And Finally Some Snow

The first two weeks of February brought the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships to Beaver Creek. It's a bit like a mini-Olympics for skiers, and all the big names in skiing are there. We watched the races a bit but ended up reveling in the totally empty mountain and had a great day of skiing. We're lucky in that several of the big name skiers train at Vail and Beaver Creek and it's not uncommon to share a lift or a run with someone such as Mikaela Shiffrin. Here's a view of all the race courses in the background of our very colorful skier.

 For Travis' big birthday he requested a ski trip here in Colorado to a ski area we don't normally go to. We narrowed it down to Crested Butte and Monarch and the timing of when we could go landed us at Monarch. We stayed at a hot springs resort nearby and enjoyed soaking in the warm river and pools after a day of better than expected skiing. We also stumbled onto a monthly art walk in Salida and spent most of a day in and out of galleries chatting with artists. All in all a pretty great long weekend.

We also got a decent sized storm here in Denver. Totals across the city varied widely, we ended up with a little less than 8" all of which landed over the weekend. Weekend snow means great sledding opportunities and when F and Emma discovered that their "secret" sledding hill was full of most of the neighborhood kids they were thrilled for the giant play date. Getting to each other was a bit tricky, Emma's gate was frozen shut (see the purple coated youngster in the background working the gate) and our gate was stuck shut by the weight of the snow on the opening side. The two intrepid pals were getting to each other one way or the other... Luckily Dad stepped in and manhandled our gate open and Emma bravely clambered over her fence (which is a little shorter than ours) and the two met in the middle for a day of snow play.

 Unrelated to snow, FFM presented several weeks worth of research and writing in the annual 2nd grade country night. He picked Ireland (yes, Australia was a close second) and filled an entire book with facts and details about the land of his birth. It was a great night seeing all the different books from all the countries and tasting foods from all over the world. F's other bestie, also named Emma, dressed in her native Ethiopian garb and made a lovely pancake similar to a French crepe.

First Triathalon

With all the swimming and biking that our family has been doing this summer FFM decided that doing a triathalon sounded like something fun to try. We found ourselves with an adjusted weekend schedule that freed up a morning that worked.

I'm pretty sure it took us longer to pile all his stuff together than for him to complete the event. He said it was the "best day ever!" and before we left the parking lot he had me looking up information on other/longer triathalons. Unfortunately a lot of them conflict with summer swim season, but I bet we'll be able to squeeze in one or two next summer.

How to Get Psyched Up When You're Six-almost-Seven

Swim season has gone very well for us this year. FFM is still 6 and so gets to swim the 6 and under and his choice of 8 and under events. Weekly swim lessons most of the year have helped a lot, his stroke mechanics improved immensley over last year. Swim meets are fun and, new this year, he's much more aware of how he places and if his time improved.

A lot of athletes have special routines to get themselves ready for their competition. FFM's is remarkable. The video is shaky because of course I'm dancing, too.

 It's pretty consistent, when he dances before the start he drops time. I wonder if it loosens up his mind and body. He's becoming a bit famous for it, various other swimmers come up to greet him and comment on his moves and what he's going to do next time.  We also have a complicated set of hand and body gestures so that when he looks up to find me before the start he confirms exactly what he's supposed to be swimming. We're quite a sight.

Going to the Superbowl!

My team, not us. Probably next time the Broncos get to the Superbowl we'll head out to watch them.  Going to the AFC Championship game was pretty durn exciting, though.

Even on game day he squeezes in some practice time

The stadium was very, very orange

Enjoying a balmy 60F day, watching a good football game, life is good!

Final play of the game,
before everyone in orange erupted and everyone in red and blue slunk out of the stadium.

  Final score, Denver Broncos 26, New England Patriots 16.
 Seahawks, here we come.

Batter Up

It's t-ball season and with great trepidation we plunged in. To date team sports have not been our strong suit, soccer ended each day with F at the opposite end of the field from the rest if his team.
I recruited a couple of F's classmates who are also t-ball novices to be on his team. Yes, great comedy ensues when these boys climb the steep learning curve associated with learning a new sport, but they're having a blast along the way.