Basketball Court Initiated

Amazingly enough, no sooner had AJ and Matteo got outside to give the new sport court a try, two neighborhood boys showed up for a little 2-on-2. I'm pretty sure neither AJ nor Matteo knew exactly what that meant, but everyone looked like they were having fun! We're in the final-touches phase of the backyard (and some frontyard) redo by Jake's Designs. See photos of the project.

It (pine needle basket) Is Finished

The Ponderosa Pine Needle Baskets were finished up today at School in the Woods. AJ was pretty darn proud of his, and even Mr. W. got AJ on film talking about the basket experience. AJ said he learned to keep trying. During clean-up, Mr. W. came and asked AJ to help another student get her basket done. Big day.

TECO Train Show

Papa, Matteo, and AJ went to the mall today for a train show put on by Train Expo Colorado (TECO). Great fun, of course. AJ and Matteo enjoyed the swap meet most. Papa liked the layouts. All three of us went to the talk about the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad from Denver to Kenosha Pass. Yes, that South Park! AJ even bought himself an N-gauge boxcar and some track. He loved chatting with the guys.

Jamie made connections with the Rocky Mountain Railroad Heritage Society and in particular the Calhan Depot project they are working. He may have found his next webmastering project(s). Calhan, CO is about 40 minutes east of us on the way to Limon, CO.

We concluded with lunch at Chick-fil-A and a stop at the fudge shop to take home a family treat.

Found a Big Boy! 4014 no less.

AJ road all the way up Elf-style.

Ponderosa Pine Needle Baskets

A School in the Woods activity. This is Day 3. Be sure to keep your gauge fed!

Pine needles around the school are like
grains of sand at the beach.

Cleaning the needles.

10 Kids at the Pool

We were 10-kids strong at the pool today. I don't know if that headcount is the most amazing thing about this, or that we could even think about going to the pool in January. Sam was not there as he returned to basic training a few days ago, and Jonathan wasn't there either as he was home with Nana taking it easy. On the plus side, we had five add-ons.

Wingspan

Matteo got a new board game for Christmas, Wingspan. It's a pretty cool game Megan's new beau developed. Rob and Vickie were here after Christmas and spent a fair amount of time teaching us how to play. Seems to have paid off as we managed to play a game by ourselves after they went home.

Garden of the Gods with Uncle Craig

Uncle Craig, Nana, Papa, Matteo, AJ, and David headed for some hiking time this morning at Garden of the Gods. A balmy 41 degrees, but didn't slow us down a bit. Except where the path was significantly covered in ice (or very packed snow). All the pics are here.

That's Pikes Peak in the background.

The Kissing Camels are almost dead-center at the top of the formation.
Very small in this picture.