Delightfully Warm December Day in Denver 2010

Bath Bubbles

Best School Performance in Ages

Zane's second grade class learned about historic Americans by each learning about a character and becoming that person for an evening. This was the most clever and entertaining school performance I can remember. Zane was Johnny Appleseed. Others in his class posed as Walt Disney, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Buffalo Bill, Rosa Parks, Emilia Earhart, Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Blackwell, Neil Armstrong, MLK, John Lennon (who performed the song "Imagine"), Daniel Boone, Dr. Seuss, Annie Oakley and many more. They learned facts about their person and were then interviewed by parents and grandparents. My favorite (besides Johnny Appleseed) was Muhammad Ali. When I asked him why he stopped fighting, this eight-year-old said, "I was getting Parkinson's Disease and I was starting to lose fights." During the process of practicing their parts the kids all learned about each other's historic figure. They started calling each other by their new names. Zane even started signing his school papers, Johnny" for the week.

Snowy Stroll in The Monument

This afternoon Max and I went down the road to The Colorado National monument for a little hike. The thick fog and light snow prevented us from seeing the sheer drop off next to the trail. We both remarked that we wished it was summer, but have to admit it really was pretty.

It Won't Melt, May as Well Put it to Use

Back to Easter Hill with Zane and Max for sledding. This snow is left over from Christmas. There's not great coverage and it's a little crunchy, but still does the job.

Only one misshap when Max landed with his hand in a cactus. Thank goodness his gloves saved him.

Zoe had more fun than anyone, chasing the sleds and sometimes causing a spill.

Vocabulary Lesson

Russ's father recently died. Zane and Max called him Grandpa Taylor. Yesterday we drove past his house and the boys were talking about the fact that he died and how sad that is. A couple of hours later we had dinner together: Amber, Kurt, Zane, Max, Steve and Me. About half way through dinner, sort of out of the blue, Max said, "Was Grandpa Taylor a bastard?" There was an awkward silence. Looks of shock. All of us kept a straight face as we started to stammer out a reply. Then someone said, "What do you think a bastard is, Max?" He said, "An old man who lives by himself." We then had a sigh of relief and gladly explained that he did live alone, was not actually a bachelor, but a widower.

Warming Trend

After 2 weeks of highs below freezing and unspeakable low temperatures, Grand Junction had a high of 40 degrees yesterday. Zane, Max, the dogs and I hiked up Easter Hill and built snowmen (You may be able to see our creations if you look very closely at the top of the hill in the photo).