A fistful of Matthews

Matthew going crazy with his fists. I like how he looks ready for a fight at the end of the video. Don't get between a baby and his need to suck on something.

Choo Choo!

Day 5: Cripple Creek is a town of casinos, which isn't as great from a morality standpoint, but it does mean they have great, cheap breakfasts. We ate at Bronco Billy's where they have an excellent 49 cent breakfast. Then we rode the train! The train is just a little tourist attraction. They run steam locomotives on a narrow gauge railroad track. Chad's dad works there. The track is only a few miles long. You go down and then they back up the whole length of the track. I was afraid Matthew would sleep through the whole ride, but to my surprise, he woke up. He even seemed to enjoy the ride; the train whistle didn't even phase him. Oh, and we got to see Cripple Creek's famous donkeys. They are descendants of the mining donkeys, so they are considered sacred in Cripple Creek. I'm not joking. I think just looking at one of those donkeys the wrong way will get you a serious fine. Later at the house, Diana and I also tried to take a photo shoot of the boys. Unfortunately, Matthew was not a happy baby at the time. Oh well. You can be picture perfect all the time.

Chad's dad, Doc

On the train

What a cute family

Cameron was all smiles

While Matthew slept

Diana and I

Mark and Matthew

Matthew and I

Cameron and Chad's mom, Victoria, petting the donkeys

Cameron wearing Matthew's hat

Matthew and the kitty

A drooling Cameron

My darling boy

Matthew and Cameron

Matthew with the biggest frown ever. My favorite picture.

Garden of the Gods

Day 4: We drove down to Manitou Springs to visit the Garden of the Gods, a park with crazy rock formations. It was an interesting place, though no serious hiking. Just some interesting views of the rocks. It must have been at least 90 degrees that day, so our walk didn't last long. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Garden of the Gods

Mark pushing the stroller

The Robisons

The Corders

Cameron has such blue eyes.

Burping time

Matthew's eyes are changing. I don't know to what, though.

Every Boy's Dream

Day 3: On Monday, it was as if I had climbed the beanstalk into the world of giants. Chad took us on a tour of the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining Co. gold mine where he works. He drives a big truck. It was basically the awesomest tour ever. We got to climb into gigantic Tonka trucks. We also got to drive all over the mine. We went down into the pit and saw the shovels load up the trucks with rocks. We watched the rocks being crushed to tiny pieces by the crusher. We even got to see some blasting. It was every boy's dream come true.

 This is the truck Chad drives.

It's gigantic.

Me in the driver's seat.

Mark fulfilling his lifelong dream.

Diana!

Every thing is unbelievably big.

Even the tires.

Mark on a Euclid

I even look good in a hard hat.

Down in the pit.

The shovel up close and personal.

There be gold here.

On to Cripple Creek

Day 2: We proceeded on to Diana's with another 5 hour drive. Diana and Chad live in Cripple Creek, Colorado, a mining boomtown on the opposite side of Pike's Peak from Colorado Springs. I thought I grew up in a small town, but Cripple Creek has it beat. Imagine dirt roads, very few houses (mostly log cabin style) and free range cattle. All at 9,500 feet in elevation. Mark and I got a little lost on the way there. We missed our last turn, and the dirt road we were on suddenly narrowed and became more of a trail than a road. To make matters worse, we didn't get cell phone reception. I'm impressed that Mark's car survived our bit of off-roading. We eventually did make it to Diana's. Just in time to watch the replay of the World Cup Final where the US women choked.

For those of you who don't know, Diana and I grew up together in Ohio. We been best friends since age 12 or 13. Diana and I met Chad at a rock climbing activity where his rope came undone and he fell off the cliff (while teaching me to repel). Now they are married, with a darling 7 month old son Cameron. They live in Cripple Creek with Chad's parents Doc and Victoria ... and with 2 dogs, 4 cats, and 9 ferrets. Matthew has never seen so many animals.

 

Is this a road?

Another puppy dog (Bear)

Cameron

Cameron and Matthew

"I wish we had cable."

Grand Junction, Colorado

Day 1: We visited my brother Jacob. It's only a 5 hour drive to Grand Junction, and, luckily for us, Matthew slept most of the way there. We had a pretty relaxed afternoon with Jacob. We took his roommate's dog, Meeko, to the park. As Mark describes her, "Meeko is the wussiest pit bull you've ever seen." In my book, that's a good thing because I am definitely not a dog person. Here's an example: Meeko was in the living room staring out the window and spotted a cat. So what does she do? She doesn't bark; she doesn't growl. She whines.

We also took a tour of Grand Junction. We saw Jacob's school, downtown, and the multimillion dollar homes around the famous golf course. How to describe Grand Junction? An oasis in the middle of nowhere. First thing you should know -  it has the craziest grid system. Apparently, downtown it's a regular grid system with 4th St. and 5th Street, etc. But then it switches (for no apparent reason) to a different numbering system with 26 1/2 St and 28 1/4 St - where 26 1/2 Street is 26 1/2 miles from the Utah border. Though 28th St is not equivalent to Exit 28 on the highway. Every time we go to Jacob's we get lost, but somehow manage to find our way to Jacob's house. Beware the mapquest directions.

Check out Jacob's beard.

Playing frisbee with Meeko

Jacob's classroom

Hanging out on Jacob's bed.

My favorite things

Matthew has decided that his new favorite things are to stand and to sit up (obviously with assistance.) He just reached a point where lying down is just not cutting it. Sitting up and standing have opened a whole new vistas to his imagination. Tomorrow, we leave for Colorado to visit my brother Jacob and my friend Diana. Wish us luck. It's Matthew's first big trip. Hopefully he does okay with the long car ride.

A few of my favorite things ...

Standing

Sitting up

Sleeping

Cuddling with Mommy

Ra Ra! Ra Ra Ra!

Charming the ladies