July 14, 2007
Meredith:

Saturday morning began with getting Logan's new glasses made. Lunch with Joe and his family -- we finally got to meet Sharon! Then it was off to the mountains for a historic train ride. We rode the Silver Plume at Georgetown, and it took us to the Lebanon Mine.
Click image for more photos.
At the mine we donned hard hats (especially a good thing for Joe, who would have probably knocked himself out without one in those low-ceiling tunnels). I liked this tour better than the Creede museum tour -- here we were in a real mine with a real guide, who kept things in layman terms. Logan and Nolan asked great questions -- Logan asked about the "mushroom soup" on the wall (calcite), and Nolan asked why one room smelled like horse poop (sulfur).
A picture in a building outside showed a couple of women miners. It turns out that the women miners lived as much as 20 years longer than the men, because they were smart enough to make masks out of cheesecloth to help keep silica out of their lungs.
From the mine we rode the train back to the station. The train ride was scenic, though the train put out a ton of black smoke! And then we walked for a bit through the old little town of Silver Plume. On the drive out, we saw a group of bighorn sheep!
We had dinner in Frisco. Sharon and Joe both ordered green chile cheeseburgers! I still say, "Blech." The rest of us had pizza, calzones, and nachos.
Logan:

Today we went on the Silver Plume Train with Joe, Sharon, Annemarie, and Joey. 1/4 of the way we got off and went into a mine. We saw real silver ore!! Then we got into a shaded train car and went back to Silver Plume and saw bighorn sheep! That was fun!
Nolan:

We saw Bighorn Sheep. They really wer'e sheep with horns and they are huge.

CHAPTER 11: the train.

We went to a train station and we got to ride on the train and the train is called Silverplume. and it was fun. and there was a mine and we got to go in .
July 15, 2007
Meredith:

Sunday began with horseback riding on mountain trails near Breckenridge. The ride took almost two hours. Nolan's big horse, Dusty, kept trying to stop for grass, but Nolan did a fine job getting the horse moving again. Logan rode Cimarron, and I rode Cisco at first -- he was big! But during the ride, I switched with a mom so she and her sick 4-year-old son could ride together. I finished the ride on Silver.
Some of the trails were rocky, but the horses knew just where to step. We saw a beaver dam along the way.
I liked being on a horse again. We should do more of that in Texas.
Later, while walking along Main Street, we saw Joe's brother and sister and their families. What a nice surprise!
In the afternoon, Joe took the boys and me fishing. He was so patient with them as he taught them about fishing. By the end, Nolan was a pro at casting. We caught two fish (ok, Joe did) and saw a beaver gliding lazily in the water. We ate too many cookies.
After dinner we enjoyed an evening of games with Joe, Sharon, Anne Marie, and Joey.
Logan:

Today started out with horseback riding. My horse's name was Cimarron, mom's was Cisco, Nolan's was Dusty, Joey's was Dusk, and mom also had to ride Silver. Then we (Joe, me, Nolan, and mom) went fishing. We saw a beaver and I made some great casts. That night my family played games with Joe's family.
Nolan:

CHAPTER 12: the ride.

We went horse back rideing for a hur and a half. and my Horse kept trying to get grass to eat.

CHAPTER 13: the fish.

Joe took us to a lake and I cast the farthest and we saw a beaver.
July 16, 2007
Monday morning we packed up and left Breckenridge. Then we headed with Joe and his family to Clear Creek out of Idaho Springs to go whitewater rafting. We did a Class 2 ride for beginners, as none of us had ever been whitewater rafting before. It was good choice for a group with four kids.
Decked out in helmets, life jackets, and splash jackets -- and the kids in wetsuits as well -- we found the cool mountain water refreshing. Joe, Nolan, and I sat up front. Nolan was the cameraman. Our guide was Scott, who seemed to be some sort of transplanted surfer dude. That's cool, man.
Being up front, I seemed to be getting splashed in the face a lot, even more than Joe. But Joe decided to one-up me by falling out of the boat when we hit a rock under a bridge. Quick measures were taken, and he was safely back on board. Poor Joe will now have to enure our re-telling of the tale for some time to come. We decided he pulled a Jaryl in real life!
I was very proud of Nolan, who right away when Joe fell into the water rushed to the emergency rope bag. He was ready to help save Joe's life. And it means he was paying attention when the guide was giving the safety talk before the ride! We didn't have to use the rope, but Nolan had the right idea.
Joe and Sharon convinced us to stay at their house instead of a hotel, so we spent the rest of the day there, minus the break we took to go see "Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix." The kids have all had a lot of fun together -- especially when talking about Harry Potter, books, or computer games!
Logan:

Today we went river-rafting at Clear Creek. At the section Black Rapids Joe fell out. At Mr. Twister we got a huge wave in the face. Then we went to Joe's house. There me and Joey shot at a stuffed giraffe. At night, when Joey and Nolan were asleep, I won the Quiditch World Cup.

P.S. We also saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix.
Nolan:

CHAPTER 14: whiTe water rafting.

We went white water rafting and Joe fell into the river and Joe!! got back in the raft!!.

We got to see Harry Pottr and the order of the phoenix.

the lopez family is very fun.
July 6-7 July 8-9 July 10-11 July 12-13