Sledding and Superbowls

Before settling down with the rest of you to watch the big game, we decided to do some sledding at the hill across the street.  This video has me, Katie, Andrew, and our neighbor-girl all in ONE sled.  We were cruising pretty fast toward a tree and I had to plant a foot to slow us down and change course, which is what causes all the snow to drench us (and the camera).

(And yes, that ridiculous groaning is me)

More Snow

Dumped on today.  Andy was an enthusiastic shoveler.

Lots of snow and Secondteen

We got ourselves a good-ol-fashioned blizzard today.  I'd say its about a 4 on a scale of 1-10 but it still qualifies.  School is closed.  Kids are home.  Unfortunately I still have to work.

Andy woke me up this morning with this:

*Andy crawls into bed with me*

Andy:  Dad, are you awake?

Me:  Ughhh, what time is it?

Andy:  Mmmmm, abouuuut...  6:29

Me:  Awesome, what's up?

Andy:  I just named a new number!

Me:  Really, what's it called?

Andy:  Secondteen!

Me:  Cool, where does it go, what is it's value?

Andy:  It comes in place of twelve.  And I want to rename eleven to Firstteen too.

Me: Excellent, can I go back to sleep now?

Andy:  OK

While I was unable to really appreciate the value (no pun intended) of these new number names at the time, I think they make a lot of sense now.  I mean, who was the donkey that invented eleven and twelve...? They make no sense when compared to all the other 1s and 2s in the rest of the number system.

Guess what

I'm kinda desperate for blog topics this week.  Maybe I've just been working too hard.  So I took this picture, wondering if anyone can guess what it is...?

B.I.P.

This week Andrew was BIP (Berry Important Person) in his class.  Essentially, he gets to have a bunch of special  privileges throughout the week, like always being first in line, picked first, and stuff like that.  On the last day of the week (today) he gets to have a parent come to class and read a book.  I did the best "Sneeches" reading I could muster.  The kids were great and asked a ton of questions.  After the reading, mommy showed up with some McDonalds!  We pulled Katie from her class and had a family lunch in the cafeteria.   Good stuff.

Slideshow

Here are the pics from 2011...

(Tip:  you can view the slideshow in LARGE fullscreen by pressing:  in the bottom right corner of the YouTube window.)

Jab... Hook... Cross... HI-YAH!

More from MMA.  I'm hoping he becomes the next Chuck Norris.

Cookies

Today was a big day in America.  All across the country, homes were tuning-in to watch the Patriots battle the Ravens, and the Niners take-on the Giants.  The outcome would decide who would go to the Superbowl.  At the same time, millions of Girl Scouts were taking to the streets, knocking on the doors of these homes, and trying to sell the worlds most famous cookies.

Day one of Girl Scout cookies sales.

I gotta say, it ranks right up there with Black Friday, and the time I stood in line back in '80 for Empire Strikes Back.  Having only been on the buying end of Girl Scout cookies in the past, I was totally unprepared for how Hard-Core the Girl Scouts are about their cookie sales.  It starts with signing your life away for 50-or-so boxes of cookies.  After that, you basically sprint to the streets of your local neighborhood, trying to beat all the other girls who might be trying to move on your turf.  The true victims (or casualties) of this war are your poor unsuspecting neighbors who have to try to say 'no' these puppy-eyed saleswomen as they pile overpriced boxes of sugar on their doorsteps.  On top of it all, it was windy and in the 30s today here in Denver, so lets just say it wasn't the best weather for door-to-door sales.

That being said, Katie was awesome at it.  She was brave and confident as she knocked on doors until her hands were frozen.  Many thanks to our generous neighbors and family who said 'yes'.  Please eat-up and call us if you need any more... we still have a few boxes to sell.

LIFE!!!

Last night we played LIFE. We haven't played a board game together as a family in a while and it's funny to see how the kids personalities come out. We had a pretty good time making up names for all the kids we were having. I ended up with SIX boys! So many, that I had to start jamming them in between each other in the car...

26 Push-ups

Today in his Mixed Martial Arts class, Andrew's Master asked for a volunteer. Andy raised his hand, and the teacher asked him to come up and do Push-ups in front of the class...

After, the teacher told a story about how when he was once training under a Shaolin Monk. The Monk asked for a volunteer in a similar manner. The eager teacher (a student then) volunteered. The monk told him that he had volunteered to clean the bathroom. The lesson being: never volunteer until you know what you are getting into...

I have to admit, i was pretty impressed with Andy's ability to do 26 push-ups.

Dontcha just love APPS?

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

As I wade back into the depths of blogging, I have also been looking at applications on my phone that can help. As you all know, there sure are a LOT of apps out there. I have found a few really cool ones though.

JibJab (per the Star Wars vid above) is just so much fun. You can make all kinds of silly stuff really easily. If you like photos and if you like to create, you gotta check it out. Its not really an app, its a website, but it acts like an app.

Sincerely Inc is a company that makes apps focused on mobile photos (and printing them). The photobooth app (popbooth) in this post is from them. They have a cool postcard maker, card maker, and some other fun apps. I have some fun travel coming-up and I hope to make some good use of the postcard-maker.

Instagram is another very cool photo sharing platform. More akin to Twitter and Facebook, Instagram lets to share photos via mobile devices in a very mobile-relevant way. (The MMA photo and Text-A-Saurus were both edited/created through Instagram -- see below.)

Finally, the Blogger app is a must for anyone who uses Blogger. It is a huge time-saver.

Katie has been going NUTS with apps lately on her itouch. It seems like she has found every single free app in the universe. Since I have the download function pass-coded, that means a lot of "Daddy? Can I get this app?", and a lot of me entering in the password.

Skate City

Inspired by my sister's family, we decided to head over to Skate City in Littleton this weekend. I grabbed my sequined shirt and matching cowboy hat and we went looking for roller disco fun. I think Jen was having some wicked flashbacks since she grew up around there and used to go to Skate City as a kid. Not much seemed to have changed from Jen's descriptions. We had a blast both skating and people watching.

I was particularly impressed with my wife's skating ability. Now we can add Bowling AND Rollerskating to Jen's ninja list...

MMA

Andy has been taking Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) for about a half a year now. He really gets into it and is super intense about his training. Lots and lots of focus. Its great to see him take something so seriously.

Where are we?

From our trip in Dec to Copper, here's a clip of us on the ski lift. Not real exciting but im just trying to see if I can embed video...

Success!!!

Text-a-saurus!!!

So, I thought it would be a cool idea to give Katie texting capability on her itouch...

I cant really find good words to describe what has transpired since. The term, "Ive created a monster" feels like such an understatement.

Keep in mind that the only person she can text right now is me... so Im getting all of the activity.

This is forwarded from my iPhone today:

Jan 11, 2012 3:58pm

: What time will ur work be done?

: Dad!!!!!

: Yo Daddio!

:)

I'll be done at 530

: I need help with homework!

: Kk!

: I'm gonna hook up mom so we can text each other! But I'm doing it laterz. Love ya to my toes! -Katerz

Jan 11, 2012 4:02pm

: I want to be able to EDIT the blog. Like post pictures and ect.

: P.S. I would like to upload pictures to my iTouch :D

: Ya know, I'm texting ya in the basement! :o

: I'm upstairs now!

: Drew and mom r at KARATE! :D

: Now I'm at ur door!

: Peeking in!

Jan 11, 2012 4:05pm

: Now out!

: Done yet?

Super Socks

Here are Katie's socks...

Her Birthday

Took Jen to the Magnolia Hotel downtown for a night away to celebrate her birthday. We had a great corner room with a eye-opening view of the city. Being able to see so many people at once (by just looking from your window) is definitely a different kind of feeling from living in the burbs. We had a great time being alone together while surrounded by strangers. We drank copious amounts of wine while talking like James Lipton. We ate a lot of Garlic. We slept in. I can't overstate the value to having time alone together every once and a while. Happy Birthday Jennifer, I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Never leave your iPhone unguarded...

...or your wife might snap ya nappin'.

How to reboot?

How do you pic up and start after having been stopped for so long?

August Wrap

A lot to catch-up on, here goes:

BIRTHDAYS
August is always a busy month for us with Katie and Andy having back to back Birthdays on the 15th and 16th. In the middle of all of this, I had to take 2 business trips, so we had to really pack in the fun in the time we had. We had a crazy slumber party with the cousins accompanied by a trip to ChuckECheese, and finished off the morning with a dozen KrispeKreme doughnuts. Andy and Katie got lots of wonderful presents and are proud to inform everyone of their new 5 and 7 ages.







Grandma Kari went crazy with the cakes this year, and you can see the neat-o Sandals for Katie and the Inter-planetary Star Wars cake for Andy. Very creative and very yummy.

MODEL ROCKET


One of Andy's gifts this year was a model rocket. I used to make them as a kid so I picked up a kit at the local Michael's. I guess I should have been a bit more conservative when I chose the engines cause I went with the biggest they had... when we finally went out to launch this thing in the backcountry, we counted down... and ZOOM! The rocket must have gone about 2000' up in the air cause none if us could even SEE it. We finally saw the parachute as a little white speck and the rocket drifted from the breeze to come down about a mile away. Heartbroken on losing his cool new rocket, I had to take Andy (and Zoe who was there to watch) home empty handed.
I went back out later and was determined to find the darn rocket and wandered around the open trails for about an hour looking. I was heading back, and had given-up when I noticed a small white patch in the distance, and sure enough it was the rocket.
We did a second launch a few days later and were sure to wait for a completely non-windy time for blast-off. We tried a different location too... daddy though it would be good to use what APPEARED to be an unused pasture near our home. After launching the rocket, and recovering it shortly after, we started to head back to the car. Just then a pick-up comes zooming across the dirt at us and some rancher/cowboy tells us "you 'ought not be here, there a pair o' bull over that there hill."
Thankful that we steered clear of the steer, we quickly headed back to the car. I tell ya, this rocket stuff is exciting business!

FIRST HAIL
September 17 marked out first ever HAIL STORM as a family. From out of nowhere (as most weather usually occurs in Colorado) we began to get pelted by half-inch sized ice pellets. Loud, fascinating, and kinda-scary -- we continue to build respect for Mother Nature's presence in this part of the world.



GARDEN OF THE GODS
We made a trek down to the "Garden of the Gods" late in August. A beautiful private park, which is open to the public, boasts beautiful crimson rock formations which are a particular attraction to outdoor enthusiasts, especially climbers. It was really hot that day but incredibly beautiful as well. The kids climbed on the rocks and reminded me of trips with TL when I was a kid.
I also had the opportunity to marvel at Pike's Peak, which was climbed and descended in 5h47m on the previous weekend by my brother-in-law in the Pike's Peak Marathon. (Woody, after seeing it in person, I think you are even crazier now!)
We finished the afternoon with a picnic in the shade and then a quiet drive home.



ASPEN CELEBRATION
The final chapter of this mega post is about the weekend we just spent in Aspen to celebrate our 10th Year Anniversary. Having never been, I was simply amazed at the beauty of that place. It has a posh ritzy character to it (like Santa Barbara) and a backdrop that is unmatched in anything I have ever seen.

We arrived Friday afternoon and enjoyed live music in an outdoor restaurant in the middle of downtown. The next day we set off to climb the Ute Trail which leads to a beautiful view of the Aspen area. The trail was very aggressive, about a 2000' climb, and STEEP and ROCKY. We were quickly winded with and our hearts pounding as we made the climb -- but we persisted to the top to enjoy an amazing view and a delicious picnic.

On the way down however, we had a bit of a 'slip'. While descending the lower half of a rocky, gravel-laden steep section of switchbacks, Jen lost her footing and began sliding on her butt down the hill. Keep in mind that if it were any steeper here, it would be a sheer cliff. Being ahead on the trail, I raced to intercept her on the switchback below. I arrived just in time to stop Jen from continuing her slide (it was more like a bad football block). However, in stopping Jen, the force of her hitting me knocked ME over onto my back upside down on the hill, clinging to a small tree with one foot to prevent me from dropping into the valley below. I gave Jen about 10 seconds to collect herself and then pleased with her to grab my other foot so I could get back to the trail. It was scary, and if not for that lovely little tree, I might now be blogging this right now.
We counted our many raspberries and bruises, thanked god for the second chance at life, and headed down the trail with a higher level of care.

Feeling like we needed to be a little more careful, we decided to spend the afternoon on a nice safe bike-ride. We grabbed some rented mountain cruisers and enjoyed a stunning trail that follows the Aspen river crossing unique bridges and groves on the western edge of town. We visited the John Denver memorial and decided to explore a dirt path that headed to a place called "Aspen Meadows..."

About 5 minutes onto the dirt path, we come around a corner and find ourselves 20 yards from a 500 pound BLACK BEAR. He was sitting RIGHT in the middle of the path. I calmly slow down to advise Jen to do the same but was remiss to find her burning rubber and kicking up dust as she tore off at about 30 MPH in the other direction. I was able to get a glimpse of her saucer sized eyes just before she left me to be eaten by the Kodiak. All this commotion alerted the bear who began to get up while looking in our direction.
That was the last moment I looked at the bear. I emulated my wife and a few minutes later we were panting near the main path, having a laugh over our second close encounter for the day.

On Sunday we headed to Maroon Bells for a final hike before heading home. Called "The most photographed spot in Colorado" the bells are everything people claim them to be. Mirror-like mountain lakes, endless Aspen groves, and stunning mountains encase every inch of this area. We hiked for about 4 miles, took many photos, and 'ooohed' and 'aaahed' a lot. Incredible.