A blizzard equals a day off work !

We have been treated  to our first major snow storm - which meant the city basically shut down and all staff and students were told to stay indoors! A massive dump of snow and a day at home - I so love Denver!

The warnings came Thursday evening, before it even started to snow, but when we woke on Friday morning it was indeed a magical scene and the snow was still falling. These photographs were taken at 7.30 am on Friday morning.

Garry made me pose for this bad, bad photo

just a few doors down

Gaylord Street

 We spent most of the day indoors, but the kids did play outside for a while. Max wanted to lie in the snow and make snow angels, but gave up because it was so cold.

Yas didn't mind and crawled on her hands and knees, pretending to be a dog, lapping at the snow.

In the early afternoon we ventured out, across the road to London and Pat's home for dinner. The snow kept coming and now the road had disappeared. No point in any snow plows working until the snow stops falling.

We were joined by another couple and their children - we all had a great night and enjoyed lots of food and red wine. We especially enjoyed London's corn bread and her wonderful stew.

This was a great end to a really fun day, but poor Maxy fell asleep on the lounge - with all the kids still racing around. We left late in the evening, all firm friends excited about repeating the experience. At 11.00 pm the snow was still heavy and we struggled across the road carrying sleeping and cold children. Did I happen to mention that I really love Denver!

On Saturday morning we set off for the town of Breckenridge to see the International Snow Sculpture Championships. On the way we stopped at Silverthorne and visited the amazing ice castle Brent Christensen is constructing, it relies primarily on cold temperatures and water.

Early this winter, the artist started creating and placing between 4,000 and 8,000 icicles daily. After 3 million gallons of water, he aims to construct 10-foot walls with 40-foot towers. Embedded inside the walls are 200 compact fluorescent bulbs, capable of producing more than 350,000 lumen's of light. At night the walls glow with ethereal hues of green and blue. The size of the sculpture is expected to double from December to March.

Although it cost us $30 to all go inside we were really impressed! It was really cold and windy which made it even colder, but Yas and Max could not contain their excitement at being able to walk inside ice caves. It was like a man-made Jenolyn Cave - but made of ice!

Breckenridge history is rich with tales of pioneer life and adventure. It is a town filled with Western culture, gold mining tales and residents keen on preserving their way of life. Breckenridge has grown from a prime Native American hunting ground to one of the best ski resorts in Colorado. The history will need to wait for our next visit as this trip is all about snow sculptures and skiing!

 We instantly fell in love with Breck as we drove down the main street on our way to our hotel - Beaver Run Resort, which is a ski in and ski out property. We were really happy to find that we could see the chair lift from our lounge room window, and we were only meters from the kids ski school. All still hopefull for a great stay at this stage.

We arrived late afternoon, settled in and set out to purchase lift tickets for Sunday. We nervously booked Yas and Max into a full day of ski lessons each - from 9.00am - 3.30am. I was a little concerned as they would not be in the same class and hoped that Max would cope. Garry and I decided this would be the best way for them to learn and fingers crossed give us some time to ski alone together. Only the morning would tell if this was a very expensive and successful plan?

We then drove into town to look at the snow sculptures. It was a very cold below zero with a wind!

The International Snow Sculpture Competition had fifteen teams enter from eleven nations - even Australia had an entry!

each team starts with a 10 metre square ice block

this amazing sculpture was the eventual winner

 

Their was also an amazing play area with ice castle sculptures and igloos with tunnels to play in, on and around. The sunset was amazing!

At one point we lost Yas, but when I saw the horse and carriage on the road of the main street I knew instantly where she would be. We all were feeling the cold and headed back to our room for a home cooked meal in our kitchenette in preparation for our first real day of skiing.

Max's 5th Birthday and Groundhog Day...

Today is the 2nd of February and it is my beautiful boy's 5th Birthday. We woke early this morning, all of us in our bed and Max opened his presents from us and Grandma! Max was particularly taken with his talking Scooby Doo card and his Lego. It was all a bit of a rush since it is a school day but celebrations will continue later in the day...

Today is also Groundhog Day. This U.S. and Canadian tradition comes every year on Feb. 2. It has its roots in astronomy, in the sense that it’s a seasonal festival, tied to the movement of Earth around the sun. In the U.S. and Canada, they call it Groundhog Day – a great excuse to go outside and enjoy some revelry during the winter months.

By far the most famous of the February 2 shadow-seeking groundhogs is still Punxsutawney Phil. He’s in Punxsutawney, in western Pennsylvania, which calls itself the “original home of the great weather prognosticator, His Majesty, the Punxsutawney Groundhog.” Since 1887, members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club have held public celebrations of Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney is where Bill Murray was in the movie Groundhog Day. From the looks of things … a good time is had by all.

And the verdict from Punxsutawney Phil after seeing his shadow this morning during the 126th annual Groundhog Day festivities is: six more weeks of winter! This is the news we were hoping for - hopefully more snow! The forecast for tonight is a foot of snow in the Denver area with snow falling until Saturday afternoon. We are all hoping for a massive dump so that it will be dangerous to travel and school will be cancelled tomorrow!

The crowd wait for Punxsutawney Phil to come out from his den during the 126th annual Groundhog Day festivities on Feb. 2, 2012, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. (Top Photo: Groundhog handler Ron Ploucha holds Punxsutawney Phil after he saw his shadow predicting 6 more weeks of winter. Photos: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Phil saw his shadow....See for yourself........

 

We are loving all the quirky American culture.....

Max had a great day at school, and celebrated with his class by eating cookies. Max loved opening his Birthday cards - the Sheriff card from Grandma was a huge hit! A big thank you to Lachlan for the beautiful artwork included. Your spider man colouring is now posted on the wall next to where max sleeps, so he can, "look at it all the time because he misses his Lachie sooooo much"!

Lachlan's fantastic colouring

An Indian Market Festival in Colorado...

Today we set off for the Indian Market Festival - all very excited at learning more about Indian culture and the prospect of art and music. Unfortunately in the art and craft pavilions taking photographs was not allowed. Except, I guess if you purchase an artwork. Yes, I you know whats coming - what did she buy? There were thousands of amazing photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics and jewellery amongst other bits and pieces. Garry and I were really impressed with the quality of the art and could easily have spent the entire day wandering and talking to artists about their work.

I was particularly interested in the ledger artwork of Terrance Guardipee (Last Gun). He is a highly recognised artist who incorporates authentic Blackfeet images into his own contemporary form of ledger art.

I fell in love with the above artwork, "Yellow Eagle Woman". Unfortunately I could not afford the $4000.00 price tag. I spent time talking to Terrence about his work and he told me stories about the symbolism in the artworks. I was tempted to purchase a poster of another of his works, for only $50.00, but really I was interested in an original. In the end I settled for a much smaller piece, but still about the same woman riding the horse. The artwork has been completed on the surface of a ledger from 1916.

  

When I was about to pay for his artwork Terrance very kindly told me that he could listen to me talk all day and threw in the poster for free! I was about to say that he didn't need to do that when his wife explained that at a previous market he sold 15 of the large artworks and had also done very well at this three day event - so he could certainly afford it! The Aussie accent seems to be coming in very handy.

At the main stage the music and dancing were entrancing.  We were lucky to watch the band Brule, who are the most popular Native American musical group in the states. They really were great and performed their instrumental pieces along with traditional tribal dancers.

There was also a wild bird show - which was of course the kids favourite. We had the opportunity to see a Falcon, Spectacle Owl and a Bald Eagle called Magissiwa. Magissiwa came to HawkQuest in 2001, from a rehab centre in Washington which she was taken to as a six week old.  HawkQuest is a an environmental education program. I was more than happy to make a donation and have Yasemin and Max have their photograph taken with Magissiwa.

It was a great day and we really enjoyed looking at all the traditional costumes from all the different tribes. Yasemin  made friends with a little girl, and I couldn't resist a photograph.

A day at McKinley-Thatcher Elementary School...

McKinley-Thatcher Elementary School is my home school and also the school Yasemin and Max attend. On my first visit to the school, I was really impressed with the lovely presentation of the building. The school looks quite modern from the outside, but it is when you enter the entrance foyer that you are impressed with the beautiful mosaic mural completed by the parents.

When you go through the second doors you are standing in front of a welcome sign and indoor garden. All elementary schools have double door entry for security reasons, and except for morning arrival and afternoon departure all visitors must be buzzed in through the security doors to access the school.

Both schools have extensive fire, lock down and additional emergency procedures - it is great that the safety of all children is so high on the agenda here. It was after Columbine that drastic measures in safety improvement were implemented.


On my first day, which was pupil free, a staff breakfast was organised by my two wonderful buddies Ange and Susan. This included drinks and hot and cold food for the staff. Susan also welcomed me officially to the school with the sounds of Men at Work booming from the stereo. I was presented with two culturally significant items - Vegemite and Apple Pie - the best food our two nations have to offer.

I really enjoy the students at this school, they are super friendly and enthusiastic and can't get enough of our Australian accent. Below is an image of my art room at McKinley-Thatcher. An art room with carpet is an interesting design statement.

Ange presented me with a beautiful bunch of white roses and a beautiful necklace was also left on my desk in the classroom as a welcome. All the staff and parents have been so very kind, welcoming and supportive with all sorts of offers and advice.I was really spoiled, taken out to a lovely restaurant in South Pearl Street and shouted lunch by Ange and Susan, escorted to check out my other school and driven home by Susan to my house! What a day - Garry, Susan and I celebrated with drinks at Gaylord Street!

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