Rocks, Rocks and More Rocks ...

Another visit from Hayley's tooth fairy, leaving her $5 (American dollars) after she pulled her second wobbly tooth out yesterday morning. It still wasn't enough motivation to get her to school. She was so nervous she couldn't eat; Miranda, on the other hand, was VERY keen, nervous but excited. After a white scrambled egg breakfast (the eggshell was pure white but as normal in the centre) with small sausages, toast and home made hash browns we headed off to the boy's school.

It took a whole minute to get there, it is obviously just down the road from their house. Once Hayley arrived, she was asking to go but it was a tad too late. However, all the students wait and line up outside and the teachers come out to collect the students to take them to their classes. There are approx. 800 students who attend the school and because of the size, each grade (year level) has different break times, so the two boys essentially don't see each other during the day, which seems very strange. In the 'sixth grade', Joshua (the eldest) will begin middle school for two years then attend high school. Underneath the play equipment at the school, the ground is covered in small rocks/pebbles and there is a small grass oval. Miranda was keen to have a cafeteria meal, however, after looking at the menu, she wasn't too excited and so with the packed option from Mrs Belzer off she went.

We were able to meet Joshua's teacher and see the classroom where

Miranda would spend the day; "I'm a bit nervous but it will be fun" and off she went. For Hayley and I, Peter took us back to the outlet shopping mall of Castle Rock back to the Under Armour store to finish our shopping. Then back into the car to find and explore a place called Red Rock that JB told us to visit. So with fresh veggies, fruit and dates in hand from the local grocery shop, off Bear Grills set ourselves on a driving adventure, closer to the mountains. The drive was amazing, we passed roads that had literally been blasted and carved through mountains.

We made it to a small village and followed the signs up and around, and through rocks (yes we drive through a hole in a large rock) to a place with massive red rocks. We were greeted by two small deer in the car park and cast our eyes on two massive red rocks. It wasn't until we started walking around the rocks that we not only discovered an impressive view of the city itself but an incredible outdoor

amphitheatre that had been built between these massive rocks. It was incredible.

We walked down to the stage and stood and took photos and were completely in awe of the unbelievable engineering ingenuity that we were standing on. It was amazing. Apparently, there are hiking trails and track and plenty of people come out to use the amphitheatre stairs as a jogging area - hard work in high altitude. Many famous artists have played at this stadium and its building during the depression helped many families as it offered much-needed work. We ran up the auditorium stairs and wandered through the museum, saw some more deer in the carpark and headed back to Aurora to collect Miranda.

We stopped at WallMart on the way - imagine an extended Big W with

a Woolies and that's WallMart. It is unbelievable. They sell breakfast cereal in bulk, in large bags (2kgs) and no we are not talking porridge, we are talking cocoa pops etc. We purchased a $14 duffle bag to carry our new shoes etc and it's nearly full.

Miranda had a wonderful day and was asked some interesting questions about the most deadliest and dangerous animals in Australia which she totally enjoyed talking about. She can fill you all in on her experience, I won't spoil it for her in this journal. But a great day was had. Headed home to wait for Sean to finish football training and Trina and JB to get home. I had an hour so thought I would brave the cold and head out for a run. Beanie, gloves, skins, thermal socks ..... I managed to run 5klm - yes it was hard and my head became very hot!

Dinner was out at a BBQ place which served ribs and ribs and more ribs VERY YUMMY indeed and we ate plenty. Then to finish, the kids had the chance to go ice skating in the open in the mall area of the shopping centre. It was beautiful with the Christmas lights and dressed-up carol signers. It was a truly magical evening. Hayley's "butt is broken" as she landed on it a few times and so too Miranda's; however, they were skating, without holding on within 15mins of being on the ice. Unlike Australia, there is no water on the ice clearly because it is so cold.

What a wonderful way to finish visiting the Belzer family. It is off to the Sanchez's tomorrow after a visit around Regis University with JB in the morning. Thinking of Helen and her "butt"!!!!!!!