Major Mom

My name is Patricia, but in the blogging world I became known as "Major Mom" thanks to a friend in the Air Force Reserves. As soon as he had said it, the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" went through my mind. I am a mother and wife first - an Air Force wife, that is. My husband proudly serves in the Air Force as a weather officer. I also continue to serve my country as a Major in the Air Force Reserves. It's a wonderful double-life I lead. It was a very difficult decision for me -- I had our second son in early 2005 just before the 10-year-point in my career. It was already tough having to turn my oldest son over to a child care center every duty day -- 50 hours per week. So in spring 2005 I took advantage of a Reserves job opening for which I was qualified in Norfolk, Virginia -- my hometown! It's truly wonderful getting to see my sons grow up, and be able to help out at their school, on their sports teams (I've coached soccer before) and as a Cub Scout den leader. I'm not sure I'd have had time for that if I had remained on active duty. We currently live in Navarre, Florida, while my wonderful husband is assigned to Hurlburt Field, Florida. We've also lived in the following locations since we graduated from Penn State University in 1995: Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1995-1998 Yongsan Army Installation, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1998-2000 Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 2000-2002 Patrick AFB, Florida, 2002-2005 Raleigh, North Carolina (Dave was assigned to North Carolina State University), 2005-2008 Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 2008-2010 Hurlburt Field, Florida, 2010-present I started this blog in December 2007, thanks to suggestions from friends. We're in our third home since I started the blog. I used to send out captioned photo albums -- from AOL Pictures to Shutterfly albums to Picasaweb albums. Instead of flooding everyone with photos, now I can use this blog to send out the highlights. I'll talk about anything on here -- usually I'm talking about the kids, but I'll also delve into the local scene wherever we're living, and you'll also see some great posts about the two military moves (PCS: Permanent Changes of Station) we've had. Sometimes I talk about utter nonsense, such as finding a product called "Piggies in Pancakes" in a grocery store in South Carolina. In my spare time I write for the parenting blog GeekMom.com, I serve on the board of the Hurlburt Spouses' Club, and I'm a Cub Scout den leader. I also enjoy running and playing the violin.

Colorado Discoveries 26: Colorado Railroad Museum II

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Last weekend while Dave’s parents were visiting we took a road trip up to Golden to visit the Colorado Railroad Museum. I had written about our August 2010 trip before, and there wasn’t much different on this trip (at least from my point of view). The boys rode on the Galloping Goose, and we enjoyed … Read more

Colorado Discoveries 25: Denver Botanic Gardens

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I have so many beautiful flower pictures to include, I had to make up collages!
I have so many beautiful flower pictures to include, I had to make up collages!

During my inlaws’ visit to Colorado, we took a day and went up to Golden and Denver. While Dave, his Dad and Jacob visited Caboose Hobbies in Denver, Dave’s Mom, Timmy and I headed over to the Denver Botanic Gardens which was only a couple miles away.

Being that it’s wintertime, only a fraction of the garden is really worth seeing this time of year. But the areas that are open are very beautiful. The Tropical Conservatory, Orangery, Cactus house, and greenhouses were open. We were able to see everything in about two hours, which was just enough time for the men at Caboose Hobbies.

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Colorado Discoveries 24: Pikes Peak Highway

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That's the road we had just come up. Read on to learn more about the Pikes Peak Highway.
That’s the road we had just come up. Read on to learn more about the Pikes Peak Highway.

Greetings! I hope everyone had a nice holiday season these past couple months. I’ve plenty of catching up to do! Last week my in-laws were in town to celebrate Christmas with us. We were grateful for their company and for their taking a chance with the weather to fly out to Colorado from the east coast. The weather cooperated beautifully for their visit, in fact! We did quite a bit of sightseeing, including the traditional Colorado Springs sights: Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy. In fact, we all went to the Christmas Eve service at the Chapel, which was quite beautiful.

On the 24th we attempted to drive up the Pikes Peak Highway, but found out at the toll booth that the road wasn’t open all the way to the top due to icy conditions at the top that day. But that’s okay, we tried again on the 26th and the road was indeed open to the top.

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Colorado Discoveries 23: Denver Chriskindl Market

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The Denver Christkindl Market is an annual tradition.
The Denver Christkindl Market is an annual tradition.

I feel sort of guilty posting about this event when today is the last day for the season. However, hopefully folks will Google this event in future years and can read about our family’s experience.

The Denver Christkindl Market is an annual holiday tradition in downtown Denver, put on by the German American Chamber of Commerce of Colorado. It’s conveniently located on the 16th Street Mall at Skyline Park, not far from the 16th & Stout Streets commuter rail station. There are many other things to do in the vicinity, such as visiting the Tattered Cover bookstore or going ice skating at the Southwest Rink at Skyline Park.

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Oh Baby It’s Cold Outside: Christmas Preparations and a Flooded Basement

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I'll bet you want to put on a coat just looking at this, don't you?
I’ll bet you want to put on a coat just looking at this, don’t you?

The picture above is what we awakened to this morning, with 19F temperature. This came on the heels of several pleasant days: the kids could walk to/from school and I enjoyed an outside run.

A far departure from the Florida temperate conditions we had every Christmas.

You won’t be seeing as many “Colorado Discoveries” posts this time of year, mainly because it’s been colder here. We aren’t spending as much time outside.

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Colorado Discoveries 22: Monarch Ski Mountain

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I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like. Read on to learn why.

Just after Thanksgiving our family took a trip to Monarch Ski Mountain in the middle of the state. It was our family’s first trip skiing in Colorado, and our first skiing in nearly 4 years. I wrote about our last ski trip — in IOWA — in 2009.

Colorado has dozens of ski resorts, so as you could imagine, it was tough deciding which one to try first. We had a lot of suggestions to get season passes, but we figured that for 2013-2014 we’d check out several resorts and make a decision for the following season.

Over the summer and fall, I had talked to several Colorado Springs “natives”: our basement contractor, my violin repairman, even Timmy’s 3rd grade teacher. They had all said the same thing: “Monarch Mountain is where the locals go.”

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Colorado Discoveries 21: Winter Hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park

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Jacob's smile in this picture make this slippery hike worth it!
Jacob’s smile in this picture make this slippery hike worth it!

On the second day of our trip to Estes Park, we took a hike around Bear Lake. We weren’t sure what we would encounter, since there was quite a bit of snow. It turned out the trail was very snowy, but was packed down enough that we could walk on it okay. We just had to be very very careful!

These signs all over the entrance were rather daunting....
These signs all over the entrance were rather daunting….

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Nebraska Discoveries 22: My last trip to Nebraska…for now.

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The Historic Fort Crook Suites are on "General's Row" on Offutt AFB.
The Historic Fort Crook Suites are on “General’s Row” on Offutt AFB.

Just before Thanksgiving I took one last trip to Offutt AFB in Nebraska. This time I was signing out of my unit at STRATCOM. The folks in my office took me out for a nice lunch at Sinful Burger, and I even caught one last Omaha-Offutt AMS chapter meeting to see some of my friends from my time with that group in 2008-2010.

I had been traveling to Nebraska 5-6 times per year in 2011, 2012, and 2013 for my reserve work. Dave had received orders from Nebraska to Florida a mere 6 months after I had been hired locally.

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Colorado Discoveries 20: Sledding at Rocky Mountain National Park

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You want to see happy kids, take 'em sledding!
You want to see happy kids, take ’em sledding! Better yet, chain the kids together and send ’em down the hill!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, my friend Paige and I took our sons up to Estes Park, Colorado for a long weekend in a cabin.

We stayed at the same YMCA of the Rockies resort we had visited in August 2010. It was just much colder this time.

The cabin was very nice, with a wood fireplace and a bookcase full of boardgames and puzzles!

The highlight of our weekend had to be the sledding trip! We spent two hours at the Hidden Valley at Rocky Mountain National Park. The hill is a former ski hill and the most gentle part of the hill is a well-used sledding hill now.

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