Happy Thanksgiving - Extra Stuff we did in Colorado Pt1 - 2025/11/28

We're in Colorado for Thanksgiving, but that's not the only thing happening this week. We're plenty busy while we prepare for the big day! 

Everyone loved seeing Wicked last year, so when Wicked: For Good came out this weekend, we put together a big party to go see it. 

Did you know McDonald's had Monopoly going on this year? Did you know you didn't need to actually buy food to play? You could request game pieces online and still win prizes? It became a nighttime routine for us to read book and then have the kids "play" on mine and Theresa's accounts. We won a whole bunch of food prizes and today is the last day to redeem them! 

Ice cream cones for breakfast? They're free, so I guess so! 

We met up with Theresa's cousin and his family at a local pizza place. 

The kids had a great time hanging out and playing in the arcade. Their daughter scrounged all around the house for quarters to use. 

And we spent way longer than we expected just catching up on life. 

Back at home, Gram has a fun project for all the kids. I remember making these ornaments years and years ago for a church craft fair. Now Gram is making them with the grandkids. 

Instructions for how to put them together. 

Getting to work with the pipe cleaners and hot glue. 

Next are the raindeer. 

And some soldiers too. 

Nice work all! 

It's cold in Colorado, but we haven't had any snow yet. That's still soup weather to us. Each family decided to make 1 type of soup, and along with a loaf of sour dough bread, we ate well. Patrick and Megan brought Ham, Cheese, and Potato. Theresa and I made pasta fagioli. And Pop Pop brought a broccoli soup. 

And that evening was also the finale of Dancing with the Stars. It's not something we watch, but they're really into it here. 

Especially Avery. She's really rooting for Robert Irwin and his partner. 

She got to stay up late to see the results, and was thrilled that Robert and Witney won! 

For a special treat, Megan booked (for all those interested) a visit to the Orlando Cat Cafe. Driving into Downtown Colorado Springs, we get a good look at Pikes Peak. 

For all those who like cats and aren't allergic. 

Megan booked the first reservation time of the day when the cats are more playful and active. 

Finding just a tail sticking out. 

The cats were cute and sweet. 

With some of them being quite bold. 

Ian found a spot on the floor and just waited until a kitty crawled into his lap. He didn't have to wait long. 

Gram is having a rough time of it today! 

Ouch! 

A video compilation of some moments. 

Nearby the cat cafe is a coffee shop that Megan likes to visit. 

After our hour was up, we all headed over to get something to warm us up. 

Alli was torn between coffee and a snack. I told her I'd split my latte with her if she'd share her cinnamon roll with me. It was good, but a cinnamon roll that sits in a case for who knows how long will always end up losing to a fresh homemade one. 

Avery - There's a really great park downtown too! Can we all go?!?

Sure, why not. 

One of their favorite activities is lounging in the hanging nets. 

By special request, I decided to make my tasty molasses bread. 

Topped with oats (which pretty much immediately fall off), it's a tasty treat when topped with butter and salt. 

There's always some kind of project to work on around the house. This fireplace hasn't worked properly for years. Mom said it would be nice to sit in front of a fire this winter, so Dad and I started troubleshooting. It took a few days, plus some new learning about how gas fireplaces operate. In tracing out the circuit, I was trying to figure out how the main gas line opened since I couldn't find any external voltage going to the valve. I'm used to see Thermistors that change resistance based on temperature, but I didn't know about Thermopiles which actually generate a Voltage when they get hot. Enough to open a valve! That wasn't the problem though. 

There's a few protections built into these too, making sure the fireplace doesn't turn on unless you've opened the flue, turned on the fan, and have a switch flipped. Those weren't the issue either. It was a relay that was clicking, but apparently wasn't making solid contact when the wall switch was flipped. It would turn the fan on, but had too high resistance for the flame to light. But now, Gram has a warm fireplace to sit in front of for the winter! 

Whew! That was a lot, but there's still more to come!