For the 4th of July we stayed in the neighborhood. They had a kids parade led by a Westminster fire truck and we managed to convince Sydney to ride her big girl bike. I think that was a mistake though, because I ended up pushing her most of the way around the neighborhood. After the parade the firemen set up the hose and let the kids take turns "operating" it. Sydney was really into it and loved sitting in the firetruck. They bought fried chicken and drinks and everyone else brought a dish to share which made quite the feast.
That evening we went to Ryan and Amy's house to help Ryan celebrate his birthday. Later we decided to head to the Broomfield Commons soccer fields to watch the fireworks. The weather was iffy with some strong wind and weird clouds but we went anyway. While we were sitting there we could see Westminster and Thornton start their fireworks but nothing from Broomfield. Eventually everyone started leaving so we did too. About half way home, BOOM starts the Broomfield fireworks. Thanks for the notification Broomfield. :-P What a bummer, but at least we were able to see them from home if not feel them. We finally ended up at another neighborhood party where Sydney got to try some sparklers. After that it was time for bed.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Building a House in Alaska
I spent from June 28th till the morning of July 4th in Healy, Alaska helping Brian build his house. We did a lot of framing while I was there and I learned more than I ever expected about the process. One of the guys said, "I'll have to bring you out the next time I build a house." I think he said that because he knew I was working for free. In any case, I think it's safe to say that most of my framing days are behind me. When I got back all my coworkers asked how my "vacation" was. I said, "What vacation? I was framing a house!" I also learned that when you tell anyone outside of Alaska that you're visiting Alaska, they automatically assume you're going on a fishing trip. Anyway, it was fun to see Brian and pregnant Katie and help them build the place they'll be living starting this fall. Brian has an amazing grasp of the building process considering this is his first house. However, its a good thing Katie's step-father John is in charge because at one point he and I built an interior wall to his bathroom without a door! Brian set up his tripod for each day of construction and has taken some great pictures of the process. Check them out at his blog here.
Release of the Butterflies
Sydney got a container of live caterpillars from Aiden for her 4th birthday. They come in a jar with food and just eat until they form cocoons by attaching themselves to a little paper disk at the top of the jar. We then moved this to another mesh container about the size of a beach ball and waited for them to hatch. Unfortunately, hatching takes about a second so we missed the process of hatching for them. Eventually we let them loose in the garden by unzipping the top of the container. Most just flew away but the one in the picture hung out and let us take a few pictures of him. Butterfiles are fun!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Bolder Boulder Pictures
I've finally posted some pictures from Melissa's running of the Bolder Boulder. She had a great time and a great run, beating her goal pace by running less than 8 minute miles. I don't know how she does it but it was fun to watch from the sidelines with Sydney and Bryce. We were joined by my buddy Matt and his kids Corrine and Jack who were watching Melanie who is with Melissa in this picture and some of the other action shots. After the race we walked around with some of the other 50,000 runners and got some free popsickles for the kids and other schwag. We then went back into the CU football stadium for the memory day tribute where skydivers landed carrying the flag from each branch of service and the American Flag. This was followed by the national anthem and a jet flyover which Bryce and Sydney really liked. They both totally crashed after that because we all got up at 5am in order to get Melissa to Boulder for her 7am start. The race she's really training for, the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon, is coming up soon on Saturday, August 11 at 8am. We'll keep you posted!
Sydney and Bryce Professional Pictures
Click the picture to see some professional pictures we took of Sydney and Bryce. Bryce was very difficult to take this time because he did NOT want to sit still for pictures. One of the best ones we got of him was when we was walking toward the camera after we had sat him down. Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sydney's 4th Birthday
This is the jumping castle we rented for Sydney's 4th birthday. Luckily we got it from our neighbors because the original day we were planning her birthday was very cold and rainy. We rescheduled for the following day which was dry and much warmer. All the kids had a blast jumping around. When it was time to sing happy birthday I thought to myself "Hmm, it would nice if we could turn the blower off quick to sing happy birthday because that blower is pretty load." So I ran around back and unplugged it. Well you might be surprised to know that a bouncy castle deflates VERY fast once you unplug the fan. Luckily disaster was averted as another parent quickly plugged it back in. After the party we all got to jump around a little together as a family before dismantling it. Jump castles are fun! Here is the slide show of the birthday pictures.
Melissa, Sydney & Bryce
I've posted a bunch of pictures from between Easter to Sydney's birthday. Click on the picture to go to our Flickr photo stream or view the slideshow by clicking here.
Kozmo the therapy dog
Here is a picture taken recently of Kozmo at the Avista Hospital ER with one of his favorite nurses (or maybe it's just that she loves dogs). He's been going about every other week as Melissa finds the time to take him. She recently took him and wanted to visit a friend who had just had a baby. So the nurses in the ER said they'd watch him. When she got back they had laid out towels for him to lay on, filled up a bowl of water, and were feeding him treats! No wonder he's so excited to go! He seems to know to behave when he gets there although sometimes he does get a little excited. Once he licked a little girl right in the face as she was going to pet him. Luckily the parents and the ilttle girl were ok with it but Melissa let him know he was in trouble. Even at 7 years old he's still learning new tricks!
Melissa Running
Melissa is a running machine these days. She's joined a running group which meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings to do sprints, mile repeats, and all sorts of madness. She's also on a program which is ramping up to the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon on August 11. I have been riding next to her on my bike with the kids in the bike trailer and we sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her. Last weekend she did 11 miles while we rode next to her. Now I leave you with a relavent movie quote: As the old timer in Back to the Future III so aptly said, "Run for fun? What the heck kind of fun is that?"
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sydney & Bryce on Easter
Finally updating the blog again. This photo was taken on Easter and it belongs to a Flickr set with Easter photos and some when Opa and Oma came to visit. Click away to see the rest! I'll try to post some more photos soon so I can eventually catch up to the present day.
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