Shiny Rocks

I was looking for ideas for a "spring break Staycation" post for work so we invited the Hanlins to spend the night and go adventuring with us at the beginning of March. On Friday night we had an impromptu party when Nick stopped by and then Justin joined us. That was fun! We had dinner then played games. Mia went to bed and I stayed downstairs with her so she wouldn't be scared. The boys were all 100% fine with that because Dave let them stay up way late. Like midnight late or something crazy like that. They loved it. 

And since they were all up so late I let them sleep in so they wouldn't be grumpy! We had German pancakes for breakfast and check out the size of them! We all decided we've never seen them grow quite to big.

Our first stop of the day was a visit to the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. They give you a scavenger hunt when you arrive which was a good way to start but it wasn't too long before the kids lost interest in the scavenger hunt because they were just excited to see all the cool gems and minerals there.

 This was Mia's favorite - a crown made of local gems!

 

All of the items in this case were carved from minerals!

They have a cool exhibit downstairs called Blaster's Uranium Mine where you can learn about mining...

...and see fluorescent minerals. Those were very cool!

We even got to see a fossilized dinosaur bone.

This marble is the Colorado state stone:

And this was just a cool green rock. (Probably should have written down what it was...)

When we got back to the car I asked the kids if they thought they'd have fun when I first told them where we were going - they all said NO! Well, did they have fun?  YES! They all loved it! And we were all amazed at the gorgeous things and colors this earth creates!!

Next we planned to go have a picnic and hike around at Golden Gate Canyon State Park. About that. It was early March and even though it was ridiculously nice down in Littleton (thus the shorts) it was still snowy and cold up the hill. If you look in the background behind the kids you can see the picnic table...

So, we had our picnic in the car. (About a week later I went to put something int he back seat of my car and thought "why are there potato chip crumbs back here!?"  Oh yeah! Picnic...)

Just a little snow...

I never did write up that post for work because my plan didn't work out quite as I had hoped. However, we did have a super fun time with the Hanlin kiddos! And really that was the point. 

Where will our next adventure be? Hmmm...

Georgetown

We went to Georgetown last Saturday and I have to tell you I'm in *love* with Georgetown!  It's so stinkin' cute!

We drove up Guanella Pass to Clear Lake for a picnic lunch. The lake was nothing too exciting but the scenery around was fabulous and the drive, while full of switchbacks, was gorgeous. Thank goodness for my seabands or I'd get sick every time we go up the mountain! We started to have lunch and the wind was blowing and it was C-O-L-D!

We ate in a hurry because, well, it was cold. Just as we were heading back to the car it started to rain. Before we left that morning we said "maybe we should bring jackets" but then we forgot. Lesson learned! It's late August - we need jackets. We should probably always have them in the car anyway.

After lunch we went into Georgetown. It was cool in Georgetown but substantially warmer than up the hill aways!

One thing I love about Georgetown is that it sits in this little valley and any direction you look is a towering mountain covered in pine trees. Love!

We walked around the main street area for awhile then went to the Hotel de Paris Museum. The poor volunteer who was taking care of admission that day was an older lady and she was so frazzled that she had to run a credit card charge through because we didn't have cash. Lesson #2 learned for this trip - bring cash! Some of these small places deal better with that and some only take cash.

It was a fun tour that even takes you into the cellar. That wasn't so good for my tall husband but it was still interesting to see. Something like 90% of what you see there was original to the first or second owners - very unusual for a museum so I was pretty excited about that.

We also did the tour of the Hamill House museum - that was an excellent tour!

The house is gorgeous and the tour guide was great. We were the only ones on that tour and that always makes me happy because then you can go at your own pace and ask questions and really get the info on whatever interests you. The guide also gave us good information on Georgetown in general which always helps put things in context.

One thing he told us was that while most mountain mining towns had one decent fire department Georgetown had four (4!) excellent fire departments and because of that it's the only mountain town in the state that has never burned to the ground. This also explains why I love this town so much - seriously there were old houses and buildings everywhere with their little plaques "1875," "1888" and so on. No wonder it's so adorable!! There were two houses (adorable houses) for sale right across the street from the Hamill House but Dave wouldn't let me buy one. Well, actually he said I would really hate the commute. I said that's ok, I'll quit my job and stay right there in Georgetown...  ;)

This little mountain town is a gem and it's only about 45 minutes away from home. We both loved it and we'll definitely be back!! Next time we'll stay overnight so we can take more time exploring Guanella Pass.

Day in Historic Denver

I'm up to my ears in planning (and pulling off) this event with the Molly Brown House Museum and Historic Denver so I figured I might as well get the word out about it! :) Day in Historic Denver 8/7/10 (Saturday) 2-9pm 9th Street Historic Park, Auraria Campus Day in Historic Denver will take you into Molly Brown's Denver. There will be costumed storytellers, historic games and crafts [That's my gig], food, music, tours, Titanic expo, and lots of fun! [Ever wonder how I'd look in a floofy Victorian dress with *big* leg-o-mutton sleeves? Come see me and you can rest your mind on that account!] Admission is free. Food and some activities require a ticket purchase. There is also a vintage baseball game that morning that will be lots of fun. The Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association & Historic Denver Inc.'s Karle Seydel Memorial Baseball Game will be played from 10am - 1:30pm at the Tivoli field, also located on Auraria's downtown campus. Admission is free. The first 1,000 attendees will receive a vintage style baseball card. [These guys wear 19th century uniforms and play by 19th century rules which can be pretty fun and lively to watch.] Hope to see some of you there! :)

Baseball, Suffrage, & Fainters

I went to help at Rock Ledge today for their annual vintage baseball game which is a big draw for the ranch. The players are dressed in early 1900s costume and there's an old time band that plays between innings so it was fun. Hot but fun.

We women gathered our signs and interrupted their game (as in, walked right into the middle of it) demanding women's suffrage, a servant girls union, and prohibition. It was fun to see audience members get into the debate along with us (or against us). We did get the boys to agree (begrudgingly) to let one of our women play on their team - on the condition that when she messes up, she's out! She was wearing a reform or bloomer dress which is a shorter skirt with bloomers that completely cover to the ankles - very daring but much more conducive to such things as baseball or climbing mountains.

On one of my tours a girl fainted and it caused quite a little disturbance in the house for awhile. We had to call the paramedics so a big ol' fire truck drove right up to the house and excited lots of attention. She was fine thankfully but the incident made me wonder why I seem to get the fainters on my tours. I had one at the other museum last month too. I guess if it keeps happening I'll become pretty well versed on what to do and what not to do but at this point I think I need to work on spotting them before they go down! Perhaps I'll require everyone to drink some water before we start or they can't come with us. Or perhaps I'll just be lucky and not have any more fainters this summer. But beware, if you're a fainter, you may want to choose another tour... or maybe wait until the winter to visit me at the museum.

Day One at Rock Ledge

I started my "internship" at Rock Ledge Ranch living history museum yesterday. First off may I ask why there seems to be only one adult chaperone per 20 children on field trips? They (mostly the kids) don't get that whole "don't touch" rule and the one chaperone has a hard time enforcing it. And sometimes they don't even bother. Sigh.

We made butter yesterday. (We're portraying life in the 1880s remember.) That's really a big process and a good work out! Last night my shoulder was getting sore and I couldn't think of why until I realized it's my right shoulder and since I'm right handed I mostly did the churning with my right arm. And since it was my first day the other interpreters took people on tours and I did a lot (but not all) of the churning. It's still sore today. I hope that doesn't last long.

I was sitting on the porch pressing the butter (just one of the steps in the butter making process) and it was raining. I was sitting right outside the kitchen door and there was a fire crackling in the stove in the kitchen, it was quiet and no one was around and it was so peaceful. I just loved it! A short time later the peacock found the tree by the porch and climbed into it and kept - I don't know, what is it peacocks do? scream? - screaming because he didn't like the rain. Poor General Palmer! It wasn't quite as peaceful then but still enjoyable.

When I was about to leave the Lead interpreter came up the house and said there was a tornado watch in Castle Rock and funnels had been spotted. She wanted to warn me since I have to drive through Castle Rock to get home. I'm no tornado chaser so I decided I'd stay a little longer until the watch expired. So I continued to mold the butter...

All in all it was a good day at the ranch. I'm sure to learn some interesting skills this summer that I'll never use in my real life but it'll be fun anyway.