Catch Up

What is the purpose of this family blog? Well, today it's to give a short summary of what's been going on during the last few weeks.

Easter has come and gone, and we spent the day at The Ranch. I cooked a turkey for Cyndi, and with pot luck we had a great feast. The kids played with the electric cart and practiced golf with Don. The highlight had to be the Easter Egg Hunt. Lola came with us.

Rylee's growing so fast. Talking a lot. Explaining things with much enthusiasm and authority. He's learning fast. He adopts a different toy every day for the whole day and to take to bed at night. He still insists on his number shirt but will settle for a short-sleeved shirt and, in a pinch, the "shirt Elley gave me." He remembers that. I love that he'll ask for permission to do many things. In the middle of the night, he'll ask me, "Can I go to Jackson's room now?"

We got news that Jackson's film is opening in NYC this month. (There's a link on the home page.) He has a piano recital coming up. He loves school, and they love him. And his Red Sox team has its first game tomorrow. It's machine pitch. Somehow, I am being elevated to the head coach position even though I know practically nothing about the game. Luckily, there are others helping out with the real coaching and instruction, leaving me with the managerial stuff. We shall see.

Ariel is doing a lot of winter stuff in Alaska, and I expanded a note about her and a link to some photos on the home page.

We took a short trip to Colorado during part of Jackson's spring break. Jack was in charge of maps. For two nights, we stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. We got a very good deal, as during its normal season the rates would be unbearable. Such a beautiful and wonderful place! It surrounds a small lake, with geese and swans, up against the mountains. Pike's Peak is nearby. We stayed away from the formal dining choices and had yummy fish 'n' chips and a glass of ale at their pub. (We were attacked by a swarm of sticky bees.) Cyndi got to take a yoga class at the spa complex, and the boys and I swam in the indoor pool. We saw The Bee Movie for free in their theater, followed by homemade ice cream. We took their shuttle to the nearby zoo and saw their renowned giraffes. (Herd?) We visited Manitou Springs, found a toy store, and Jack rode some arcade rides in town. We toured Old Colorado City and downtown and had a couple of unremarkable meals away from the resort.

In the morning, as we were preparing to drive to Denver, the weather had changed. It was wet, blowing, and even snowing. When we got our Durango, it was completely covered with a thick sheet of ice that didn't melt until we were 20 miles from Denver and all of a sudden the weather was nice again. We went to the nature & science museum first and bought the last tickets available for the planetarium shows. (Jack is a scientist now, and is particularly interested in the solar system and the universe. It's a big topic to grapple with. And he tries to figure out where God and heaven fits in, too.) We ended up going to the LoDo end of the 16th Street Mall, parked our car, visited the bookstore there and then grabbed the shuttle. We decided to try the Hard Rock Cafe in the middle of it all, and that turned into a fun time. Cyndi got to window shop for only a few minutes while we were waiting for a table. Back to the car, checked into our hotel, and back to the planetarium for the show on the planets. (Saved full price admission by getting next to last show.) We had promised the boys to take them to this good toy store in the Cherry Creek Shopping District called Kazoo. The idea was for me and the boys to look at the toys (there was a secret budget for toys on this trip) while Cyndi shopped in the boutiques. They were so excited. They ran laps around the store like it was Christmas. We ended up getting another train or car for Rylee, a rocket, a disk shooter, a globe beachball, and glo planets to hang in their room. "Five toys," Jackson repeated for the next few days. There's a huge mall across the street, where we ate sushi (rolls, really), rice, and American entrees (strange menu) and drank overpriced wine and Cyndi found some shoes while the boys and I waited for the table. It sounds like Cyndi did a lot of shopping, but really she only managed to squeeze in a grand sum of, I'd say, about 40 minutes, here and there. When the boys and I were in the toy store, for example, she just meant to check on us on her way about but the boys managed to keep her in the toy store.

So Saturday morning comes and we get a huge, free breakfast at our hotel, and Cyndi says, let's drive around and see some more of Denver before we have to leave, and I drive to the art museum at the other end of the 16th Street Mall just before the museum is about to open. We actually go in. We see an Impressionism show. Jack walks around with little headphone gear that's programmed as a self-guided "docent tour" for children. It's a special weekend for kids, it turns out, and even the guards go out of their way to welcome children and show paintings. It was a good exhibit. We hear about a lego recreation going on in another wing and spend some time there before heading home to Albuquerque. (On the home page, there's a picture of Jackson and Rylee, with the Denver skyline beyond, taken at the art museum and a link to the lego project.)

The trip home is relatively easy, and we stop at El Pinto for dinner when we arrive back to Albuquerque.

There's more that has happened in this time, but I either can't remember that or I'm editing our life for you. I have heard some updates on other family. Sarah has a move coming up to Ole Miss. David and Sandra should be in Juneau and no longer on Sabbatical, but it's been quiet from them. Mom & Dad are "camping" and buying yet another set of tickets for flights to Hawaii as airlines continue to drop off the radar. Elley and Don and kids had dinner with us last week to thank Don for fixing our computer DVD/CD drive. Marti joined us, too, while Kristina spent the weekend with us. And that's all the news for now.