Camping

Every year Betsy and Lee plan a group camping trip for anyone who wants to come. This years location was outside of Buena Vista, Co at the base of Mt. Huron, one of Colorado's 14ers. Nate decided to take Friday off of work so that we could make it to camp before it got dark. He had been working for the past several weeks on the Land Cruiser. He bought a roof rack and customized it to fit the rocket box. He was so excited to pack it up and take it for another ride.

It took us about 2.5 hours to get to camp. Once you turned off the highway, the dirt road lead to an old ghost mining town called Winfield. Then you continued up the road to our camp spot. The last 2.1 miles of the road was pretty rough but it was worth it. The camp site was a beautiful spot.


We set up our tent and got settled for the evening. At this point there were 8 of us (plus Koben and Riley) and 3 dogs. Ari, Jared, Sam and Trapper had planned on leaving Denver after work to head up. At about 11pm, we were all starting to get a little worried that they hadn't showed up yet. We stayed up as long as we could but headed to bed around 11:30pm. They finally made it to camp at about 2am after leaving Sam and Trapper's camper 2 miles back down the road. Luckily, after a good night's rest, Sam and Trapper were in better spirits and decided to stay the weekend. Saturday morning half of the group (now 12 people and 5 dogs) decided to climb Mt Huron while the other half stayed behind and enjoyed some fishing in the creek and relaxed around camp. Later that afternoon Betsy and Lee's friend Brandon arrived adding 4 more people and 3 more dogs. As the evening progressed more people showed up and the final count was 18 people, 2 babies and 10 dogs.
Riley did really well and other than not sleeping much, we had a great time.
The next morning we packet up camp and headed into Buena Vista with Betsy, Lee, Chris and Tara for some lunch. We got home at about 5pm and unpacked the car (Nate and my least favorite part). We put away the necessary things, started a load of laundry, showered and gave Riley a bath. It was so nice to sleep in our own bed and yes, all the camping gear is still sitting in our living room.Thanks Betsy and Lee for finding a beautiful spot and organizing a great trip.
See our pictures here.
Lee and Betsy's pictures.

4-Wheeling with Betsy and Lee

Last weekend we took our Land Cruiser and met Betsy and Lee outside of Keystone. We took Riley and the dogs and Betsy and Lee brought Siba. Nate was so excited to see how the Land Cruiser would handle with it's new lift and tires. It was a beautiful day and the views were amazing. We were gone all day and Riley did so well. He didn't start to get fussy until the end of the trip when he was getting hungry. Lee also wrote about it in their blog and since he did such a great job of telling the story, I'm going to send you to their blog instead of rewriting it all myself.
See our pictures here.
Lee's Pictures

Riley update

This morning was Riley's 9 month wellness visit. For some reason, I made his appointment for 8 am which was a little ambitious of me. I arrived about 5 minutes late but luckily all the staff was still trickling in so it wasn't a big deal. Riley is 20.5 lbs and 28.5 inches which is 50 percentage. I'm kind of amazed that I'm still carrying him around in his car seat although I try and keep it to a minimum. No shots are given at 9 months but they still had to prick Riley's toe to test his iron. He was such a trooper and didn't even cry. Now he just has a giant Charlie Brown bandaid on his toe.

Riley is 9 months old

Wow, I can't believe that in 3 short months, Riley will be a year old. October seems like it should be a lot further away than that. Yesterday, Riley got a little closer to going mobile by using his feet to push himself forward on his tummy towards a desired object. He wants it so bad. If you leave him on the floor he becomes a rolling machine by rolling and scooting on his back where ever he wants to go. Riley is also mastering chewing solids foods and waving his hand at us or the dogs.

Camping (and Paragliding) in Glenwood Springs

This weekend (well, Sunday and Monday), we headed up to Glenwood Springs. Nate's step dad, Dave has always wanted to go paragliding, so for his birthday that is exactly what Nate's mom got him. The flight was scheduled for Monday morning so on Sunday we headed up the mountain to camp the night before. It was our first time camping with Riley and we considered it our test run before our big group camping trip coming up in a couple weeks. We camped outside of the Dotsero exit just before Glenwood Canyon. We were hoping since we where there on a Sunday that we would luck out and get a camping sites near the stream but they were all taken so we camped a little higher up the road. It ended up working out really well. Although we didn't have the shade of the trees, there was lots of space for the dogs to run and we had a great view of the I-70 valley.
This was actually the first time we had camped with Nate's parents. Pauline made chicken stir-fry for dinner and after we put Riley to bed, the rest of us played cribbage in the van. Riley was sleeping very well in the tent but shortly after we went to bed he woke up. The rest of the night was spent trying to get him to go back to sleep both in his pack-n-play and in the speeping bag with me. Needless to say, I don't think I actually feel asleep until after the sun was starting to come up.
See more camping photos here.
After a sleepless night, the next morning, we got up early and packed up so we could be in Glenwood Springs by 8:30 for Dave's flight. When we arrived at the meeting place (the landing site) we learned that there was an opening for one more so Nate decided to go too. The company is called Adventure Paragliding and the couple who owns it spends part of the year in Glenwood Springs and part in Mexico. It's about a 2,000 feet between the launch site and the landing site. Nate and Dave had a blast, I hope that I'll be able to try it someday. See all the pictures of Dave and Nate's flights here.

(Nate coming in to land)

Leanne's 30th Birthday: A week of celebrating

It's kind of strange to believe that I'm 30. Not because I've had a hard time accepting that I'm 30 but because it seems so grown up. Other than having more gray hairs and an almost 9 month old son, I don't feel any different than I did 5 years ago. I guess that is a good thing...

... Anyway, because it was such a monumental birthday my entire family came to Colorado to help me celebrate. My mom flew in on Sunday the 29th. On my actual birthday (30th), we went to dinner at a near by sushi restaurant.

Tuesday evening my brother, Brian and his girlfriends Ally along with my brother's dog Denali got to our house. They decided to drive and took advantage of some good climbing on the way out stopping in Utah and Rifle, Co.

On Wednesday, my mom, Brian, Ally, Riley and I went to the pool while we waited for my dad and grandparent's flight to arrive. Wednesday night we went to dinner at Frasca in Boulder. Frasca is a nationally acclaimed restaurant inspired by the cuisine of Friuli, Italy. It is an amazing dining experience and I highly recommend going but you must make a reservation 2 months out.

Thursday was our 3rd annual 3rd of July BBQ. Our neighborhood launches fireworks on the 3rd of July and we have a front row seat. This year we had over 60 friends and family at our house. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate.



Friday, the 4th, we all went to the theater to see Wall-E, including Riley. It was his first trip to the movie theater. Shortly after the movie began, Riley got really restless and was squealing and squirming all over my lap. I decided to leave the theater so I didn't disturb anyone. I ended up sitting down with him on the floor in the hallway between the door and the seating area. I was still able to see 2/3 of the screen and was able to watch most of the movie while Riley rolled around with his toys on the floor. That evening we all entertained ourselves by playing the Wii. It was fun to get the whole family involved. My grandparents got in on the action with Wii Sports Bowling and Tiger Woods Golf. We grilled up some more burgers and brats for dinner and enjoyed the weather by eating out on our patio.

(This is what happens when my brother gets a hold of the camera)

Saturday morning my grandparents caught their flight and Brian and Alley left to drive back to Reno. The Hume's invited us to a BBQ at the lake that their family bought last summer. The guys were able to do some fishing and my mom and dad went out on the paddle boat.


Sunday morning my parents headed to the airport to head home. It was so special having all the family here to celebrate and I only wish that it could happen more often.

June 21st, 2008

So I'm still behind but I plan on getting all caught up in the next couple days...

June 21st was a very busy day for us because we had 3 parties to attend.
11:00 am
The morning started with Riley and I going to Lakewood for Beck's 4th birthday. It was a lot of fun and great to see all my friends from Grad school. It was also the first time that any of them had met Riley.

2:00 pm
Party #2 was Emma's 1st Birthday Party. Emma turned 1 year old on June 24th and she shares her birthday with her mommy Abbey. We enjoyed a fun Elmo pool party at the Keeney's and stuffed our face with yummy food. It was a warm and sunny day and it confirmed that summer has indeed arrived. It also made me realize that Riley is the next one to turn a year. How is that possible?


8:00 pm
The final party of the evening was a get together for Ari and Jared's engagement. We got the leave Riley at home with Nate's mom and enjoy an evening out as adults. Sam, Betsy, Emily and I hosted a "We love Ari and Jared" party. It was a small gathering of close friends and family. We had drinks and appetizers on the patio at Bella Bistro. It was a lot of fun. Congratulations to Ari and Jared.