Happy 2013!

We kicked off 2013 in the Rocky Mountains.  We rented a cabin with another family at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, and had a great couple of days away.  New Year's Eve we partied at a family dance that turned out to be way more fun than any dance I ever went to when I was single.  Let's just say our family can really get down to Gangnam Style and the YMCA.   The ball over the dance floor dropped at 12:00 EST, which was perfect for the kids because they got to stay up late, but not midnight late. 


Here are our own celebrations before the dance started.

New Year's Day we spent playing on the mountain, until Austin  heard the wind blowing through the trees and became convinced an avalanche was on its way. (Not sure where he learned about avalanches.) 

 

 

We also played indoor mini golf, ping pong, Bingo, and basketball.  We made oragami snowflakes, went on a scavenger hunt and did some rollerskating.  Well, Ryan and Austin did some rollerskating.  Me and Eden put our skates on for about 3 mintues and then decided to run around on the carpet instead.  Roller skates are really heavy on your feet!

 

 

And to top it off.....we found out we're going to have a new baby while we were here!  Probably not a vacation we'll ever forget.

Racing around

 

This past fall my wonderful sister, Sam, somehow allowed me to talk her into running another marathon/half marathon race together.  We ran the Boulder marathon in the fall of 2011, and she swore off racing.  But here she is, back for more in the Denver Rock and Roll marathon 2012.  I never could have reached my goal of running a Boston qualifying time without Sam running the first 3 miles with me and telling me over and over, "You got this.  No problem."

The end of the race was all smiles because we found our super cute cheerleaders.  But the smiles didn't last long.  When we were ready to head home, Ryan took the kids one direction to find the van. Sam and I set off another direction to find our car that we had hastily parked that morning in a lot in downtown Denver.  Turns out we had no idea which lot in downtown Denver.  We had just finished running for more than 3 hours, and then we walked around downtown for at least 1.5 hours more looking for our car.  We were so hungry and tired that we eventually just sat down against a wall and buried our heads to wait for Ryan to turn around and drive a half-hour back to help us.  Kind of funny now.  Kind of horrible in the moment.   

Nothing makes me love my family more than thinking about how much support and help they gave me while I was training for this race.  

And just to keep things fair, here's Ryan after his own race a few weeks later. 

Superman and the Monster

Just before the fun began...

After trick-or-treating when it was time to negotiate candy trades Austin offerend Kyle like 8 M &Ms for that Angry Bird mask.  Hil said, "Sorry, kid, that was a $20 mask." 

Our kids have such opposite feelings about trick-or-treating.  Eden loves it--she ran from house to house for over an hour.  Austin has always been such a picky eater, even candy only motivates him for about 5 minutes. 

Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Patch

I was sure that there was no place for fall fun like Cleveland, but we've found some great fall things to do in Colorado too.  (And the likelihood of getting a sunny day for fall activities is much better here!)


This picture is Austin learning the hard way that you have to wear pants in the fall or else you're cold.  He hates pants.  The other morning I admit to saying, "5 M &Ms for anyone who gets dressed in weather-appopriate clothing without crying!" 

Luckily he warmed up running around the hay maze.  Eden liked the hay maze too, up to a point, and then she started yelling, "How do we get out?!!"

I lost track of Austin for a minute because I assumed he would stay in that bouncy castle.  I found him here, completely captivated by the roasting peppers.  Also, I like this picture because it shows the beatiful mums I couldn't resist buying for my garden. 

Austin turns 5!

There's a good story to go along with this birthday.  We planned and paid weeks in advance to have Austin's 5th birthday party at Bounce Town.  When we showed up at the scheduled time, Bounce Town was locked with a handwritten note saying, "Closed.  Sorry for the inconvience."  YES, it is VERY inconvienet when I have 8 kids expecting to bounce and no party supplies or plans.  Some awesome employee decided to close up early for the day without checking her party book. 

So here's what the party became...


Red Rover at the park

 

And Duck Duck Goose with Dad

 

Which shortly became everybody chase Dad

At least we had the cake.
And yes, the cake says, "Happy Birthday Luke Skywalker"

The next day at least Austin and Eden were able to get a little bounce time in while Grandma Bond made sure we were sufficiently compensated for our inconvience. 
Aunt Sam is about to get a serious karate chop in this pic.

Couldn't leave out little sis.  She was so proud she wasn't scared of the slide at Bounce Town.  We were writing down some memories of Austin's birthday and she said, "Eden wasn't scared. Write that."

Summer Days

 

This morning there was snow on the newspaper in the driveway so I'm reminiscing about warmer times.

Tumbling and Tai Kwon Do

I personally think Eden's tumbling class is just OK, but maybe they know what they're doing after all because she loves it and she's somersaulting herself all over the house now.  (This morning we had to talk about why it's not a good idea to somersault on beds.)

 

Tai Kwon Do has been a lot of fun for Austin this summer.  Austin thought he would be earning new belts left and right, but it takes time and practice.  Great lesson for him.  Additionally, I've learned quite a bit of Korean myself.