Hallmark's Crown Center Day One

We spent our first day at Crown Center doing LegoLand and Fritz's, the latter being a burger joint where the food is delivered by train! All today's photos are here.

Upon this Night there is Hope

Lynn and I attended a Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) show here in Colorado Springs this afternoon. We were a bit concerned we might be disappointed after the Mannheim Steamroller concert on Thursday, but those worries fell behind quickly with the very first song. It was these guys that recorded the first music we heard years ago to which home outdoor Christmas light displays were synced. I remember us standing around a computer watching that video as if it were yesterday. The article title comes from the Christmas story they told during the first act. And wow, do they have lights and graphics down! Interesting to note that the first, fastest, and longest standing ovation came when TSO gave a shout out to members of the military services.

Dinner and a Concert

It's been quite a while since Lynn and I have done this! Dinner was at The Rabbit Hole per a recommendation from Zach and Rebecca. Fun underground place (almost felt illegal going down in through a sidewalk set of stairs) with intriguing drinks and food that lived up to our anticipation. The concert was Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas program, which also lived up to expectations.

A Mojito and a White Rabbit. That's a flaming marshmallow.

God Bless America

What an honor it was to attend the Veterans' Day Assembly at DCC Middle School this morning. It was supposed to be yesterday, but yesterday turned out to be a snow day. I cannot tell you how great it is to live in a community so unabashedly patriotic and Godly. Every day we see lots of uniformed parents dropping off kids, picking up kids, attending this and that; but to see it all at once is stunning. After all the vets entered and were seated, an ROTC group opened with the presentation of the colors. Fina's group, the Thundertones, sang (in 4-part) the national anthem and a medley of the Armed Forces songs. As each service's song was sung, the vets in that service stood. A child from each grade level presented their winning submission to an arts contest of honoring vets. The 6th grade girl sang an original song, the 7th grader shared an original poem, and the 8th grader shared her very cool art piece depicting a service family. It took a while for the principal to name off all the service families in the school, and members of each family stood as their names were called. There were quite a few kids standing by the end. A men's chorus of mostly vets sang a handful of songs, barbershop style. The program went for an hour in a gymnasium full of junior high kids - and you could have heard a pin drop except when they were cheering and waving flags. (Sorry for the crappy cell phone vid/pics, I didn't think to bring the real camera.)

Sun on Snowy Mountains

Tracy measured 7" of snow in the backyard yesterday.

More Snow!

Which means Sunday paper time, football, and puzzles.

Lynn and Sandy get the paper.

To the Moon

Matteo had his 1969-piece Lego Saturn V built by bed time.

Fina made this Harry Potter birthday cake for Matteo.

Operation Anti-Bahhumbug

Fina made some derogatory remarks about early Christmas decorating, so while she was at school Tracy and Lynn decorated her room! Her initial shock was soon replaced with glad tidings. There were also mini-snowball twink lights all around her room at the ceiling.

It's not a Christmas Tree

It's an Alpine Tree Night Light. It will become a Christmas Tree on November 23rd. Alexa, turn on tree.

A Nightmare Halloween

This year's Halloween theme was The Nightmare Before Christmas. You may recall that Serafina was in a production of that show at CDMA and played The Clown with the Tear-Away Face. So, into the cold evening they went... Nana and Papa manned the house where 50+ kids dropped by using our LED-illuminated balloons as their guide. All the photos are here.

Jack Skellington and Sally.

Fina and friend photo-bombed by a skeleton.

There's an app for where you can get candy!

LED-illuminated balloons.

Yes, that's snow.

Halloween

Snow! For Halloween! Who'd 'a' thought.

It was 70 and like this two days ago!

Marshmallow/Toothpick Pumpkin Structure

We took a shot at the Destination Imagination challenge to build a marshmallow/toothpick structure that would hold a mini pumpkin as high as possible. Very challenging.