July

Weeeeeee Did It!
Clayton, Ryan, Hans and I finished our second Adventure Race this year, In Summit County (Breckenridge) Colorado. The weather was perfect, a bit cloudy and around 70 degrees. After much debate we decided our strategy would be.... go faster than the other teams. It was a difficult decision but after weighing the options it quite frankly made more sense than the alternatives. This time we started with a mile and a half run to the water with all of our canoeing gear in tow. I know, I know, it sounds easy, but... in all honesty, I was a bit tired and not exactly able to keep up with the boys. Once we were in the water, after Hans and Ryan carefully selected a canoe that was well inflated with a securely attached back seat, I have to say we did rather well. After finishing the canoe we had yet another, lovely run back to the gear drop. Luckily Clayton carried my paddle this time so it was a bit easier. Biking was next, and in my opinion the most fun, a bit scary in parts. Several steep hills, where the trail was nothing but rocks. This didn't stop the men careening down trying to convince me that its actually safer and all I need to do is lean back, and turn my knees out. Never mind that my feet are clipped in and I cant bail should the need arise. This is the second time I've used clips and still have to think about stopping well in advance. With a few minor mapping hiccups and a slightly risky course alternative we went out on our own, (off the beaten path) which proved to our advantage. It put us in First Place, not only in our division of eleven teams but overall as well. The last leg of the race was the run. Also fun, the check points were well hidden this time and we had to split up to find the Flags once we thought we were close. Overall we were pretty accurate in our orienteering having run past just one of the flags. We finished the race well in advance of the other teams in our division taking First Place, and second overall. That's two for two. GO TEAM!

July

June

We took a long weekend to stay in our neighbors cabin up in Alma Colorado. Its about 20 minutes south of Breckenridge. It was beautiful. Just around the corner from the cabin was an amazing hike up along side this huge waterfall. We went several times as it was short enough for even Burk and Baxter to enjoy.

May

After the race before heading home we drove around and found a trail head in Chalk Creek. It was the perfect place to stop and have lunch. It crossed over the river with a fairly large wooden bridge which Baxter fell in love with immediately discovering the endless pleasure of dropping leaves, pine cones, sticks and rocks into the water to watch them float away, and splash. When calling everyone to go, he alone extended our visit several times with his " Not yet Mommy, Not Yet." That was a first, and too cute to ignore.

Wild Animal Habitat B. V. A. R.

We found an animal reservation and the look out was just a few hundred feet away from a large herd of Big Horn Sheep, and a very large Mule Deer. It was neat to see them all soo close in the wild.

Park B.V.A.R.

We hit several parks on the way home, it gave the kids something to look for and forward to. It was a good trip for everyone.

May

B.V.A.R. Buena Vista Adventure Race (from left; Ryan, Gina, Clayton, Hans)

Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah Oh Yeah Oh YEAHHH, as Gracie so enthusiastically put it. It was literally a race to the finish much to our surprise. We had no idea where we were in comparison to the other teams. Until the last hundred yards or so, we ended crossing the finish line at the same time as another team...tying for first place. We definitely had our share of challenges...but stuck together. Go Team! The night before the race, we were dropping off our gearboxes at the two transitions when Hans realized he didn’t pack his bike shoes. Not good, luckily Ryan had an extra pair of peddles in his truck (Of Course, His truck is the male equivalent of Michelle Phifers purse in One Fine Day). Unfortunately no one could loosen the bolts on Han’s bike to switch them out. The race started with the run, so far so good. The second leg was the kayak. Luck was clearly not with Hans; within minutes the back of his seat broke. Ryan was pretty much on his own at this point, as it was all Hans could do to stay upright, and keep from flipping the boat all together. Ohh... if only we had video of that! The bike was next, and the last leg. The boys jimmy rigged a towing system to help me on the hills so Clayton not only pulled his own weight but mine as well for a few hills. What a Man! After the race was over we were all cold, and a bit tired so there wasn't a lot of excitement and enthusiasm until much later. I can however report 31 new bruises. The mother of all, being about the size of large grapefruit on my left leg, thanks to my strength and expertise on the bike. Just before the race I bought clips and new shoes and apparently just getting the gear and looking good isn't enough... you still have to actually practice. All in all the whole experience is just one of the reason to Love Life, Family, and Good Friends. Next time we'll take more pictures.

Gracies Birthday

Gracie wanted to have an oriental Birthday party this year. She's a big girl now, 4 years old. She was looking through the Oriental Trading magazine and one of the fans caught her eye. She didn't know what to call it...but after several attempts trying to convince her to pick a theme that I thought would be more kid friendly, I finally agreed and am soo glad that I did. It was so much fun. We made Kimonos for all of the girls and dragon costumes for the boys. Addyson and Clayton made up a short dance with the girls spinning their umbrella's to fend off the attacking dragons that they performed for the parents at the end of the party. It turned out surprisingly well, complete with oriental music and everything. I have it all on video, unfortunately didn't get any still shots but for the practice and the boys didn't have their costumes on. There where 7 girls and 5 boys in all. As for the rest of the party we made Chinese dragon's, played a game using chop sticks and had miniature cake rolls to resemble sushi for the cake. The take home bags included the inspiration of it all...a fan, fortune cookies, a miniature Chinese drum, a miniature Chinese lantern, their chop sticks, and this little sheet of stickers to dress a panda bear in traditional oriental clothing. It was all very cute.

Addyson dressed up as the Queen of Egypt for the "Historic Figures of the Past Day".

















Abigail and Addysons 1st slumber party.


















Baxter's 1st fishing trip with dad.














Gracie, Gracie, Gracie what more can you say.














Abigail dressed for Gracie's Birthday.


















Baxter's 2nd Birthday













Burk














Abigail's bunny. Her choice after having stopped sucking her thumb. He's a Holland Lop, she named Thumper.

Addyson and Abigail 50's day at school. Their favorite part was the long scarf around their ponytails.



















Abigail and Addyson "Colonial Day" at school.
They love all of the dress up days for school but this one took the cake because they were just like Felicity, one of the American Girl Doll characters.

















Abigail's first "Elephant Diorama" for school.
In her own words: "It wasn't easy to make. I got a box and than I got some silver (tin foil) and had to put some brown paper on it. I cut it and I ripped it, that was so so easy, and than I put glue on it. The glue was made out of flour and water.
My mom cut some wire and I put more glue and brown paper on it. My favorite part was putting the elephants on. It looked really good."











Addyson's first Hippo Diorama for school. She went the extra mile on this one and wrote a paper to accompany it.
"Hippos are so big. Hippos are also dangerous. Watch out when you see one, and be careful. Hippos have a big mouth too. They can kill you."
How to make it:
First I got some silver stuff. Than I got brown paper and glued it on. It was very itchy. I waited for the stuff to dry, and I got the hippo to put in it from my little brother. I picked lots of leaves off of this plant and hot glued them on. Than, I got some paper and riped it up. I glued them on the box. I found a place for the hippo to go and the birds. I cut out a piece of paper and wrote my name on it. I put some grass on the side. It was really fun to make it.




Burks first Birthday! He already knows how to use forks and spoons. He prefers forks.