September 2018
Over Labor Day weekend, we went on a backpacking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had really good timing, driving through an afternoon thunderstorm that cleared up a few minutes before we pulled into the trailhead parking lot.
August 2018
August started with our big trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. The following week we had all our back to school activities and school started on Thursday. Cooper has the same teacher he had last year (she moved up to 3rd grade) and Ellen has the same 1st grade teacher Cooper did. It’s nice to already know these teachers and know what to expect. Cooper’s favorite thing about 3rd grade is every kid gets a chrome book that they use…
Yellowstone and Tetons Trip
Our big summer trip this year was a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We booked our Yellowstone campsite months ago, put it on the calendar, and then just kind of got distracted by other things. When we were debating whether to rent a pavilion for our cheesecake party, Noel and I made a pros and cons list and enumerated the reasons why it was a good idea. One of our biggest reasons would be that our house wouldn’t be…
June 2018
Summer is FLYING by! We know summer days are fleeting (last Thursday marked the half way point for our summer break), so we like to pack in as much fun as possible before we head back to school and into a more boring predictable schedule. Here’s what we did in June.
Spring Break 2018
This year for Spring Break, we decided to go to Las Vegas, and Zion. We have a considerable amount of family in the area, Noel’s mom is buried there, and we love the desert. We debated whether or not to fly or drive and ended up buying plane tickets. Then as the trip drew near we debated the decision again. (We were flying Southwest so we easily could have cancelled the flights and banked the points for another trip.) After…
Winter Break 2017-2018
Based on my research in the field, there are a multitude of ways parents survive winter break. Some stock up on alcohol or chocolate, others allow unlimited screen time and ice cream for breakfast, some plan exotic (or not) vacations, and a few send their kids to day camps. This year, my method was to pretend like we were on vacation in our hometown. I’m calling this method a success. Before the break, the kids had their holiday parties. It…
November 2017
Our kids are spoiled and get an entire week off school for Thanksgiving. I started to make plans for this ahead of time and reserved some free tickets through the library to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We invited a few friends and made a morning of it. Thanksgiving day was unseasonably warm (almost a record high). I sported sandals most of the day. It was just our family for Thanksgiving so we kept it small,…
Spring Break 2016
I guess you could say Spring Break started early for Cooper since he didn’t go to school the last three days before the break. There’s a nasty cold that’s been going around and we all caught it. In two weeks we: Went to our HMO’s Urgent Care twice. Called the nurse hotline three times. Visited the doctor’s office three times. Treated two ear infections. Learned you can get canker sores on your uvula. Thankfully we have good insurance. All of…
9 Years
This year marked our 9th wedding anniversary. Noel and I put a lot of thought into what we wanted to do. We’re always tempted to dress up and try to do something fancy, but ultimately we decided we get more enjoyment out of owning who we are and doing something less fancy. A friend kindly agreed to watch the kids and we headed up to a nearby open space park after picking up some Chinese takeout. We enjoyed our dinner…
Personal Best
In high school I could run a sub six minute mile. In college, I ran two Boston qualifying marathons.* I have a box in my basement full of ribbons, medals, and trophies, but as proud as I am of those accomplishments, the miles I’m proudest of these days are much slower. They’re long lasting miles fueled by patience and full of silliness, lack of focus, and creative endeavors at motivation. They’re the miles I do with my children. These miles require…