Picture Stew

It's been awhile since I've downloaded pictures onto my computer.  Tonight, I gathered my cell phone, my small Nikon CoolPix  and my large Nikon d5000 to see what blog posts I am missing.  Turns out, too many so I'm going to jumble them all together and call it a stew.

About a week before school finished, I surprised Seth by volunteering to go on one of his fourth grade field trips.  I was very disappointed to discover on my way there that I had forgotten my good camera.   Thankfully, I had my cell phone camera, despite its crummy image quality.

It was a very cold day for late May.  We were happy to get out of the mountain air and into the deep of the mine where it was about 15 degrees warmer.

Seth and his peers about to board the cars to take us into the mine.

The opening to the mine shaft.

I found the entire tour to be fascinating.  As I listened to the demonstrations about different mining techniques and working conditions, I wondered what motivated miners to do this day after day.  The hope of a big pay-off?  It doesn't seem like many workers became rich.  Perhaps it was the love of back-breaking, life shortening, wet, cold, and dark work.  This is a ladder that a miner would have used to follow a vein, which normally ran upwards diagonally.

How the miners relieved themselves.  It's on the rails, so they had to lay a chain along the tracks to keep the car from moving with them on it.  Of course, the tour guide said it was a good practical joke to send someone on their way in their compromised position.

Us in our fetching slick and hard hat.

Seth had an end of the year choir concert.  Cell phone quality.  sorry.

I also volunteered for the school bike rodeo.

Cute old picture of Henry in early May before I started packing up the old house.

Seth and Sam participated in piano achievement days.  They both did very well and received commendations in technique and artistry.

Sam with his judge

Seth being adjudicated.

The last week of school involved lots of extra parent participation.  Sam's class put on a slide show and program that I snuck into late and left early due to a sick Henry at home.

Last day of fourth grade for Seth.  The  put on a barbecue.  Jay and I both came but Seth ignored us to play soccer with his friends.  I'm glad he did.

Sigh.  Leaving more friends.

Good-bye Riverview!

The day after school was out, we left to spend Memorial Day weekend in Denver.  One of our favorite things to do is to watch a Rockies game in Coors Field.  We had a popular section and I was hoping to get on camera, but it was not to be.

Our view.  Pretty good except for my fear of getting hit with a foul ball.

On Monday, we continued our annual tradition of running the Bolder Boulder.  This year, I convinced my parents to meet us in Boulder to watch Henry while the rest of us ran.  My sister, Sarah, decided to come a long and it was fun to do the race with her.  We finished in a little over an hour and a half.  Jay got a PR with a time of 35:45.

Then my parents followed us home to help us settle into the new abode and watch the kiddos while we went to some trek training.

Jay and I are a Pa and Ma for a four-stake trek this summer.  We had an overnight training, which involved learning how to cook for our families of 10-12 with the tools provided, assembling our handcarts and a mini-hike.  

Jay totally knows how to do this so I could just sit back and take pictures:)

Going up the hill.  It is going to be hard.  We are at elevation (I think around 9,000 ft, and it is dusty and hot.  Just going the mile that we did, I was covered in dirt and dust.  I can't even imagine what I'm going to look like after four days of it.

Come back.  Jay and I were one of the few couples who wore our pioneer garb.  We always seem to be out of the information loop and thought wearing the clothing was requested.  I was glad I did, however, because those bloomers and skirt are a lot more breezy than jeans and it was hot!  The bonnet is very functional too.

Then it was time to say good-bye to my parents.  They helped out so much during their week's stay.  

Grandpa and Seth

Come back soon!