We wanted to go to a more family-oriented area, and we've always heard great things about Steamboat. We are very excited about the family atmosphere. We will have 25 kids for our first pilot trip. We hope to up that next year and in the years to come.

Instead of a family outing, Sunshine Kids brings the kids together so they form their own network of friends. It gets them away from hospital treatments and hospital stays. It gives them some independence away from their parents. This gives them the opportunity to break away.

The kids are already asking about them. I met them, so we are really excited. They know about that reality show out there, and the kids want to ask them about that.

Together in our house, in the firelight, we are the world made small.

It's very surreal. When we were little we would watch the pageant as a family, and my sister and I would go into the utility room and play Miss America in our heels.

It's a difficult piece of property to categorize with single-family zoning and steep banks abutting railroad tracks and industry, with park property across the street. We've had informal discussions with a developer who might want to do something there with multiple-family zoning.