Easter in Aurora

Our Easter holiday with family State-side began on Palm Sunday.  The airline point system being what it is, this was the only time to fly that weekend on a direct flight to Denver.  It was an early morning rise but worth the effort.  Geoff picked us up at the airport, dropped us off at their home, then drove to church to get Melissa, Elijah, and Miles.

The week evolved into taking the kids to school, picking them up at noon (Miles), 3:30 (Elijah), shopping, chatting, shovelling wet snow, playing games, babysitting, and generally enjoying family life.  There were a few minor household tasks Glen tackled but the most fun project was erecting a climbing wall for the kids (Geoff is included in this designation).

First, we had to decide where it could go that was safe for the kids to climb on their own.  Second, the space needed had to be large enough to support a wall.  Third, the structure held all the holds (or jugs as they are sometimes called) we'd bought as a birthday gift for the boys.  This meant doing a quick reorganizing of Geoff's basement which was deemed the best location.  Glen, Geoff, and I, with a detailed list provided by the Metolius on how to build a wall, went to Lowe's to get the materials.  We had ordered the holds via Mountain Equipment Co-op which had delivered them directly to Aurora.

It took two days to get the wall built with all the holes drilled and the holds fastened into place.  See Geoff's blog for details on how it was done.  Suffice to say, it was made to last.  The kids had been to a commercial climbing wall before and insisted on hanging a bell to ring when they reached the top.  It's kind of like belling the cat.

Both quickly found the easiest routes to the top of the wall so Geoff marked off some of the more difficult holds to follow.  They will master them soon but it doesn't seem to matter, they both enjoy climbing.  Miles is part monkey, I swear and has no fear.  Elijah is more cautious but is just as skilled.

Another project was buying Geoff's birthday gift, panniers (Old French for bread basket) for his bike.  So we made the trip to REI to buy him some with a detour to Arvada to get him a birthday cake.

Arvada was the site of Colorado's first gold discovery although it took until 1995 before that designation was officially recognized.  Benjamin Wadsworth moved his family into a log cabin in 1869 and realized that the railway would make a post office possible if he could set up a town.  His wife named the town after her sister's husband and in 1870, the settlement had a population of 100.  Wadsworth would sort the mail dropped off the train and also encouraged shopkeepers to start businesses there.

The Rheinlander Bakery is in Olde Town Arvada and has been serving the community delicious baked goods since 1963.  So good, we drove an hour through Denver traffic to buy Geoff his cake.  It was well worth the trip.  We also got hot cross buns for Easter and I've never tasted anything quite so good.

While there, Melissa suggested I find her good friend, JoAnn's letterbox.  I did only to discover a very soggy logbook.  While we bought the cake, Melissa phoned JoAnn and she came to pick up her box.  It was so nice seeing her again!

The next stop was REI where, as it turned out, there were 5 more letterboxes.  Melissa helped me with my stealth mode as I am not stealthy at all.  She also helped find the boxes as I seem to need help there, too.  One box changes monthly so Melissa got to stamp something in her logbook.  Oh, and we also bought Geoff his panniers.

We celebrated Geoff's birthday on Saturday with a lamb feast.  Sunday began with a frantic Easter egg hunt around the house.  The plastic eggs were filled with quarters but the Easter bunny also brought books and chocolate bunnies (even Glen and I got one).  Then Melissa was off to choir practise (7:30) and we could relax until 9:00 when the boys went off to their rehearsal.  We were the last people to be ferried to church by Geoff.  Elijah had saved us seats so we sat with him (usually he's in Sunday School).

After three rousing songs to celebrate Easter, the director of worship called upon Elijah to explain what Easter meant to him.  I know I've said it before, but he'll be a preacher one day.  Meanwhile the kid's choir gathered and after a young girl read a bible passage, they sang another rousing song.  We clapped as we joined in.  After they returned to Sunday school classrooms, the youth pastor delivered a great sermon. Everyone gathered outside for the final Easter egg hunt of the day.  This time the plastic eggs were filled with candy.  We went home to enjoy a lovely Easter brunch of ham and gratin potatoes.

We left early for the airport fearing hordes would be travelling but this was not the case. No one gets time off around Easter in the States so what is a 4 day weekend for Canadian school children is a normal 2 day one for Coloradans.  I had a slight cough on the plane which bloomed into a full chest cold which left me spending much of two days in bed.  I had spent one morning 'helping' out at Miles' playschool and must have picked up something there.