with the Rampart Range in the background.

The boys had some days with no school in April and early May, so we did some sightseeing around the city. I have a list that I keep of things to do when the kids have no school, and this year we are working our way through the list quite nicely. It was a lovely day on April 21st, so we visited the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, which is right off I-25’s Exit 156, which is also the North Gate of the Air Force Academy.

It was a great time for Jacob to take the trip, since he is currently in the middle of his first research paper about geology. He had a chance to learn about the valuable minerals that exist in the Rockies, and what is done to extract them. More »

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