Grandma Kathy Visits

Erin headed off to her second (and last) long residency at University of Michigan and so Grandma Kathy came out to help with the kids.  We all had a great time together while Erin was gone!  Kathy took the kids to the pool lots, the zoo, and we even got out for a Jeep trip and up to Estes Park one day.
Kathy and Xander had lots of fun in the pool.  Xander's swimming progressed so much while she was here. She reported on new and amazing developmens with his swiming what felt like every day!

It was a crazy busy time and I'm afraid that there are not many photos to post.  Somehow in the eleven days that Kathy was here we barely picked up the camera.  I also think that Kathy has an almost supernatural power to disappear when the camera comes out...  She is the invisible person holding Maya out the window of the Jeep in the shot below.

Highlight of the Jeep trip was Kathy driving through the deep water crossing. I think we sprayed water over the roof of the jeep!  Here's a video of some other folks going through the water crossing, we had way more fun!!

-Jake

Boulder Ironman 70.3

I've been training this summer for the Boulder Ironman 70.3, that's a half ironman distance.  I did my first half ironman last year and my goal for this year was to really improve my swim and take a little off my total time.  I really was using it to prepare for a full ironman next year and know that my swim is the area that needs the most work.  Things just didn't come together as hoped.  My swimming hasn't progressed the way I've wanted.  I'm just not figuring it out yet.  I had hoped that I could shave maybe 10 to 15 minutes off my swim time.  By the time race day came around I knew that wasn't realistic but I still was pretty confident that I could get at least 5 minutes better than last year.

I started the swim off well and felt strong through the swim.  I got out of the water and found that I'd only bested my time last year by 1 minute.  I was really bummed.  My bike went well and I did as well as last year.  This run was brutal.  I was in the very last wave of swimmers and didn't start until an hour and fifteen minutes after the first wave. Not starting until so late meant that it was really hot, over 95 degrees, on the run and by afternoon the wind picked up, ther.e were white caps on the boulder resevoir.  All in all I ended up 5 minutes slower than last year.  It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I know that I put everything out there.

I'm planning to focus on running this fall.  I want to run a sub 3 hr marathon and feel that it is a goal well within reach.  I ran a 3:02 a few years ago.  Running probably isn't what I should be focused on right now, I should be swimming lots instead, but it is what I enjoy most.  Right now the idea of getting up at 5 AM and running for a few hours each morning in the dark and cold sounds pretty theraputic.  Let's see if I'm still saying that in January...

-Jake

Xander and Maya

Maya is growing up so quickly, she can roll around and reach for things and manages to scoot around well enough that we rarely find her where we left here these days.  For Xander, all this means is that she is starting to become interesting!  Xander has always liked baby sister, and often wants to hold her and worries about her when she cries (Maya's hungry daddy!), but he is now starting to genuinely play with her.

Of course, now that Maya is starting to eat solid foods Xander is eager to get in on the action too!  Xander doesn't always have the sense of urgency that Maya has about her dinner though, so sometimes that leads to a bit of conflict.  Xander also worries a lot about Maya getting messy and fastidiously cleans her up as she tries to eat.  Maya on the other hand doesn't worry about this a bit, and is a tad impatient with being wiped off when she could be eating instead.

It is so much fun to see these two interacting.  Xander has such a big heart and and is a great big brother to sister Maya.

Maya's First Solid Food

Maya has been eyeing our meals for a while now, as if saying, "Hey, I'd like some of that!".  She even reaches out and tries to steal the fork out of our hands.  So, we finally figured that she was ready to try some cereal.

Rice cereal is a total hit!  Maya seemed to enjoy the entire experience and loved to grab the spoon out of our hands and suck on it.  I forgot how much fun it is to feed a baby, and also how much of a mess they make.  Soon enough I'm sure she will be feeding herself, the mess however will probably be with us for a while!

Whoa! Where went 6 weeks??

Okay, I promise that we are safe and sound and have some great photos to share with you all soon!  How can we have gone from a post every 3 days to no post in 6 weeks???  Yikes!  Well, we've been busy! 

The kids are growing and are awesome- Maya is already 5 months old!
Erin's still getting her masters and has been doing her "internship" this summer, including a trip to London through a tornado
Gran Jen came out to visit and help with the kids while Erin was away
Jake has been training hard for a half ironman (really, just a half?) which is coming up next weekend!
Jake has been traveling a bit for work
Erin  has started a business instead of getting a job, but of course isn't paying herself yet (really?  in this economy?)
Kids have started daycare, but only last week, after we realized that even with money tight, Erin really can not maintain this pace and stay healthy- 3 full time jobs is too many.

Okay- each of those is a post, or two, and we owe it to you!  We know!  In the meantime, just know that things here are great and we are blessed with a glut of opportunity and blessing, and that is the reason we haven't had time for our dear readers!

Summer is Play Time

 Summer is time to play, and Xander has had a great time this summer.  There's nothing like hanging out with your buddy eating watermelon on a hot day!

It wouldn't be summer in Boulder without hot air balloons.  We had one right over the house recently.  Xander is quite fond of balloons and thought it was great to be able to wave to the people in the basket.

Of course, playing on the slide and climbing in and out of the toy box are favorite activities too!

Watering the garden is lots of fun, but it can be thirsty work .  It is so hard to get the spray just right!

 

The good news is that you can always play in the sprinklers too!

Xander has also been really enjoying the neighborhood pool this summer. He is fearless jumping in (I'm afraid of when I won't be there to catch him!) and he loves to hold onto the noodle and kick in the big pool. He is getting pretty good at swimming around the big pool that way. The kids pool is also always fun, with friends to play with. 

Xander likes to ride his strider bike and is getting quite quick on that little bike.  His balance is getting very good and he is starting to really coast on it for some distance now.  Of course with all the miles he's putting on that bike these days it needs a tuneup every once in a while, and Xander is excited to do that too!

Xander doesn't get to have all the fun though, Maya has been enjoying her summer as well, although admittedly it is a bit less active!  At 5 1/2 months she isn't crawling yet, but manages to roll and wiggle enough that she can move around pretty well.  She is curious about everything and loves to pick things up, and then typically sticks them in her mouth.

 After all the playing is done, it is time to clean up.  Xander is quite fond of washing his hands, sometimes with LOTS of soap, and Maya loves her baths.

Of course all this activity is enough to wear these kids out.

 

 Once the kids are off to bed I get a chance to sneak in workout number two for the day on the trainer.  Then it's off to bed for me too! 

4th of July in Crested Butte

We managed to escape to Crested Butte for the 4th of July holiday this year. We have been so busy that a little bit of down time was greatly needed. Of course, down time means something different these days then it used to. I am still ironman training so I'm working out many hours each day, we still have 2 kids to look after, and Erin can never quite be rid of homework and working on her business plan. Oh, we hadn't mentioned that yet have we. More to come on Erin's business venture. Anyway (see how easily that happens, I was talking about vacation...) it was still great to get away and enjoy the beauty of the mountains in the summer.

 

Turns out that the town has a 4th of July run from Gothic over Mt Crested Butte down into town.  It is a 1/3 marathon, and although I had done a really tough bike ride the day before, I needed to run that morning anyway, so decided to do the race.  It was fun, although the amount of downhill was brutal!

Of course it wouldn't be 4th of July in Crested Butte without the kooky town parade.  Always a must see.

It was time to leave way too soon of course.  Sadly it looks like this may be the only trip we get to CB this summer, given busy schedules.  Oh well, we certaintly did our best to make the most of it.