In Aurora

We were welcomed with a beautiful glass of Pinot Noir and a hearty spaghetti, sauce, bread and salad dinner. A home-cooked meal and great conversation. After dinner, Super-Coach went with his twin brother JB (who, for clarification is VERY similar to Peter in his comments, personality, and love of the world game) and Miranda to watch JB's eldest son (Joshua) play indoor football. Hayley and I stayed in the comfort of the fantastic house to watch TV and write in the diary.

Aurora is a 'suburb' of Denver which has a population of approx. 1.5 million people. Aurora is really a city in itself, much like Highfields but on a larger scale.

When the crew returned we were able to enjoy the much talked about (actually raved about) fire-pit with rock waterfall. The pit is run by natural gas and is very picturesque. The Belzer house has three levels - ground, upper and basement - a beautifully decorated and clearly much-loved home. Miranda and Hayley have especially enjoyed the carpeted stairs in which they have slid down .....

After a wonderful sleep (and sleep-in) Trina advised us of a fantastic outlet shopping mall, only a 20min drive away at Castle Rock, and yes there is a large rock with another smaller rock in the shape of a castle on the top. The weather was a tad cooler today and the girls found plenty of ice on the ground to slide on. However, the exciting news is, is that we finally have shopping bags and still need to go back to get more!!!!!

Connoisseur Matt Preston found us a great place to eat lunch called The Black-Eyed Pea which served grilled chicken and pot-pies with vegetables. Of course, Matt had his mandatory beer, today it was a "Fat Tyre", and I had the house wine (a red merlot). It was lovely to have food where you had to use a knife (yes an interesting concept I know, but something quite unique for our trip thus far). Hayley forced down some cooked beans and carrot (yes cooked, and yes forced with the idea that her new jacket would be returned should she not eat her cooked veggies ..... it's amazing how quickly eating habits change), while Miranda ordered and ate beef pot pie with casseroled rice and broccoli (similar to a risotto). Naturally, every soft drink is a free refill (not just one either), which means every time your cup is half full, it gets refilled - while the girls think this is VERY exciting, they are yet to empty one complete cup (thankfully).

So back to the shops after lunch to discover an Asics outlet, I managed to buy a pair of Kayano '20s for $128, Hayley a new season GT-1000 (the style means nothing) for $65, and Miranda a pair of youth Kayano for .... wait for it .... $18, yes that's correct $18. So putting it in perspective three pairs cost us the same as one and a half pairs of women's Gel Kayano's in Australia.

Home now for a wine, beer and chilli for dinner. After which the girls get to go ice skating - a real treat. And then they get to spend a day at school (or a half-day) at the boy's school tomorrow (Thursday) which is very exciting and something the girls are definitely looking forward to. Just as a funny like aside joke... Peter's phone has become very temperamental and while eating lunch today, Miranda drew a very clever connection between herself and his phone, thus the phone is now called Miranda!!!