Run for the Watershed

This past weekend, Clint put a team together to compete in Cherry Creek's "Run for the Watershed" relay race. The 50 mile course began south of Castle Rock and finished up at Cherry Creek State Park. They traveled through some beautiful country! There were 16 teams and 12 legs of the race: running, biking, and walking. Despite poorly marked trails and forgotten bike wheels, his team won! Not just won, but smoked the competition; second place was at least ten minutes behind them. Although I heard a few complaints of sore muscles the following day, I think everyone had a good time.

Keystone

We spent the last few days in Keystone, CO where Clint was having a conference. We tag along with him every year and explore the area. We drove over Loveland Pass enroute to Keystone. It didn't look bad from the car, but the wind was howling and the snow was blowing. There was another guy at the top was was watching his brother approach the summit of the mountain. They had to have been crazy. We were freezing and had only been out of the car for a few minutes! Our condo was right on the lake with beautiful views of the mountains. I had done some research online before we left, so I knew where I wanted to go, which hikes I wanted to do, etc. while Clint was in his conference. I neglected to check the weather--it snowed off and on the entire time we were up there, thus ruining most of my plans. Haden had also woken up with a fever the day before so he was ornery and cranky most of the time.

We did make several visits to the swimming pool--I love traveling during the off season, we had the entire pool to ourselves, and we drove up to Montezuma. Online, Montezuma is advertised as a ghost town worth visiting. I was envisioning that we could get out and wander around and look at old buildings. I was very disappointed! Ghost towns don't have brand new expensive log cabins being built in them, although they were being built next to run down, eclectic houses like this one. Regan now thinks we should repaint our house to match. There was even a grainary turned into crude living quarters. (The battery in the camera died, thus no picture.)

Because of the weather and Haden's fever, we spent most of the trip in the condo, although we were able to feed the ducks on the lake. Regan is now an expert fire-starter, Haden's fever finally broke the last night we were there, and I am well on my way to finishing Gone with the Wind, again. (I love that book!)

Popcorn

Haden has fallen in love with popcorn. I'm not sure whether he likes popping it or eating it more! We usually pop it twice a day. Haden gathers everything we need, the popcorn popper, the popcorn, and the bowl. He puts the popcorn in, slides the bowl under the spout and tells me to plug it in. Haden makes sure it has butter on it and Regan insists on adding the salt. I once made the mistake of running out. Haden cried for an hour--apparently he didn't understand that we were all out. He just thought I was being mean. He refused to be consoled or distracted, so I gave up and went to the store JUST for popcorn. He smiled all the way to the check stand and never let it out of his sight.

Golden Gate State Park

We went hiking with some friends in Golden Gate State Park yesterday. We haven't been up there for a few years--it was beautiful! The leaves were just starting to change and the weather was perfect for hiking. Haden started off in his backpack, but didn't last long. He would much rather be out and running around.
While hiking, we passed TEN llamas. Not something you see everyday. Haden loved them, but kept signing "horse." These llamas were much better behaved than my mom's. Not one of them tried to spit! (You couldn't go near my mom's llama without it trying to spit at you!) Regan had so much fun hiking. She doesn't complain nearly as much when she has friends with her! We are so lucky to have good friends and such a beautiful place to live!

Chuck E Cheese

Regan's first field trip of the year was to Chuck E Cheese. Haden and I got to tag along. We all had a lot of fun playing games and eating pizza! Last year, she insisted that I follow her around. This year, she ran off as soon as she saw her friends, Caroline and Katelyn. It's amazing how much they change in one year...

PBS Kids Fair

Rocky Mountain PBS was sponsoring a Kids Fair last weekend. They had been advertising it on PBS Kids every morning and each time Regan insisted that we had to go; after all, Princess Presto from Super Why was going to be there. Regan LOVES Princess Presto. (She likes to pretend that she is Princess Presto, I get to be Wonder Red, Haden is Super Why, leaving Clint with Alpha Pig. Regan really likes the reaction she gets from Clint after telling him he has to be Alpha Pig!) The Big Green Rabbit also made an appearance, but Regan was not interested in going to see him. She just wanted one of his carrots.
They had a tricycle course which both kids loved. Regan was hesitant at first, making sure that Clint was right beside her, but soon took off, careening around the corners and swerving around the slower riders. I'm afraid she's rather fearless when it comes to that kind of stuff!


Haden loved the petting zoo, but kept calling the lambs "doggies." They both had fun jumping in the bounce house and enjoyed the free chocolate fondue they were passing out.

Vail Pass

The Saturday before Labor Day we had a ward activity to bike Vail Pass into Frisco. It is a 14 mile stretch, mostly downhill with beautiful scenery. Regan insisted on riding her own bike, attached to mine, and Haden enjoyed having the trailer all to himself. I was a little worried about Regan--since the ride is all downhill, you get going pretty fast and I have never gone that far or that fast with her. She loved it. Once, while we were coasting, she told me to start pedaling because she wanted to go even faster! The little girl is fearless... She made it nearly 13 miles before she decided to get in the trailer with her brother. Clint had the camera, so we never got any pictures of him!

Ouray

Clint decided on Monday that he wanted to run the half marathon in Ouray, CO the following Saturday. He hadn't been training for that long of a run, but the race was on Saturday (most of them are on Sunday) and the entry fee was only $30, so he couldn't pass it up. We rearranged our plans for the weekend, got reservations for Friday night, and Clint loaded up his MP3 player with a lot more music. We left early Friday morning and got to Ouray 6 hours later. Ouray is beautiful. They call it the Switzerland of America because it is surrounded by 13,000 ft peaks on three sides. I had read about a beautiful waterfall, Box Canon Falls, just south of Ouray where we headed first. Before going to the falls, we hiked the rim trail. Since it was rather steep and not very long, I hauled Haden up. I didn't want Clint to wear his legs out before his race the next day. Clint was rather embarrassed and repeatedly offered to take Haden. It didn't help that at least one other hiker commented that shouldn't Clint be hauling my heavy load!





The trail led us through a narrow tunnel. Clint was making growling noises like a bear that echoed fabulously throughout the tunnel. Regan told him to stop; she gets scared rather easily. Clint stopped, but Haden started and continued even after we were outside the tunnel. I told him that he was going to be hoarse, so then he started signing horse. He kept his hand on his head for another several minutes. I frequently wonder what is going through his head! The falls were unlike any I have ever seen, but there wasn't really a good angle available for a picture.



The next day we walked Clint to the starting line. He stretched and was off. The course was beautiful. It wandered around Ouray and ended in a park in Ridgway, CO, just 9 miles up the road. Despite Clint's lack of training, he did very well. He came in 5th in his age category and 22nd overall with a time of 1:40:57.


Regan also participated in the kid's one mile fun run. I ran with her. She ran all of the first of three laps and most of the second two laps. After all the motivating I did to keep her going, I thought she would stop running after each lap, but she finished the entire mile in 16:40. There were a couple of kids her age, but their dads gave them piggy back rides for majority of the race. Everyone else was several years older. I was so proud of Regan for finishing, but she says that she doesn't want to do any more races!



Haden was drawn to every dog we saw. Most of the owners were very gracious and let Haden play with their dog. Clint keeps threatening to bring one home for him...

It was a fun, but very quick vacation. Clint is already planning on running it again next year...I'm going to have to work on Regan!

Ballet

Regan also started ballet. This year she is in a class with several of the girls from the ward and luckily the same teacher from last year. She loves Miss Holly and thoroughly enjoys an audience at home as she demonstrates everything she learned that day. This year the theme for the recital is going to be Pocahontas.

Regan's 1st day of Preschool

Regan finally started her second year of preschool at Trailswest Elementary School. She has been asking all summer when she was going to start preschool again. We had the Meet & Greet Monday and school started Wednesday. She has the same teacher and speech therapist that she had last year. She LOVES her teachers and was glad that many of the kids in her class are the same as well. Haden and I both miss her while she is gone, but know that she is having a wonderful time. One morning, I was going to go running after I dropped her off, so I wore my running clothes. She was apparently very embarrassed because she told me that I was not cute and needed to change into something else. I refused. When we got to preschool, she wouldn't let me hang around and talk to the teacher. She told me to leave immediately after I signed her in. To save her embarrassment, I now change into my running clothes after I drop her off. I had no idea it was that big of a deal for her! (Regan refuses to smile nicely and will only give me these ridiculous poses when I try to take her picture.)