Olivia's Summer Art Classes

Olivia took a couple more art classes again this summer. They were through the Cultural Arts Center in downtown Greensboro. The first was a nature sketching class and the second was a pottery class. While she thoroughly enjoyed both, her favorite was the pottery.

The one on the left she started to paint but ran out of time and it is a coffee cup that she made for me. She actually wrote DAD in the clay. Unfortunately, the handle came off.

She was super excited when she got to try her hand at the pottery wheel. (the one on the left above) These two were gifts that she made for Rebecca. 

At the end of the summer the cultural arts center put together a gallery showing of samples from the many art classes of the summer. The kids each had a piece displayed in it. Gabe's piece was the king puppet with his classes' castle display.

Olivia had 2 pieces. One was a portfolio of nature drawings.

The other was a "Man-Deer" Oh, the imagination of a child... :)

Colorado Leftovers

Somehow, I missed posting about our drive up to Loveland Pass! We decided it would be fun to combine it with some stargazing, so we left Denver at around 7:00 and made our way up I-70. What is always amazing to me the temperature difference once you head up into the mountains. When we left Denver, it was 85 degrees. When we got to Loveland Pass two hours later, it was 45! Now sure, some of that is from the sun going down, but a lot of it is just from the altitude difference. 

As you can see, Loveland is at just shy of 12,000 feet. We "low-landers" had a little trouble climbing the stairs due to the lack of oxygen. :)

They were trying to stargaze, but the flash was too bright.

Not 100 yards from where we parked was a good-sized snowfield. Olivia is a little over 4 feet tall, so there's more than 5 feet still up there!

Colorado Trip, Part 9

Sadly, like all trips, this one had to end. We had such a wonderful time seeing people we love and being in a place we sometimes wish was still our home. I think the best part for the kids was making new friends. When we weren't out seeing the sights or taking hikes, they were in the yard bouncing on the trampoline or inside playing with Legos or playing "school". They've asked a few times when we'll get to go back to see Will, Katrina, Trinity, Anthony, Tyler, Paige, and Josiah. We really hope it won't be 6 more years. We'd like to plan it to be an every-other-summer trip!

Sunrise on the morning we left. Sadly, we had to head into it...

Colorado Trip, Part 8

One of the biggest celebrations of the year for the Becker Family is the 4th of July. They really go all out! They have their own parade through the neighborhood, games, prizes, food and tons of fun.

We started the morning off with a patriotic breakfast.

Then it was time to decorate ourselves and various vehicles for the parade

The parade leaving the house. All the kids rode bikes, scooters wagons or strollers. Dave drove his blue Nissan to lead the parade.

Emma got helped along in her decorated stroller by family-friend, Emily.

The boys got towed in a wagon.

Emma, who has been going through a "stranger danger" phase, took just fine to Emily. 

The kids got to whack a piñata. 

Then, they dug in a pile of sawdust to find coins, candy and toys. 

Even Irene got into the spirit!

Colorado Trip, Part 7

One of the cool things about the Denver metro area is their light rail system. The kids saw it running along the highway a couple of times and begged us to go on it. So one evening, we loaded them all onto the train and rode it downtown and back. 

Ezra was so excited to be on a train!

Emma loved looking out the window. 

Things have changed... When we lived there, the train actually went to Union Station. Now it's quite a walk away...

 

Pretty sunset over the mountains.

The trip downtown and back to Lincoln Station took almost 2 hours with all the stops.The kiddos were tired by the end, but they had loads of fun.

Colorado Trip, Part 6

One afternoon, we took a hike in the other end of Castlewood Canyon. It was amazing! The views before you get in to the canyon are fantastic!

The kids were excited because they got to use their trekking poles again.

Being silly.

Emma enjoyed riding and drinking all my water.

The boys spied out a hidden nook.

The rocks were amazing. It was really cool to see all the layers in the side walls. There were solid layers and some that were more like stones mixed with sand.

We thought this tree was the coolest thing we saw that day. It was growing out of a crack in this giant boulder.

There were a great many flowers in bloom. I have no clue what each of them is, but they are all beautiful.

I know this one! A thistle!

Even the cacti were blooming.

This bench was next to the path as we walked out. We definitely agree!