Pooks Canyon

Baby greens from the garden where I had to thin the lettuces.

Tonight we saw the Rockies play the Padres. Rockies "untied" the game in bottom of the ninth... I was glad both because the Rockies won AND because they did it without extra innings. Axel hammed it up all night long. Leah and Dara enjoyed the game.

Tonight is Leah's Belgium Sleepover- a concept party of her own design. Below are the girls eating Frites with mayonnaise, Frikandel (basically a deep fried meat and potato mixture) and Fanta. Later we'll be showing the Triplets of Belleville and having waffles topped with ice cream. Then maybe they'll go to bed? Yeah right. Jon escaped to Tulsa for some bike racing and won't come back till Sunday. By then perhaps the dust will have settled. Clockwise from top: Abby, Leah, Lisa, Dara, Audrey and Billie Blue

Today Leah and all her 5th grade friends said goodbye to Mesa Elementary. Each child was voted most likely to be something and Leah's friends voted her most likely to be an Astronaut. Then there was a slide show of all the kids from kindergarten to the present, which was pretty hilarious but also quite moving. I cried. It's emotional to watch your child graduate from elementary school... she's just not a little kid anymore and this confirms it. Abby, Leah and Lisa

Last night Leah and a pack of howling 5th grade girls graduated from Junior Girl Scouts to Cadettes. Leah and her friend Lisa (3rd and 2nd from left, respectively) hosted the smashing event. The girls pose with their bridging candles before chowing down some pizza. Leah "bridging" to Cadettes. Literally. Leah holds her apple juice high to toast the troop. Tomorrow Leah graduates from Mesa Elementary to brave the halls of Southern Hills Middle School. Gulp.

This Memorial Day we went to a series of things at people's houses. First was the Bolder Boulder viewing party at the Fiskington's house. I stood in the way of the runners so I could get good pictures like the one below. The Elite Men's winner crushing it through the Fiskington's neighborhood. Baby Fiskington offering some of his mum-mum (I thought it was pancake as that is what the rest of us were eating). Our host BBQ-ing the pancakes. Beth was concerned we'd run out of syrup so she put a warning on it. And after all that fun we beat the rainstorm by hightailing it to my Aunt's house for lunch and bar snacks (some people call them hors d'oeuvres but not us). Aunt E and her girlfriend Sally were there, along with my cousins, my parents and my children. We ate well and [some of us] drank mimosas. Jon and his mother-in-law (hi mom!) spanning time over lox and artichokes in Aunt E's backyard. My cousin Emma has a penchant for decadent treats involving...

When cleaning out the car today I stuck a knife holder I'd been meaning to take back to the store on my roof. I forgot about it and 10 miles and a high pressure car wash later I noticed it stuck to the roof. A bit wet but otherwise fine.

Axel and papa have regular chess lessons. These used to consist of playing with the piece and the clock but have progressed to actual discussion of legal moves. Axel says, "Don't take my queen, no way!" I'm not sure if the small lego man in foreground came into play.

On Sunday we watched Jon race in the North Boulder Criterium. He got into a move with Scott Moninger briefly but it didn't stick... his Natural Grocers (formerly Vitamin Cottage) teammate, Jon Tarkington, did better, getting into a breakaway and getting second place. Axel cheering on papa. The pace got hot after a series of big money primes and Jon was having tummy probs. If you look carefully you can see the wild North Boulder Tree Climbing Leah Monster. I have no idea who these women are, Axel just marched right up and decided he wanted to snuggle. They handled it with aplomb.

Leah, dressed as a 1912 immigrant , participated in the fifth grade Ellis Island Simulation. Parents volunteered to alienate and confuse the junior immigrants in a manner consistent with what might have occurred in 1912. It was fun. I was in charge of the Money Exchange in which I randomly raised posted rates in my favor and stole money from the children so they wouldn't have enough for the ferry. Then I took "gifts" of their measly belongings and almost made one child cry. Leah's immigrant "family" benefited from nepotism when I promptly gave them the exact amount needed for the ferry. Lucky girl. But I figured that was how it would work if your relative worked on Ellis Island. We were supposed to speak gibberish or foreign languages to the children in order to further the confusion. For my first customer I said "money please" in French... much to my suprise, this was a French Canadian student who understood me perfectly. I switched to Du...

It was cold on Easter. Leah got a rat and named it Shumo. Jon and I stayed in Empire at the oldest hotel in Colorado- The Peck House. They didn't have TV so we watched zombie movies on his laptop until the batteries died. The plate at Laura's Seder had a comically large horseradish... I made an off-color joke in front of Laura's dad and my mother-in-law.

Does she look satisfactorily downtrodden?

My niece, Jasmine, captured this image at Palo Duro Canyon a few weeks ago. Wow, Jazzie. Nice shot.

Axel hands me flowers... Those women behind me thought I was a very lucky girl.

Blogging from trail!

Race day's a bit colder than expected. Let the running begin!

Leah's new pet, Shumo, is becoming quite the house darling. He rides around the house on Leah's shoulder and today climbed down her sleeve. He is a "dumbo" rat which means he looks just like the other Borden boys.

Tonight I grilled chicken under bricks- a Northern Italian method. The breakdown: Take one whole chicken and snip out the backbone (using scissors) then peel out the breastbone cartilage and ribs etc using a paring knife and your fingers to get between the bone and flesh. Then - and this is the Frankenstein part - snip a slit into the skin hanging from each thigh and tuck the bottom of the drumsticks into the slit. Also tuck the wingtips behind the bird. Here is what you get... an evenly thick steak 'o chicken. Put it in a 9x13 casserole and whip up the following: 1 cup olive oil 1/2 cup lemon juice Chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, and garlic Salt Red Pepper Flakes Marinate the chicken steak in this mixture for 2-6 hours. Sprinkle with "Creole Seasoning" and put it skin-side down on the grill. I like the following mixture of seasonings... Lots of: Garlic Powder Paprika Salt Some of: Cayenne Pepper Onion Powder Dried Thyme Dried Oregano Black Pepper Cover with b...

Leah and I ate at the Wazee Supper Club after our job interview with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (she wouldn't let me take her picture in her cute interview outfit). Nuggets tip off in 45 minutes for round 2 of the playoffs so things are hoppin here in downtown Denver. We just hope we did ok in our interview... I guess it is hard to get volunteer jobs?

Today we all dressed up to watch the Kentucky Derby. My horse is Dunkirk, Axel likes Pioneer of the Nile, Jon is going with Fresian Fire and Leah's money is on Hold Me Back. She was originally going with Chocolate Candy, until she found out it was owned by Jenny Craig. Horse names are weird. Jon says it is all pretty much a horse race at this point. Me, Axel and Bob Costas gear up for some horse racing. Jon looking dapper. Leah and I in our Kentucky Derby hats.

Leah has discovered one can turn bitter chocolate cocoa powder into all manner of chocolatey treats. This morning she was baking brownies at 9am while dad was suffering at the Lookout Mountain hillclimb (4th in the Pro/1/2 and 1st in the Masters). She enlisted a little helper... she had him put in the cocoa and whisk the dry ingredients. Such a nice sister. I told Leah that the secret to sustainable baking is to give away most of the goods when you're finished. She'll be taking brownies to her friend Lisa's house this afternoon.

Proper handwashing and avoiding risky behaviors such as shown above, will go a long way toward swine flu prevention.