Stories from the Front Range...: March 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Bath Time Pics

Had some bath pics of Super Cooper from bath time last week.

From Bath Time

Monday, March 23, 2009

Just some video we took over the last week or two, thrown together to share. Cooper is learning tricks from the dogs, like throwing and his toys and then fetching them, splashing around in the water bowl and his favorite thing shake the dickens out of the wine rack...

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Cooper's new shades

Cooper gets his picture taken so much, he's starting to act like the celebs and wear sunglasses. We're having a bit of a lazy weekend, watching tons of March Madness and just enjoying our last couple days together before I have to head out to Calgary again.

From Cooper in Oakleys

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Dinosaur Ridge

From Dinosaur Ridge

The great weather on the Front Range has continued, and today we got out to take advantage of it. We all had tasks to do today...Jill went to CSU to discuss school options with a counselor, I worked, Jim got the oil changed in their car and you guessed it, Judy shopped.

Late in the afternoon we headed down to Dinosaur Ridge, a place we've been by a hundred times but have never fully explored. We got Cooper loaded up and headed down towards Golden (land of Coor's beer and Yeti cycles) to check out the dinosaur's tracks.

Before we left though, Cooper had to show off his new found talent of crawling on top of, and then sitting on his beloved vacuum cleaner box.

From Dinosaur Ridge

Of course, about 50% of the time his crawling on top of the box results in him falling off of said box. Shortly after the last picture was taken, I had a beautiful one handed save of a falling kiddo.

Back to Dinosaur Ridge...
After some GPS led goose chase, we arrived at the Visitor's Center only to find the winter hours still in effect. Drats. Oh well, its a self guided tour and so off we went up the gradual, grinding hill.

Cooper loaded up and all business about dinosaurs

From Dinosaur Ridge

After some warm-ups, we found ourselves at the "meat" of the exhibit, a huge bed of fossilized dino tracks. My size 11 paled in comparison.

From Dinosaur Ridge

Super Cooper was pleased to be out, enjoying the day

From Dinosaur Ridge

Three generations

From Dinosaur Ridge

After touring Dino Ridge, we scooted over to Red Rocks. We were able to drive up to the top, quickly give Jim and Judy a little tour. Surprisingly, a lot of people had the same idea.

Jill and Cooper sure are a photogenic pair

From Dinosaur Ridge

Grandpa Jim takes matters into his own hands to get Cooper warmed up, Cooper continues to ham it up for the camera

From Dinosaur Ridge

After the Red Rocks tour, we headed north for some dinner. Met up with Sarah at Hacienda Colorado for some chips, good food and a ridiculously huge dessert sundae concoction served up in a chalice. Good times and fully bellies had by all.

Lots more pics from the last week or two on their way, been behind in my blogging.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Cooper bags his first peak

Spring is here, celebrated officially by the start of Daylight Savings last night, and we wasted no time getting into the spring habits. Today Jill, Coop and I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking. We didn't really have a destination in mind when we left, but after some banter we settled on Dear Mountain. We'd done part of the trail before in the winter on showshoes, and it offers a good hike with great pano views.

So we hit the parking lot about noon, and the temps were fine but the wind was substantial. After some debate, we decided it was OK to proceed hoping that when we crested the ridge, Dear Mountain would give us some shield. Didn't really work that way, but it was a good idea.

Coop is suited up and ready to go.

From Dear Mountain Hike

Up we went. Its a pretty good uphill slog to reach the peak, which sits a bit over 10,000 feet. Its a sustained climb with lots of switchbacks, but we made good time as we pressed on trying to find some shelter from the wind. Normally a great trail for pics, today we snapped just a few as we tried to keep moving.

From Dear Mountain Hike

As we went up, the snow got deeper and temps got colder but it was still quite bearable. Coop was just hanging out in the backpack, seeming to have a good time. He was quite animated a couple of times as we climbed through big rocks, often found him smacking me repeatedly on the shoulder when he got excited.

Trudging up, up, up

From Dear Mountain Hike

Jill hitting yet another switchback

From Dear Mountain Hike

We seemingly topped out, but hadn't seen the peak yet and Coop was starting to get angry so we stopped for some lunch. After feeding Cooper and ourselves, we asked another couple who we saw pass about the peak. After getting a bit of info from them, we decided to press on to the summit. It was a tough final pitch up, but we clawed our way up the snowy hills (Product Endorsement - Yak-Trax are incredible) to the scenic vista.

View from the top, 14k foot Long's across the valley from us

From Dear Mountain Hike

High above Estes, Estes Lake looks tiny from here

From Dear Mountain Hike

Would have loved to have had some time and good weather to snap lots of cute family pics on our first pseudo peak, but the wind was raging up there and Coop was growing antsy. We looked around a bit, then hit the accelerator on the way down making quick work of the snowy descent.

Not really a "peak" per the usual CO standards, but for a 7 month old and a guy who is 4 months removed from an Achilles rupture it sure felt good. Jill has been working out like crazy, and it translated to the hike. Despite being at 10k feet, she did really well on the climbs. I was pleased that my surgically repaired tendon felt so good this soon. Conditions were choppy snow, rocks and ice and I was able to get up and down (while carrying Cooper) pretty well today.

Welcome Spring, we've got big things planned.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Return to normalcy...hopefully

Hoping all the drama and ups and downs of last week stay in last week, and that this week is of the smooth variety. We've got 7 days to the new and improved daylight savings, and event which always signifies better days are just ahead. Jill's parents are headed this way in a week or so, and I think we'll finally get the shrink wrap off the ski season when they get here something that is long overdue.

Cooper turned 7 months today, and he got a present (not really for a 7 month birthday just because). Its a little scooter he can sit on and it also turns into a walker that he can balance against. So far he just likes to sit next to it and play with its various attachments, but he did get a kick out of me pushing him around on it today. Here's some pics from the last couple days...

Cooper and Cowvin checking out the new scooter