Life on the High Plains

This is one of the most magnificent skylines we've ever had the pleasure of visiting.  I'm in the process of reorganizing all my photos and I came across these shots from 2009. It was so surreal to visit the Sydney Opera House.  I had to keep pinching myself to believe I was actually in Australia sitting on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The Sydney Harbor Bridge is beautiful! We took the walk across the bridge.  For one of us who is afraid of heights (not mentioning any names) it was quite horrifying. Beautiful day, beautiful sky, beautiful city, beautiful people!  It might be time to go back. Happy Skywatch Friday!

While everyone was here for Thanksgiving we decided to do one of those escape rooms.  You get a scenario to a mystery and then you get one hour to solve it. Here the crew is peering into the room before our official start time. These escape rooms are in a historic home in downtown Colorado Springs.  The house is over 100 years old and is very "cool". Once they opened the door everyone got right to work looking for clues.  Our scenario was a politician who is running for office.  His young intern is missing and he is the prime suspect. The politician and his wife left the house to go to dinner so we had one hour to solve the mystery before they return. Even Miss G was busy looking for clues. This game is well suited to those who are observant and have great problem solving skills.  I have neither of those unless it involves some kind of technology. I was able to put all these balls in their correct slots to solve the las...

This is the first year we've been home for Christmas in a very long time.  Since we are usually in Idaho for Christmas our decorations have been minimal--an artificial tree with a few ornaments.  This year we are staying home which is heartbreaking because I'm missing my dad like crazy. At my dad's funeral I spoke about a few of my favorite memories of him.  One of those was our "Christmas tree hunts" in the national forests when I was a kid.  This year I asked Irv what he would think of going on our own hunt to get a real tree.  He thought it was a good idea too. Being the law abiding daughter of a forest ranger, we went down to our local ranger office and purchased a permit.  What a deal--$10, but don't get too excited.  Next year they're going up to $20.  Why, you ask?  The current administration has no respect for our national forests or national parks and they're having to do whatever they can to raise their own revenue, bu...

Our family has a tradition for the day after Thanksgiving.  We book a private party at Painting with a Twist. Miss G was super excited to participate in her first family painting party.  Sometimes there is a lot of alcohol involved in this event, sometimes there's not.  This year was a lighter year. These two guys always hang out together and cause lots of trouble. Adorableness! Look at that masterpiece! How much paint can one little girl put on one canvas? Usually Mr. Beans goes rogue with his own design, this year he joined in with the rest of us. Over the years we've expanded our family to include lots of people.  This year Mary's friend joined in the fun. Here's the other two guys who like to quietly cause trouble.   Cody, our instructor, picked these three for us to vote on.  The winner got a free drink from the bar. (Congrats A!) Here's my finished work. Too much fun going on in ...