Kathy, Jordan, Liv & Henry Visit

Kathy, Jordan, Liv, and Henry came to visit in late June. We spent the first two nights camping at Rocky Mountain National Park. When they arrived on Sunday, we set up our tents and went to the rangers station to get some Junior Ranger books for Liv and Henry. They immediately wanted to start searching for stuff in their books so it turned into a 30 minute hike around the ranger station!

On Monday, Matt and I took the Liv and Henry on a morning hike to Dream and Nymph lakes. We weren't sure how they'd do hiking at 10,000+ feet, but it didn't seem to phase them! What started as an hour hike turned into a two and a half hour hike because they were having so much fun. They were amazed to see snow in June, so we had to stop and play in it for a while.

After the hike, we had lunch at the campground and then took off for a drive on Trail Ridge Road (which goes above treeline). We drove above treeline, got out to look at the view, and stopped to see some waterfalls. On our way down, we saw a bunch of cars pulled off (which always means there's wildlife around somewhere). To our surprise, it wasn't deer or elk, but two bull moose! After parking, we all sprinted out of the car and hoped the moose didn't wander away. Instead, they moved closer to where we were so we were able to spend 10 minutes observing them.

Our campsite was near a meadow, so we had some "friends" visit a lot. Here's a pic of Henry being really quiet while looking at our "friend".

On Tuesday, we broke camp, Henry and Liv got their Junior Ranger badges (yay!) and we headed to Denver. We were all ready to shower by then since RMNP has bathrooms, but no showers.

Tuesday night we went to the Rockies game. Liv made it to the 6th inning and Henry made it the whole game!

On Wednesday, Matt had to work, so the rest of us headed out to Heritage Square in Golden to play. Matt and I had been there a few times to ride the alpine sled, but didn't really know what else was there. Apparently, it's a really great spot for kids because we spent all day there! It had kid-sized rides - Scrambler, roller coaster, bumper boats, paddle boats, etc. We could barely get Henry off of the go carts and Liv had fun riding in the go-kart with Kathy (she was too short to drive her own - maybe next time!). Henry, Kathy, and I also did a zip line. Henry was a little hesitant and had to be practically pulled off of the stand to start, but loved it once he got going!

We ended the night with a movie night - Frozen. Olivia kept telling Kathy to stop singing along, but then ended up singing along herself. It was a cute movie!

We had a lot of fun with them and can't wait for them to come back!

Matt's Long Road to Recovery

This summer has been a trying one for me.  Having had shoulder surgery in April to repair a torn labrum has sidelined me for 6 months.  I'm getting better, but its a slow road, and as a result our crazy adventures have been a little muted the last 90 days or so.  I got the ok to start biking again, and I've been able to run for 30 days or so.  No golfing or volleyball have made it a tougher summer than usual, plus PT 2 days a week have reminded me how active I was prior to surgery.  Hoping for a good recovery, and so far on track.

Karla's Birthday & Kristin's Visit

For Karla's birthday weekend her sister Kristin flew into town to help celebrate.  Friday night(her birthday was officially on Saturday) we had a very nice dinner at Solera Restaraunt.  Since Matt knew the owner, he let us bring our own dessert - a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake!  Karla was unaware until the waitress brought out our "special dessert".  Admittedly probably not as good as the creme brulee would have been, but Karla got her favorite for her birthday!

Saturday morning we took a nice hike to Red Rocks, since Kristin had never been there.  But before we left for the hike we made the decision to buy Zac Brown tickets for their Wrigley Field show in September, a nice way to start the morning!  On the way back to town from Red Rocks we stopped by the Colorado Cider Co, and enjoyed some delicious Colorado ciders.  Since we hadn't had enough to drink, we then met a lot of friends at the Lowery Beer Garden and enjoyed more drinks, and of course, a ton of pretzels, which were life altering.  Pretty sure we ruined every ballpark pretzel for Kristin. We finished the night with beers at Great Divide and some slices of pizza at a new place nearby.

It was great to have Kristin in town for the weekend -- it made for a memorable weekend!

Memorial Day & Final Angelfire thoughts

This Memorial Day, like many before, Karla and I were going down to the house in Angel Fire.  This trip, however, was bittersweet.  After 13+ years it was decided that it was time to sell the house.  It sold much faster than expected, and as a result the house was sold a week or so before Memorial Day.  We were fortunate that the new owners didn't mind us using it one last time.  Ken, Nancy, us & even Karla's parents came for the weekend.  Lowell & Judy flew in to Denver and drove down with us, and we met my parents there.

Since I couldn't golf, and there was still snow on wheeler, it was a rather relaxing weekend.  Also the fact that we had a nice snowstorm in the afternoon didn't make the hiking any easier.  Some good food, some good wine, and a watching of the Indy 500 did make it a nice trip.  It was very sad to leave the house for the last time, but it created some wonderful memories(bears on the porch, "teaching" Karla to ski, carbles games, sledding down the driveway, and mountain lion sightings just to name a few) and its time to move on to the next adventure!

First Real Hike of the Season

This past weekend was our first real hike of the season - yay! On Saturday we headed to Golden to hike North Table Mountain. We did the North Loop trail, which ended up being a little over 7 miles. The first half mile was the toughest part since it was straight up. Once we got to the top of the plateau it was a great hike with some rolling hills.

On Saturday night we went to our friends' house for a birthday grill out, which included an ice cream cake. Yum. Sunday was a run/walk at Red Rocks, watching a lot of sports (the Blackhawks, Cubs, and Rockies all won), and catching up on stuff to do around the apartment. We're excited to head to Angel Fire this coming weekend with both sets of parents!

Mother's Day

On Friday night we went to Karla's work party. Since she never goes into the office, it was fun to meet a few new people. Saturday was spending some time in the foothills. There's a trail at Red Rocks we like to run, so with Matt's shoulder, he walks it while Karla runs it. It was a good day because Karla ran it faster than she's ever run it before!

On Mother's Day, we went to Snooze with the newest mother we know. There's always a long line but since it's right downstairs, we put our name in, go back home, and tell Naomi and Ryan when to show up. It was fun and delicious.

Happy Mother's Day to our amazing Moms!!

Matt's Surgery to Early May

Matt's shoulder had been bothering him for a good year, so he finally had surgery on it in early April. The surgery went well although his shoulder was more damaged than the doctor originally thought. His labrum was completely torn off, so the doctor reattached it, and there was some cartilage damage that hadn't shown up in the MRI so the doctor cleaned that up too.

Since surgery, Matt's been in a sling and our activities have been limited. Matt has learned to do a lot more things right-handed since surgery was on his left, dominant hand. Right after surgery I had to help him with every part of getting ready for work, but now it's just tying his shoes. Progress!

We've spent the weekends seeing friends, going for walks (the one activity Matt can do), and watching baseball. Recently it's been nice enough to do some trail running at Red Rocks. Well, I trail run and Matt walks. He's been a real trooper about walking while I run!

We're both ready for his sling to come off (hopefully this week) and to get the okay to do some light hiking. The weather is warming up and we want to be outside!