Thursday, June 21, 2012

Father's Day Hike to Cub Lake with the cubs

Jill and I are in a constant game of tug of war. I'm on the road a lot and like being in my house every now and then. She is in the house all the time and wants to get out and go regardless of destination. So on Father's Day when she left it up to me to determine our day's itinerary, I decided we should get out and head up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We used to spend a lot of time in the park, but since finding two kids our times to the park have dropped dramatically.

We got out in reasonable time for the four of us and were at the trail head by 9:30 am (Pre kids Joel shutters at that time). We decided to head up to Cub Lake, a scenic destination with a manageable length and elevation change for Cooper.

At the trail head and ready to go
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Great views to start
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


The fam
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Cooper has suddenly become a ham for the camera and asked to have his picture taken quite often
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike



From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Cooper wanted to scramble up every boulder he could find, then of course do his big arms
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Through the valley and starting up
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike



From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Another boulder to climb
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike



From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


A pattern develops
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


Our destination on this fine day
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


My two beautiful girls
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


And then shortly after this picture was taken, Cooper fell waist deep into Cub Lake. He was "fishing" (taking sticks and putting them into the water) and lost his balance and splash. Soaking wet, we loaded him into the kid carrier and I hiked him out to speed up the process. The kid is getting to the point where he is almost too big for me to carry out, but we got back to the car and luckily Jill had some dry clothes for him there.

The boys posing. No idea why the kid's hat is on like that. I blame Jill (its Father's Day, I receive no blame)
From Cub Lake Father's Day Hike


The details from our day. Notice how much faster our mile times were once we got the bouldering boy into a backpack.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Cooper's Gymnastics Class

In an attempt to try and wear Cooper out at least one day a week, Jill got him started in gymnastics class. I was pretty amazed when the teacher had the parents sit in the lobby and she controlled (and controlled well) a group of 3 year olds. Cooper gets excited, but does a great job of listening and following instructions. I was home for his last week of Spring classes, so the whole family went to see Cooper's last class of the season.

Jill and Lauren
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Watching intently
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


The big highlight, getting to play with the parachute
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Cooper's turn to run through the parachute
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class



From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Lauren crawling about
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Another trip across the parachute, pure joy
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


My sweet girl
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Lauren wanting a piece of that parachute
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Best Day Ever! Another trip across the parachute
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


The everyone but Lauren and I disappeared
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Pretty amazing control of a rowdy bunch
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


The on to the trampolines
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Then a launch into the foam pit
From Cooper's Gymnastics Class


Cooper did well enough in his class this year that he is going to get bumped up to the 4 year old class a bit early. He started with his normal class last week, but he is doing well enough that we think he'll be happy to be in the 4 year old class. The kid launches off of everything in site, no hesitation for him.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Hiking through the burn zone, while another burn starts

The last few years have been a matter of not if the wildfires were going to start, but when and where. Last year on Memorial Day we were hiking in Boulder when we looked north and saw a huge plume of smoke coming from north of the Flat Irons. That fire would go on to be known as the "Four mile Fire" and burned a lot of structures and a place that we had hiked in the past. In our first visit back to the park post-burn, in an eery coincidence as we were leaving we saw a big plume of smoke to the north, a fire which is still burning and called the High Park Fire.

In the Bald Mountain area, signs of both destruction and rebuilding were abundant. We did a nice little loop and then headed back home. Pictures from our day out.

Cooper and Lauren posing at one of the benches along our way
From Bald Mountain Hike


Jill joins in
From Bald Mountain Hike


A good gig if you can get it
From Bald Mountain Hike


Cooper leads the charge
From Bald Mountain Hike


Pseudo family photo
From Bald Mountain Hike


Cooper checking out the flowers
From Bald Mountain Hike


Cooper in full sprint chasing something
From Bald Mountain Hike


Coop looks out across the burn zone
From Bald Mountain Hike


Cooper does big arms in front of some scorched trees
From Bald Mountain Hike


A real smile for once
From Bald Mountain Hike


Checking out some burned up bark
From Bald Mountain Hike


Holding hands with my girl
From Bald Mountain Hike

Monday, June 11, 2012

Out on the Trails

Trying to get caught up on some of our recent adventures around Boulder County. This edition is from the Red Rocks Trail, which is right on the edge of Boulder. I used to walk over here at lunch when I worked on Pearl St., but Jill and the kids had never been so we decided to check it out. Some pictures ensued.


Jill tries to get Cooper to cooperate on a photo in front of the beautiful wild flowers

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Up the trail we go

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Then we found a cave that we had to check out

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Cooper didn't hesitate to go check it out

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Jill gives the Dr. LK seal of approval

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder



From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Double big arms

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder



From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Cooper and Jill look over the city

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Big arms are abundant on this day

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder


Jill poses with the rock formations

From Redrock Trail Hike Boulder