Weekend: Fun-filled and exciting

This past weekend was one of those we'll remember for a long time ...

1. We've been doing a PGWodehouse/Jeeves & Wooster unit for the last month or so -- reading marvelous stories, watching fabulous Jeeves and Wooster videos. On Friday night -- yep, St. Athanasius' feast day -- we started watching "Wodehouse Playhouse" which are hilarious 30 minute shows done in the 70s by BBC actors John Alderton and Pauline Collins (who are married in real life) and introduced by a 95-year-old Wodehouse. You have got to see these shows!


2. We went to the Rockies game on Saturday night; it was the pitcher's debut and the poor guy didn't do too well and we had to go to the Bull-pen quite a bit that night -- as did the Dodgers, so the game seemed to go on forever (but then, we'd gotten there 2 hours early to watch batting practice).

We were able to see the beautiful home-runs hit by Holliday and Hawpe! Since it was Catholic Schools night, the good Archbishop Chaput threw out the first pitch -- and he looked pretty good! Even better, Kotch and her high school chorus group sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch. I'm thinking this is the closest any of mine will come to actually doing something on a major league baseball field!

3. On Sunday, we were able to attend Confirmation Mass at our Parish with our most excellent Archbishop Chaput -- he gave a phenomenal sermon and did a great job with the 8th graders who received this sacrament. Our Church also placed a large "10 Commandments" memorial that the Archbishop blessed (after having chatted with the confirmandi for almost an hour).

4. We didn't stay for the reception after Mass but instead headed out for a picnic! Yep, we actually had weather yesterday that was sunny and in the 70s! We're hoping we don't see anymore snow ... but then, this is Denver and you just never know....

Hope your weekend was as nice as ours.

World Series: Watching it the old-fashioned way

Last night was game number 2 of what is looking like a pretty tough ride for our Colorado Rockies. After two games in Beantown, the boys are coming home to play here on Saturday and Sunday ... and they'll do just fine up at altitude, thank you very much!

We tried to watch the game on TV .... but the antenna just couldn't pick it up. Very kind and wonderful friends invited us over to watch on their cable-enhanced TV .... but dh was having sinus-issues and my boys were exhausted so we opted to stay home.

Solution?

Put the stereo dial on AM850 and listen to the game the old-fashioned way. And even though our boys lost, my boys (and String Bean calmly knitting away) so enjoyed listening to the game while playing quietly. It was so fun for all! The radio broadcast is much more exciting -- lots of background noise, great "color" by the sportscasters, and no "bad" commercials to mute! What more could you want?

Well, for LegoManiac, he needed a pictorial of the game so he could keep track of hits, outs and overall score:

It starts tonight ....

... and I'm banking on my (new) home team! We love Matsui, Holliday, and Tulowitski -- just to name a few!

I never did like those folks from the NorthEast -- the Bosox, indeed!

This was a GREAT read-aloud

There are times when I find a book that someone somewhere has recommended and I think, "gee, the kids really need to hear this one." It could be on a topic far from anything we're doing and I just feel the call to go ahead anyway.

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner was this type of book. For no apparent reason (to my littles anyway), I decided to read this to them today. It's not a long book -- took a little over an hour to read to them. Gardiner based his story on an old Rocky Mountain legend he'd heard.

This book is so well-written that my 8yo Lego-Maniac was crying with me as we came to the end of the book. This is a kid who has never owned a pet, never had anyone really close to him die or be real sick -- and yet, Gardiner's writing is so powerful, it moved my son (someone who doesn't normally cry at anything!). The story is exciting and emotional and evocative and full of great things to talk about. It's about not giving up, having faith, and willingly sacrificing for a good cause.

It's an amazing read!

Pre-camping pleasures

Now that we're out in the Rockies, we figure we'll take the kiddos camping quite a bit this summer; I mean, the scenery is AWESOME (in the true definition of the word!).

But we're also trying to get the little ones all excited while also helping us learn about camping skills before we head out. So where do we turn? The library of course!

Here are some of the books that have really gone over well with our kids:

• Follow the Trail: A Young Person's Guide to the Great Outdoors by Jessica Loy
• The Kids' Campfire Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love
• Kids Camp! Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness by Laurie Winn Carlson

Not to forget the older folks, here are some GREAT books on camping and hiking in Colorado:

• Colorado Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping by Sarah Ryan
• Best Hikes with Children: Colorado by Maureen Keilty
• Family Guide to Colorado's National Parks and Monuments by Carolyn Sutton