Artichoke House!

At long last our house has been repainted!

When we moved in to our home at the beginning of 2011, we already knew the original paint was not in the greatest shape. Over the ensuing 2 1/2 years, the problem grew progressively worse, and we began budgeting for a thorough re-painting. This summer the time was finally right.  It turned out that all the other neighbors on our alley whose houses were built around the same time as ours had the same problems with their paint, so a bunch of us got together to do a "package deal" with a painter in town. It worked out beautifully!

At the same time, we took the opportunity to slightly change the color.  The original body color was a very brownish green called "Pitch Pine" (part of the Historic Colors of America palette).  Over the years that color had faded considerably, so that in many places it was a medium grey-green.  We decided to try a color not on the HCA palette.  It's Sherwin-Williams "Artichoke" which is a greener green.  (Note: Colors aren't really my "thing").  Meanwhile we kept the trim, punch, and door colors the same as their originals -- Yarmouth Oyster, Sandy Bluff, and Sayward Pine, respectively.

Here's the front (South) face of the house:

Here's the south-west corner..

The west side:

The North side..

And the east side:

We're very happy the colors, and the very thorough job the painters did.  Here's to (at least) another 10 years!

Training Wheels Off

Today Alex learned to ride his bike.  It's been a long time coming, but he was finally ready, and once he decided that he was ready, it took about 25 minutes for him to master it.

Awhile back, I read an article about helping kids to learn to ride.  The trick is to take off the pedals (and training wheels), and make sure the seat is low enough that they can firmly stand on the ground.  Then let them push the bike along until they get a sense for balancing and steering.  Use progressively steeper and longer hills that they can coast down to practice at speed without having to coordinate the pedaling. 

It sounded like a good idea, and sure enough it did the trick!  We started out inside the garage at the top of our very short, steep driveway.  I waited across the alleyway and Alex rode down to me.  He repeated this 7 or 8 times.  Then I had him start from the back of the garage to build up speed.  He did this several more times.  Then I had him start to turn when he got to where I was standing in the alley.  Finally, he was ready to go over to the "yellow park" where there is a large circular concrete path that goes up, then back down a gentle hill, and is surrounded by lush grass.  I brought along his pedals and a wrench, in case he started to really get the hang of it.

After about 3 times around the circle, with me pushing him up the hill and him coasting down the hill and around, he stopped for a break.  Then we put the pedals on.  He was apprehensive, so I reassured him that they were "just for resting his feet on" while he continued practicing balancing and coasting.  But sure enough while I was still pushing him up the hill the first time, he started pedaling and was off on his own before I realized what was happening.

Our neighbor and friend Kaylin, also 6, who has been riding for at least a year now, came to the park with us, and she offered tons of support and encouragement as she rode along with us.  Definitely a helpful touch! 

The rest of the afternoon, Alex was riding all over the alley and telling everyone who came by that he was riding without training wheels!  A very proud moment.  He and I rode together back to the yellow park later this afternoon for a "victory lap".

Here's a short video of Alex taking one of his first laps around the yellow park loop:

 

Camping Trip

At long last we took a camping trip!  It was a beautiful, sunny weekend at Hermit Park, and we stayed in the rustic Aspen Cabin.  We blew the dust and spiders off the camping gear in the basement and packed up Merida (the new blue Highlander) for the weekend.

I think the only thing of note that I forgot this time was butter, but a quick stop at Safeway in Estes Park fixed that.  I also grabbed a bag of intensely stale marshmallows out of the back of the cupboard.  But Alex swore that he liked them that way, even eating one raw.

The kids had a great time all weekend collecting "crystals" (all the bits of quartz rock they could find).  Everyone loved the bunk beds in the cabin, and the private pit toilet next to the cabin was immaculate!  Dana and I even had a few brief opportunities to relax and enjoy the mountain air, in between frantically getting food ready, keeping kids safe and happy, and sleeping.

On Saturday we stopped into town to swim at the indoor Estes Park pool, which was all but deserted.  It was like a giant bathtub, warm and full of water toys.  The much-needed hot shower afterwards was an added bonus.

Now my mind turns towards how could we do this sort of thing more often?  How could we have more fun, with less effort, and in more seclusion?