Friday, July 27, 2018

Beauty from Ashes

Fina's second intensive at Colorado Ballet Society this summer was this past week: Worship Dance Workshop - Beauty from Ashes. And like last time, the week concluded with a recital Friday evening. All the photos are here.


Bison Overlook(ed)

On the way home from Breckenridge, we stopped at the "Buffalo" Overlook along I-70 just west of Denver (exit 254 and 253). Apparently, someone overlooked putting the "buffalo" out there; we saw none. Found some smaller critters to photograph, but no "buffalo." "Buffalo" is in quotes because these (if/when present) are not buffalo. They are bison. An explanation. Bison by any other name, however, would have been just as absent. All the (sans bison) photos are here.




Thursday, July 26, 2018

McCullough Gulch, Colorado Southern, Washington Gold Mine

The entire gang headed to McCullough Gulch Trailhead first thing in the morning. We were correctly warned that parking there got highly impacted as the day goes on, so it was good we got there by 8:30am. We stumbled onto a trail bridge construction project being done by Air Force Academy students. On a 2-year cycle, the Junior class designs and then as the Senior class constructs a project somewhere. And this was construction year for this project. Guess what factor drove the design for the carrying weight of the bridge? Snow! At about 148 pounds per square inch. It's width was designed for emergency UTVs. We all made it to the first shack along the trail, but at that point Rob, Lynn, and Jamie turned around. They'll see Eric's and Alex's pictures later for the rest of that hike. On the way back, the former three stopped at the High Line Railroad Park in Breck, got a little rest at home, visited the Washington Gold and Silver Mine, and finally stopped at a vista point on the way home for the last time. All the photos are here.






Wednesday, July 25, 2018

"Breck" Distillery and Peak 8

This was the day for visiting Breckenridge Distillery and Peak 8. We did a tour and tasting at the distillery first thing (11am when they open). Fun, though short, tour and tasting which we upgraded (thankfully) to cover just about every libation they offer. Pretty good stuff. The Aquavit caraway hit was the stand-out taste, but the rest were darn good, too (brought a few bottles home). We made reservations for dinner at their restaurant (notable chef) and headed off to town for the gondola ride up to Peak 8. Lots of fun-looking stuff up there, but we chose to chill at the bar a while and watch all the action. Then back to the Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant for dinner. Wow! All the photos are here.






Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Breckenridge July 23-24

We're lovin' Breckenridge, Colorado. Jamie and Lynn are here with the Sisco clan. From the rowdy games in the evening to all "Breck" has to offer, it's pretty darn fun so far. On our first full day here we had breakfast at Amazing Grace, a cool little organic foods place a bit off the beaten path. Then Vickie and the millenials went on a hike (Spruce Creek to Mohawk Lake) while the other three "hiked" downtown Breckenridge. Main Street is indeed the main drag, but don't miss the Blue River walkway that parallels Main Street on its west side. One thing very cool about Breckenridge is how the vast number of colors and color combinations allowed actually work cohesively as an overall color palette. Codenames Pictures is a fun game! All the photos are here.


Out on our first hike. Watch for moose!

Well, no moose. But we did run across this critter.

Breakfast at Amazing Grace.

We watched this group build their stack...

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Bouldering

As in: climbing boulders. No equipment, just your body. And a crash pad to fall on (you never get very high). Eric and Alex are into climbing so we headed out first thing this morning for a bouldering spot at Garden of the Gods, the Snake Pit. Megan and Vickie gave it a go as well. A few others from the Compound joined us a few hours later. Matteo and AJ thought this was pretty cool. All the photos are here.








Rare photo of the photographer by Alex.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Aladdin Dance Recital

During the Summer, Colorado Ballet Society offers 1- and 2-week "Intensives" that include 30 hours per week of instruction and in some cases, like this one, also include a showcase performance Friday evening. This class was called "Broadway Dance Workshop - Aladdin." Four levels were offered in each of Musical Theatre Dance, Ballet, Jazz/Contemporary, and Tap. Fina loved it, despite her concurrent efforts with Anne of Green Gables (Elevate Productions) and Charlie Brown (DCC). All the dances were to music from Aladdin. Great way to do a dance recital! All the photos are here.













Thursday, July 19, 2018

Our Second Teenager

As of today, the Compound has a new teenager. And what girl wouldn't want her 13th birthday party to have a llama theme! All the pics are here.









Saturday, July 14, 2018

Five Firsts

Five members of the Compound attended rehearsals today for Anne of Green Gables, the Musical. It's being produced by Colorado Ballet Society's Elevate Productions, the same company that produced Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a few months ago.

So, what are the firsts?

Jamie has his first lead, as Matthew Cuthbert.
Matt has his first role since high school, as Cecil the farmer.
Fina has her first understudy responsibility, as Diana Barry.
Matteo and AJ have their first parts in community theatre, as schoolboys.

This already breaks our previous record of four Compound Dwellers involved in a given show (Chitty, Annie, and Legally Blonde), and if Lynn and/or Tracy get sucked into sets, as is often the case, we could easily hit six or seven with this one. Update: we hit seven!

The show runs October 5-7, 2018.

Here is an interesting story, including photos, about a trip to Prince Edward Island to visit Green Gables (someone else's story/photos). The image shown here is from that trip on page 3 of 13.

Monday, July 9, 2018

Mulch

A very large pile of mulch. We got it a few days ago and have been working it an hour or so in the mornings (when it's cool).




It protected the plant as desired.