Time Flies... and All That

I can't believe it has been over 2 months since I posted anything on here. I guess I should start with a run down of what has happened in that time.

1. Noah turned 4!!! I can't believe I have a 4-year-old child. He is the best and so much fun. I feel so lucky to be his mom. I need to post pictures of the party on here soon.

2. Noah finished up his soccer season and started playing tee-ball. Dan is coaching and he is doing a great job, of course!

3. We went to Yellowstone for Memorial Day weekend. I need to post pictures and a trip report soon as well.

4. School is out! Yee-haw... another year down and all the children are accounted for!

5. My stud of a hubby rode Elephant Rock 100 mile bike ride. Need to post pics of that one as well.

6. Debroah and Joel (our friends from Camp Buckskin) moved here from Australia with their two kids, Maysa and Emerson. We have been having a blast welcoming them to Denver and taking care of their gorgeous dog, Charlie, while they look for a house.

7. We just got back from 6 days in San Diego. Pictures are coming! We did Legoland, La Jolla Shores beach, Coronado, Disneyland (in Anaheim), and Sea World. It was a whirlwind but so much fun. I love staying in hotels!!! :)

8. I started doing acupuncture for my plantar fasciitis and it is working! I am finally able to do some decent running and I am kicking saround the idea of another marathon in October!

9. I am on my 4th class at JIU for my administration certification (and another masters to go along with it). It is business management for learning organizations and I have to admit, it's not really my thing. The teacher and classmates are great though and I am doing pretty well!

That's about all... can you see why the blogging has taken a back seat???

Uncle Mikey's Visit

I am a little behind on my blog posts, but here are some pictures from Mike's visit. Noah had a blast with his Uncle Mikey. So did Dan (especially with the fishing!).

Yum: This is the first time Noah has held a fish: Fishing near Aspen:

Getting clean in the river. I will spare you the pics of Uncle Mikey doing the same:

King of the campsite:

Classy:

Breakfast:

I also have some pictures from the Maroon Bells somewhere. I will try to find them and post them sometime this week.

It's a Colorado Summer

It must be. So much camping! Last weekend we went to the Dumont Lake Campground outside of Steamboat Springs. We drove up Friday afternoon so we were there by about 5:00. So we get to the site we had reserved... and someone else was there. Turns out that someone else had taken the site they reserved so they took ours. Just so you know, taking someone else's reserved site is seriously bad camping etiquette. Anyway, so we tried to get the campground host to work it all out (because of course all of the sites were full for the night) and he was nowhere to be found. Someone called the area forest ranger and I called the reservation system, but we never did get it worked out. It turned out that the people in our site were really cool and they had family staying at a different campsite, so they moved in with their family and gave us the site. Thank goodness they did because the campground host didn't show up until everyone was leaving on Sunday. We saw the ranger chewing him out on our way out.

Anyway, by the time we were actually setting up our tent, it was after 7:00 and the mosquitos were horrid. Luckily we had bug spray and we just ate, made s'mores, and went in the tent. The next morning, Dan and Noah went fishing. I took a little 5 mile run up the trail towards the Rabbit Ears, and when I got back, Dan took a long and strenuous bike ride down to Steamboat and back up over the pass. He is a crazy person, but I know it was a great training session for Copper Triangle, which he is riding this Friday!!!

Noah and I headed to Steamboat after his nap and got the picture of him riding the pass on our way. He is truly a badass!!!

We did a nice little hike around the lake that night. The wildflowers up there are incredible right now and it was just at that exact right time of the evening when the sun is setting and the colors get brighter. Beautiful!

On Sunday, we wandered around Steamboat for a while. We did a little shopping at FM Light & Sons (can't miss it if you go to Steamboat, literally) and had lunch at the Rio (some of the best Margaritas in the world). Then we headed home with a little detour for fishing at Georgetown Lake.

We are home this weekend, but we have more camping in store for next. Friday we are headed to Copper Mountain for Dan's race (staying in a hotel right in the Center Village - yay for the race participant rate Dan got) and then Saturday Dan's brother Mike is meeting us there. He is coming all the way from Minnesota so we are really excited to see him. Saturday night and Sunday we are camping at Bogan Flats which is out west sort of near Aspen and Crested Butte. Should be beautiful!

He Passed!

Noah passed his first swim level last Friday! It's Swim Ladder Level 1 (I don't know how that correlates to Red Cross levels), but I am really impressed by the face that he knows front float, back float (both with help), and all the kicking and bobbing stuff. Ms. Gabby was great! Noah loved her and would do anything she said. I am so proud of my little guy. The other day at the pool, one of the other moms asked me how old he is. When I said 3, she said she couldn't believe how great of a swimmer he is!!! :) Here are some pics.

I Can Ride My Bike With No Handlebars

OK, maybe he needs the handlebars, but he is definitely getting the hang of it:

I'm Tired but Happy

We have had an insane couple of days. Here's what they looked like:

Friday:

1. Wildflower hike with Noah
2. Swimming at our neighborhood pool
3. Park and flying Dan's model airplane

Saturday:

1. Farmer's market with Dan and Noah (found some great calabacitas, which I'd never had before and tamales!)
2. Noah's friend's birthday party
3. Castle Rock Outdoor Movie Night: Journey to the Center of the Earth. They had a band that played before the movie and Noah danced his little booty off. Dan has video that I will try and post. It is hilarious.

Sunday:

1. I helped throw a baby shower for a chick I work with who is having triplets. Yes, TRIPLETS. Spontaneous too. No fertility stuff. Can you imagine???

2. Good news: Dan made veggie manicotti for dinner. YUM!!!

In these three days, I also managed to get in 2 shorter runs (a 3 and a 5 miler) and a strength training session (30 minutes). Time for stuff to slow down.

Music in the Meadows: Dotsero

Our neighborhood associations do about 4 concerts every summer and they call them "Music in the Meadows." Last Wednesday, the band was Dotsero, a Colorado jazz band that has been voted best in Denver for a ridiculous number of years. They were pretty good, but modern smooth jazz just really isn't my thing. I prefer that wild jazz, like Ben Markley, a dude I took Dan to see downtown for Valentine's Day. Anyway, it was a gorgeous night and we all had fun. Here are some pics:

Noah getting a baloon animal made: The show: Swinging at the park right by the concert: Noah with his cupcake:

More July Fourth Pics

Noah playing a fishing game at the festival: Waiting for his turn on the bouncy slide:

Noah can put on his own clothes now. Notice the backwards jammy top:

Fireworks:

At the fireworks show:

Noah and I at the festival:

Independence Day

No, we didn't spend July 4th blowing up aliens. But we did get to watch some stuff 'splode! We went to our neighborhood's Fourth of July festival and then came home for a nap. After that, we were going to go to Castle Rock's celebration, but it poured rain for like 2 hours. Luckily, it cleared up in time for the fireworks. Here are a couple of pictures from the day. I will post more tomorrow hopefully if this stupid computer isn't moving so slowly!

Swimming, For Real

Noah is starting to swim by himself! He can totally go across the pool by himself with a noodle and he is starting to get it even without a flotation device! He has another session of swimming lessons starting in a week and a half and I am excited to watch his progress! Here are some pictures of him swimming with Daddy.

Big Head Todd at Red Rocks

There is nowhere in the world I'd rather see a show than Red Rocks. And seeing a Colorado band there is just the best! The Big Head Todd show there on Saturday night was no exception. They played a good mix of their old and new stuff including "Bittersweet" and my personal favorite, "Broken Hearted Savior." It all rocked!

My friend Jen and I started the night with Margaritas at the Morrison Inn on their roof-top patio. It was a perfect day, not too hot and not too cold. And it was bright and sunny. With all of the afternoon rain we have had here, I was a little worried. It did get a little windy when we got to the show, but all in all, I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. After we finished our Margs, a buddy we work with took us up the hill to the show on the back of his motorcycle. There is no better way to go to Red Rocks, for sure!

After the show, we walked back down the hill to Morrison, and went to a bar called Vinny's to finish out the night. Then we split a cab back to my house (and we didn't get home until after 3:00). It was definitely the craziest night I've had since college and I am way too old for this crap. But it was fun!

Dan and Noah are home safe and sound now after a tornado-ridden camping weekend in Nebraska. They had fun though. I missed them so much and I am so glad they are home.

Swimming Lessons

Noah had his second day of swimming lessons for the summer today. It was freezing! 46 degrees, rainy and windy. Noah had a great time in the nice warm pool though. It was steaming hot. He is now putting his face down and floating by himself! I am very excited about that. He would always go underwater but would never put his face down like in a swimming position before now. Right now he is only signed up for this week, but I think I am going to sign him up for next week too. They go every day, but he loves it so why not. I thought he was going to hate it because on the first day he was whining and complaining and saying he didn't want to go. He was fine once he got there though and in fact, he cried when it was time to leave.