Day 496

Today was a little calmer than days have been lately. Jamie got to process all the photos from yesterday's trip to the Georgetown Loop Railroad. The garage floor is just hanging out curing. And the landscapers got started on the areas on the outside of the driveway up by the garages. Matt got home from Phoenix more or less as planned, but with a stop at West Main Taproom thrown in for good measure, Matt was thirsty. We discovered a competing gin to Hendricks - Woody Creek in Basalt, CO (southeast of Glenwood Springs). Is that a name for a Colorado town or what?! Like Hendricks, also very floral and very polite, but lavender in color. They make potato vodka, too. The bartender was a hoot to chat with. It was a gully washer from just south of Franktown all the way home. Haven't seen rain that heavy and lengthy in quite a while.

Blast from the past.

Day 495

Big day! A trip to Buttermilk for breakfast for Nana and Papa and the four boys. We took Jonny and AJ home (Jonny wasn't excited about a long car trip and AJ was still quite under the weather). Then it was off to the Georgetown Loop Railroad to meet up with the Visalia (CA) cousins for a train ride. What a hoot! Lynn had been trying to tell me that we were there (family reunion) with my parents, sister, her kids, and our own very young children way back when, but absolutely nothing was coming to mind. Even when we got there nothing seemed in the least familiar. Until we got to Silver Plume, the other end of the rail line. And there was the yard where we walked along the rails! Looked exactly like a scene in my mind that I could not place. We were here almost exactly 30 years ago! After the train ride, we went to downtown, historic Georgetown to stroll around a little, had some ice cream (eat dessert first!), and had lunch at Cooper's on the Creek. We got home just in time to see the new garage floor completed (still two days of curing to go, though). The providers let the kids participate by throwing the "sprinkles" onto the floor. All the day's photos are here.

On the back, my Mom had written the names, place, and date.

Back at the Compound, helping with the new garage floor.

Lynn and Jamie and their very young kids walked
these rails almost exactly 30 years ago!

Historic Georgetown. You can always tell a real
Colorado town... The streets end with a mountain.

Life is uncertain, eat dessert first

The cousins

Day 494

At 0-dark-30 Jamie took Matt to the airport for a trip to Phoenix. Fortunately, Jamie got back to the house in time for a little birthday breakfast action - always a big hit! The project to resurface the garage floor began today. Fina got her herp homes going. AJ and Lucy (California friend) had a bake-off online today. It was pretty fun. Lucy won. By a long shot. But AJ (and Papa) had a good time, and it did taste pretty good. No worries, there were Bundtinis everywhere.

One of Fina's new herps from yesterday.

Still not up to snuff.

"Go outside and do whatevere you want!"

These two did a little better.

Insert herp A into terrarium B.
See instructions to assemble terrarium B.

When time was called.

Day 493

Sickness is working its way through the Compound. Jamie was the only one to make it to church today. Finally found a cool toy for cast-boy. He can finger paint! Sort of. Nana and Papa made a mid-afternoon lunch/dinner stop at La Casa Fiesta in Monument. They were hoppin' at 3pm! Tracy and Matt are trying to pick colors to repaint the house. We seem to be narrowing in on some combination of near black and near white. Fina went herping (as in herpetologist), and came back with herps: a salamander and a frog.

Sampling paints.

This is a favorite look down the street. "Greek Villa" white.

Jamie's reading buddy.

Day 492

David joined in on the morning reading routine. Fina had no sooner finished flushing the youngest's feeding tube than he threw up. Not from the feeding but from a cold messing up his sinuses and on down the throat. But the arm casts were saved! Today we prepped for a new garage floor coating coming on Monday. We had to get everything off the floor, which included a delivery of some furniture to a friend, a delivery to Goodwill, and the rest will sit in the U-Haul till the floor is ready to put it back. Matt and Nana whipped up a salmon and salad dinner. To finish the day, Matt and Jamie finished listening to Project Hail Mary. Best sci-fi book ever! And you will definitely learn some actual real science.

Love rain! And we got two bursts of it today.

Day 491

In addition to the plant checking and reading activities this morning, Nana and Papa went out to Eagle Lake Camp to collect AJ. What a week he had. Wore him out, and that takes some doing. Everyone will be taking it as easy as possible today. Nana and Papa made it over to the Club for lunch. It's been a while since Jamie's had their near-perfect Hendricks martini. It was also horse day at the Foundation. We happened by some young bulls, see below.

Only a fraction...

Coffee tree in Woodland Park.

New friend at the Club.

We went by these young bulls while horsing around today.

Day 490

The last day of the week was packed with various appointments. In between, there are all kinds of activities. And a new tree showed up! A bristlecone pine to replace the weeping spruce. Very cool! Jamie sat out with it a little while. Matt actually did get home today from St. Louis.

It's a matching game...