Pooks Canyon

Leah was the only one who wouldn't eat the kangaroo satay appetizer. She said, "if you want to farm kangaroos you have to have a really tall fence."

Here is Axel playing in the bookstore at the 29th Street outdoor mall. You've got to hand it to the Boulder planners for creating community-friendly spaces where you can go and meet new people. Case in point: we just came from Peet's Coffee where we ran into Dara Binegar, Leah's new friend from science day camp. Turns out that Dara lives with her parents, Lester and Laura, a stones throw from our new Shanahan Ridge sublet. Furthermore, Lester has been the Colorado\Wyoming rep for Trek bikes and is now the general manager of University Bikes in Boulder! Laura's coming over Sunday afternoon with Dara... both our husbands are out of town on bike related trips. Hah!

Leah decided she would like to go to Mesa Elementary for her one and a half months of school before going to Belgium. She can walk there from our new sublet and will get a chance to find playmates in the 'hood. Mesa ranks 12th out of 900 elementary schools in Colorado (Flatirons ranked a respectable 142nd). She's very excited, especially for the Mesa summer reading program. Every month over the summer the student sets a reading goal for the month. Leah decided between now and 7/26 she'll read 400 pages (should be easy with the new Harry Potter coming out on the 21st). If she meets her goal she gets to attend an Ice Cream Social on the evening of the 26th. Then it starts again for August - very cool.

Here is Axel gearing up to eat peas and basmati rice at the Tandoori Grill.

Leah and I scored tickets (along with half of Boulder apparently) for an advance showing of the Harry Potter movie. Here is the line, which wrapped completely around the entire cineplex. All 7 theaters are playing the movie in a charity event for "There With Care".

Dinner (taste factor 10 of 10): Herbed Flatbread with Mushroom Tapenade Breaded Orange Roughy with lemon wedges Sauteed Asparagus, Squash, and Red Bell Pepper Roasted Sweet Potato and Onion topped with toasted almonds Sounds good and it was. Behind the scenes info: The frozen orange roughy was from Costco (our membership expired over a year ago) the flatbread was made from pizza crust mix that I bought in Louisville, brushed with an herb egg wash made from egg replacer I bought in Chico. The egg replacer has actually proven to be quite a boon; Jon made a delicious banana-blueberry bread with it and you would never know it didn't actually contain eggs. We are considering a one-time deviation from the embargo to purchase powdered milk and dry yeast. Is it a slippery-slope?

Our YMCA just remodeled and built this fun water play area. Axel is safely stowed inside the child care, playing with a cute 9 month old girl (she has teeth, watch out Axel). Leah found some friends and is alternating splash park and hot tub. I'm laying on a chaise in the sun as I type.

Meals made from stuff around the house: Dinner last night (taste factor 9 of 10): Tuna and ButterBean Salad Canned Corn Almonds Apricots Salad with artichoke hearts and goat cheese Breakfast today(taste factor 6 of 10): Instant Oatmeal Lunch today (taste factor 8 of 10): Homemade Flour Tortillas (these are really good and are made of flour, oil, and water) Pinto Beans fried with spices 1/8 lb [slightly] freezer-burnt Ground Chuck with spices Sour Cream

Since our house is as good as sold and we have to be out in one month we have decided to stop grocery shopping and just live off the foods in our freezer, pantry, and fridge. We are only allowed to buy fresh fruits and vegetables (so this doesn't become an exercise in malnutrition). I have implemented a taste factor rating on a scale of 1 to 10. If we consistently fall into the