July 2012-Canon City, CO

Here we arrive in our last significant noteworthy stop of Canon City.  Picture overload time.... Actually, I will try to keep it brief.  TRY being the key word. Ok, honestly it will not be that bad. In Canon City, CO, we get to visit with my mom's side of the family.  This includes anyone from her mom's (the Adams side) AND her dad's (the Rupp side) side of the family that we can see as they all mostly live in that area.  Some years, this is like 4 people and other years it is like 50 plus people. 

We were officially in Colorado for RJ's real birthday, which by now was his 3rd 4th birthday, and his great grandma Rupp and great Aunt Charli pulled out all the stops for this 4 year old.  There is a scenic railway that runs from Canon City through the Royal Gorge.  I have been on it before and though it is beautiful, it is not too exciting for me. However, they purchased us all tickets for an afternoon ride on this train.  By now, we ALL know how much RJ loves trains.  Needless to say, we had a very VERY excited boy on our hands.  The pictures below are of him with his ticket, with the conductor, with his daddy, and then out on the flatbed with his grandmother and aunt.  It was a very enjoyable birthday for the boy.  Afterwards, we went downtown to a local pizza parlor and ate pizza for his birthday.

The next day, Wednesday, July 25, we had RJ's official 4th birthday party.  Below is the Thomas the Train cake my aunt and I made.  We had a train cake pan that was NOT Thomas "brand" and so we just converted it to a Thomas.  RJ was happy regardless.  We invited all the "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" from both the Rupp side and the Adams side of the family.  We were hoping that some of the kids would be able to come so RJ would have friends, and he did!  I am not posting nearly all the pictures.  Below, there is a picture with all the balloons tied to the fence.  First, I have to say, that I think that it is incredibly cool that my grandma found Thomas balloons.  Anyway, RJ (at grandma's request) was forced to take a picture with each "family" that came.  It is good for record purposes, but I have not included those here.

 My grandma has these very old slot machines in her house.  RJ loves to play "money" with them.  In this picture below he had just won on the dime machine.  I have to say, my son is very VERY lucky when it comes to antique slot machines.  He won so many times! He even had enough money left over to bring home to his piggy bank.

Again, this a picture of another wonderful lady that I greatly admire.  She has lived through so much with the depression and having 7 siblings.  She has experienced a ton of loss in her family...her husband, her parents, most her siblings, her daughter, 2 grandsons, 1 great-grandson, friends, etc.  She has such a great optimistic attitude and always strives to not be down.  The hair rollers in her hair are classic grandma.  I don't remember a day that she hasn't curled her hair with them.  She may kill me if she knows I posted this picture on the Internet though.  :)  Again, I am very grateful that RJ has gotten to know this wonderful lady and enjoy her company.