Our Camping Adventure

This past weekend is the first camping trip that we have gone on this year. One of my friends calls it "Glamping" since we aren't roughing it at all.

No matter what you call it, we had fun and were able to escape the 100+ degree heat in Denver. We left on Thursday night and arrived back in Denver around lunchtime on Sunday.

Our Chariot

Our Chauffeur

Me and Sam in the Back Being Silly

My Wonderful Boys

Another Samuel Self Portrait

We put lotion on Sam's face twice a day, since he is getting dry spots. This was his attempt to put some on me.  Thanks kiddo.



Turquoise Lake

Unfortunately, Brian Didn't Catch Anything

Thanks Jay and Andrea!! Hopefully we can schedule another camping weekend and borrow the RV again next month or early August before it's sold.

Welcome Fitness Followers

Multiple Directions Available Ahead

I have abandoned my other blog "Mission Probable" since I have been unable to post regularly to it, while posting to this blog as well.


Therefore, I'm combining these two blogs together to tell our entire story. Here are some things that will be included in this portion of our blog.

• My marathon training information
• Discounts that I find on fitness activities and equipment
• Motivational quotes
• Interesting running articles
• Information on Brian's Century Ride training

To access only these areas, I have included the following labels.

• Articles
• Discounts
• Fitness
• Motivation
• Racing
• Training

I hope that combining these two blogs isn't confusing, but to tell the whole story of our family, we need to put everything together.

Thanks for understanding.

Our Human Swiffer

Our son is too funny.

Very Creative Realtor

Our realtor has a very creative mind and come up with a ton of interesting ideas. If Brian wouldn't veto me, I'd definitely do this one.

Bowling Balls and Lawn Art

If you don't have a green thumb and want to worry about the 18" between the border of your lawn and the fence (and don't want to see weeds), this might be a solution for you.

Live Concert Series and Minor Flood

We met a couple in Boulder (that we rarely see and are making a better point to get together more often) for dinner and the Boulder Twenty Ninth Street Live Concert Series on Saturday night.

We ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (yummy) and walked over to where the band was performing. There really wasn't any seating per say, so while our sons (born within 2 weeks of each other) were running around all over the place (of course supervised and out of harm's way), we got to catch up with Dana and Tommy.

After leaving Boulder (and dropping of Brian at his truck), Samuel and I headed home to put him to bed. I was very surprised that Sam was awake the whole way home, since it was after 9:30pm, but once I got him out of the car, he started yawning and I didn't think that it would take him long to fall asleep. I used the restroom on our main floor and headed upstairs to brush his teeth and complete our bedtime routine.

For some reason, I had to open Sam's bedroom door before he was asleep and heard the toilet running. I assumed I would just need to jiggle the handle a little to stop it, so, since Sam wasn't fully asleep, I grabbed him and headed downstairs. Upon turning the corner, near our kitchen to go to the half bath, I noticed a ton of water all over the floor (bathroom, hallway and family room; headed for the kitchen).

I put Sam down quickly and ran into the bathroom, jiggling the handle and turning off the water from the wall. I had just washed a lot of towels, so I grabbed them up. I also grabbed the 3 blankets that were on the couch. Since that wasn't even able to sop up everything, I ran downstairs and grabbed some more towels, dirty bed sheets and other assorted items that would sop up the water. I'm glad that it wasn't a sewer backup just that the toilet didn't stop running. The water was completely clear and came out of the wall.

I'm glad Sam was having a good time (he kept saying "wet floor" and smiling), because I was on a mission not to ruin our new house.

I had asked Brian to go to the store and get some bananas before he got home, but I called him and gave him a quick rundown of the situation and asked that he come home immediately.

Less than 5 minutes later, he walked in the door. I asked him if he wanted me to stay downstairs and help or put Sam to bed, and we decided that Sam needed his sleep. I could hear Brian doing stuff downstairs, but Sam was so tired that he crashed shortly after we got to his room.

There looks like there is some minor damage to the laminate in the bathroom and hallway (warping), but since I was able to catch it early, it didn't go through the floor into the basement.

Hopefully this is the most excitement that we have with the house, ever.

This Weekend's Activities

Since Samuel's OT session was cancelled, we took the opportunity on Saturday morning to be out and about in Denver's beautiful weather.


Saturday's Activities:
Denver Chalk Festival

I bet you have seen this picture online, but never thought it could happen to you.

Sam was on my shoulders at the Chalk Festival and I grabbed his upper leg and it was wet. I thought that Brian gave him a bottle of water and he spilled it on himself. No such luck!! We took Sam to a local public restroom STAT to change his pull-up and pants and then I was in a hurried state to replace a wet shirt and clean off my shoulders. Thank goodness it was just after 10am and I was able to run into a local store on the 16th Street Mall and purchase a new shirt. I headed to another public restroom with about 100 paper towels and washed off my neck and shoulders with soap and water, twice. Yuck!!!!!!


Then, during our lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery, two men rode up on old fashioned bicycles and Sam was staring at them. One of the men was nice enough to put Sam on one and walk him around in front of the restaurant. His smile was from ear to ear.

We walked over to the Capitol Hill People's Fair and did a lap around the festivities, but nothing really caught our eye, so we headed home.


After we took Sam home (after he fought going to sleep for his nap), we were messing with the sprinker system and clowning around.

Sam and his "Elbow Dance"

After Sam went to bed, we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Not bad.


Sunday's Activities:


While Brian was training for his Century Ride in August. He did 10 miles. Samuel and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, played on a jungle gym in Westminster and went to swim class. Since this was the last class in the session, the substitute teacher put the 3 kids in Sam's class that attended in life preservers and took them to the big pool (7-15' deep). He was the only kid in his class to have the courage to jump off the diving board. Of course, that's one of the only times that I haven't packed a camera. He was so proud of himself and wasn't scared at all.
I hope this doesn't mean that he is going to be a daredevil when he grows up.


After swim class we came home and had lunch, then Brian and Sam headed to AFW to see if they could find a bed frame and desk for our 3rd bedroom. Unfortunately, no such luck.


While they were out, I moved enough stuff out of the garage so that I could park my car inside. It only took almost 2 months, but at least I beat the heat and won't have a scorching car in the morning.

Not the best photo, but the car is in the garage.

Then it was folding laundry in the basement while Sam was playing with his trains. This is definitely a great activity to beat the heat.


P.S. I'll post an ending to the Garage Challenge this week.