You are my dancing queen

Friday we had a dancing kind of day. Rachel had the last of a short 3-week ballet class and she looked beautiful in her outfit. She looked bored a lot in the class but said she liked it. I'm excited for her to try soccer next!

In the evening we went to the Sounds of Southlands where the Nacho Men were playing with the wife of Eric's co-worker (I borrowed her bike for the duathlon). Since our husbands were out hiking some 14ers we thought we'd have a night out with the kids. I guess the Nacho men are a really big band in Colorado because there were a lot of people there. The girls loved running around in the landscaping (the security guards had given up at that point I think of keeping kids out) and running around the crowd. Oh yeah, they danced to the music too.

The little posers.

MJ is alive and well, and white!

Oh, and guess who we are so excited to have living with us now? Here's a hint.

Why I don't like film

Remember those rolls of film you used to have to finish, drive to the store, fill out a slip, wait a week, drive back to the store, and then realize that half the pictures you took were blurry? I know, it's seems so archaic in this digital high-speed world. Anyway, I took a waterproof disposable camera on our cruise in January and finally finished up the film on our hike to the 14ers. Here are the better pictures that make me want to go kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking again.

At the trailhead two weeks ago

Pictures from kayaking and snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas in January

You know your child has an imagination when. . .

Instead of imaginary friends, Elizabeth has imaginary children, and lots of them. They go everywhere with us and she reprimands them using my stern mom voice. It's kind of eerie. And just ask her about who the father is and you'll hear about good and bad guys and people killing each other or trying to kill her while pregnant. Um, so how did she come up with that? I have no idea as she mainly watches PBS but maybe the Simpsons? Anyway, Elizabeth is our imaginative little girl always thinking of stories in her head and we keep saying we can't wait until she can write better so she can share them with us. The other day she even prayed to be an author or illustrator when she grows up.

Even the toy dogs are her children all dressed up.

On a totally different note, here are some pictures from when we went to the Children's Museum when my mom was in town. Elizabeth was in school so Rachel got all of the attention. If Elizabeth's going to be a writer, here are some possibilities for Rachel.

Veterinarian (she likes cats, not dogs)

Bubble Scientist

Bunny Rabbit, okay maybe not that one but she looked cute

Duathlon

This seems to be a summer of firsts for me. Since I'm not pregnant or nursing for the first time in Colorado I can get out and do some of the nature stuff I love or am beginning to love. My first 14er hiked last weekend and yesterday I did my first duathlon--5K run, 12 mile bike, 5K run. It was fun training for the race even though Yellowstone threw me back. One thing I realized in training was how much more fun bike riding can be than running. It's definitely easier on my body, you can cover more distance, and you can bike easier in heat (it was hot yesterday) than run in it. I also realized how much better a road bike is compared to my heavy (I didn't believe Eric when he kept saying how heavy) my hybrid bike is compared to the road bike loaner I got from one of Eric's co-worker's wives. I could really go fast on that thing!
So back to the race. I finished in 1:26 and change and got 3rd place for women, granted only 18 raced. My first 5k was about 4 minutes faster than my last one and I think the heat had something to do with that because I'm used to training in 65 degree or lower weather and it was pushing 80s. My bike race felt great although the seat post kind of collapsed at mile 10 but I was able to stay on and not lose too much time. I definitely need to work on transitions though! Seeing the real triathletes made me want to try a triathlon next year but so much stuff to buy--new bike, wetsuit, and all sorts of accessories to go with both, oh and a pool or reservoir to train in and time.

The best picture of me before the race and yucky sweat.

Heading downhill on the last 5k, eat my dust!

Kind of surprised I'm still smiling nearing the finish line that I know is uphill--how rude!

My take from the race and not pictured is the awesome goody bag with a polyester (not cotton folks) shirt. It's funny though that if I hadn't won my $15 gift card, I probably would have won a nicer raffle prize like sunglasses or something like that. Ah well, I have bragging rights with the plaque, right? Granted only 18 women competed.

Thanks Eric, Elizabeth, Rachel, Evelyn, and some other friends at the race for cheering me on! I think I'm hooked.

One more reason I love Colorado... and my wife...

not necessarily in that order.

Alicia's mom came out this week which was nice. Since she was here we thought we take advantage of the opportunity for extended babysitting and go somewhere for a bit longer than a couple of hours. I presented Alicia with the choice of going out for an evening and maybe going to a bed and breakfast somewhere or going to hike a 14er (that's a mountain peak that's 14,000 feet above sea level for all you non-Coloradans). She chose the 14er :-)

We opted for a 14er close to home so we didn't have to camp out the night before. The one we chose was Grays Peak. We woke up at 5:00 a.m. and ate breakfast on the road. After a visit to the bathroom and braving the rough road to park 100 yards away from the trailhead we were off. The trail was PACKED, loads of people there. We started about 7:30. Here's an online picture of the trailhead (obviously less snow now):

We brought an old disposable camera we needed to finish off, so we only have a few cell phone snaps. On the trail we passed many people but didn't get passed by anyone on the way up :-) We were at the peak of Grays by 9:20 (3.7 miles, 3000 feet elevation gain). We decided we had plenty of time so we hit the neighboring Torres peak, which added another 3/4 mile or so and another 600 feet. We hit that one by 10:10. After eating some food and taking pictures we started descending about 10:30. It was then that my Iliotibial Band Syndrome nearly sent me into a coma from the pain (okay, slight exaggeration, but it was quite painful). Oddly enough it was only on the downhills that it hurt, uphills and flats were fine. I'll be working on fixing that as best I can.

Overall it was a very fun trip though. Colorado is a beautiful state, I definitely have an affinity and appreciation for mountains. In all honesty it's one of the best ways for me to experience God, it's humbling and spiritual to me.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We had free tickets to a Rockies game so we left suburbia for Coors Field downtown Denver. We missed all the opposing team's runs (the Pirates) and saw the Rockies put two out of the field.

Nosebleed seats but who can complain with the price?

The best part of the game for the kids were the snacks including some cotton candy.

First Day of School

We are on a year round school schedule so the girls started back on Tuesday. Pretty crazy now I have a 1st grader (can you say all-day) and a pre-schooler.
The girls seem to like being with their friends again and their teachers seem really nice. Elizabeth's sent home this cute candygram.
Elizabeth loved sharing this funny book about First grade with her classmates.