Science Fair

I am so proud of Campbell and Helene!  They worked hard on their science fair projects, and it paid off.  Campbell got a medal for third place amongst all the third graders, and Helene got a medal for third place amongst all the Kindergartners.  John and I tried to be there to give them examples of good projects and attractive displays, to teach them about the scientific method, and to offer advice.  But other than that, we tried to be hands off and let the kids do their own projects.

The students were given a list of topics from which to choose.  Their school is a core knowledge school, so the topics were concepts that fit in with that curriculum according to grade level.  Campbell did his on gravity.  I think you can click on the picture to see a larger version, on which you can read his hypothesis, etc.  John taught him how to use Microsoft Excel to calculate P-values and other statistical stuff I don't know anything about.  But Campbell gets it!

Helene did her experiment on magnetism.  She found household objects and tried picking them up with a magnet.  On her display, some of the metal objects are displayed on the left and some other objects are on the right.  She attached magnets to ribbons to create an interactive display. 

This project was by another member of Campbell's class.  Campbell liked it because of the scientific name for a dwarf hamster.

Tandem Bikes

On Day 3, we rented two tandem bikes and rode up the Glenwood Canyon.  I am not a cyclist, so parts of me were bruised and sore after 11 miles on a bicycle seat, but I enjoyed the adventure anyway.  It was beautiful scenery, a nice day to be outside, and quite an experience to ride tandem.  

The kids rode on the front of the bikes.  They could help pedal or just let their feet go along for the ride.  They could not steer, so all steering was done by the adult in the back.  When we got towards the tops of hills like this, we would ask the kids for a "turbo boost," and they would pedal as hard as they could to help us over the hump.

We spent most afternoons and the morning of the last day in the hot springs pool.  I think swimming was the best part of the vacation for the kids.  I enjoyed all of it.  It was a very relaxed vacation, with not much planned ahead of time, but with plenty to do once we got there.  I highly recommend the train ride, as well as all the other adventures we had this last week.

Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park

One of the best parts of our first day in Glenwood Springs was having dinner with Corey and Amy and family.  I brought the camera along, but we were so busy visiting that we forgot to take any pictures.  Corey and Amy were our neighbors when we first moved here, and we hit it off immediately.  They moved about 6 months after we arrived, but at least they're still in state, and we get to see them sometimes.

On our second day, we took the tram up Adventure Mountain.

This is Helene's Adventure Face:

We explored the caverns at the top of the mountain.  They were much cooler and somewhat drier than the caves we've visited in Texas.






I don't remember the names of all the formations we saw, but most were named after foods.  One of Helene's favorites is "bacon":
The guy who owned these caves originally blasted out a passageway to the side of the mountain and added a scenic overlook, which he called "Exclamation Point":

Walking About Town

Hotel Colorado and Glenwood Hot Springs

This is the train station in Glenwood Springs where we arrived:

There's a footbridge crossing the Interstate from the train station that leads to our hotel and the hot springs pool.

The Hotel Colorado was built in 1893.  Here are the kids in the lobby:


And the upstairs hallway leading to our room:
The hot springs pool is just a short walk from our hotel.  The large pool is about 90 degrees, and the hot tub pool is 104.

Morning, Day 2

We had breakfast in our hotel.  Beautiful setting and delicious food.
View of the hot springs pool as we walked past in the coolness of the early morning:

Train to Glenwood Springs

For spring break this year, John had the wonderful idea that we should take a train trip.  The kids have done the Durango/Silverton train, but that's it.  And they have often mentioned how fun they thought it would be to take a trip on a train.  We looked into going all the way to California but decided the kids might go stir crazy being on a train for 30+ hours, so maybe we should start with something smaller.  The California Zephyr stops in Glenwood Springs 6 hours after leaving Denver, so we decided that was about perfect.

I loved seeing the changes in scenery along the way.  There were dramatic changes in vistas, for the small amount of territory we actually covered.
Campbell enjoyed photographing the view, as well.
Helene said her favorite part of the train ride was "not having to wear seatbelts!"  We sat in the front row of our car.  We had leg rests and foot rests, and the seats leaned back without disturbing the people behind us.  So much better than an airplane!


The car right in front of ours was the lounge car.  The seats faced the windows, and there were windows on the roof of the car, as well, so this was the best place to relax and enjoy the changing scenery.


Nice place to read, as well.

We had lunch in the dining car, but I failed to take any pictures there.  The food wasn't spectacular, but it was fun to sit at a table with a tablecloth and flowers and be served by a waitress, while still making progress towards our destination.

More pictures of the varying mountains along the way:


All in all, I think the train ride was a hit.  It takes a couple of hours longer than driving would, but you have the freedom to roam, and you don't encounter traffic jams.