Last week we got invited to go to the lake with some of our neighbors. It was a Thursday afternoon. We both had to work but decided to take some time off to go. We also had to get Paul's mom from the airport(she was coming in to watch the kids while we went out of town) so it was a short day at the lake. However, it was still a lot of fun. The kids loved it and we were glad we were able to squeeze it in.
Daycare put a braid in Audrey's hair....yes....a BRAID. It looked so cute but I have no clue how they do it. They said she sits still the best out of anyone to let them do her hair
A (really) little video of us all tubing. Jaime grabbed our camera to take a picture of us but didn't realize it was on video mode.
When Audrey was coming up on being 15 months I thought about her Dr's appointment and how I would have to tell them she wasn't saying anything at all. I made the appointment(way too late) and didn't get in until she was almost 16 months. What a difference that month made in her speech. She finally decided to talk and she's been having a lot to say. I have been meaning to sit down and list her words....so here goes
What she's trying to say How it sounds
dad dada
mom mama
nala aya
moo moo
neigh neigh
quack cack
rawr rawr
colin caca
cracker cahcahr
car car
ball baw
yes esh
babybear bababea
milk mik
elmo ehmo
gaba(yogabbagabba) gaba
up uh
bottle bah
book bu
papa pupu
byebye buhbuh
And just because I can't make a post without any pictures...here's more of her painting herself with her dinner
Sunday was our actual anniversary. So much for sleeping in while we didn't have the kids....we were both up at 630 and couldn't get back to sleep. We got up and around and headed out for our next ride. Our choice for today was a ride that about every local we talked to recommended. The ride was part of the Kokopelli loops and called Horsethief Bench.
It was a great ride. We were so glad to have had this recommendation. We headed out on Mary's loop. This was a steep climb off the bat. We were both on very tired legs so it was a tough start. Once we got warmed up it wasn't too bad though. There was a big "hike a bike" section to get down into Horsethief. We were sufficiently warned about this area. The girl at OTE bike shop told us not to think we were supposed to be able to ride it, everyone hikes a bike at this area. (although you can find youtube videos of people flying down it that make us feel like awful riders) It was really steep with huge steps in the rocks. Paul made it down a couple of sections but there was no way he was going to make it all the way through.
We also had to climb back up that same section on the way back. This is Paul climbing up
Horsethief was a great ride. It was the perfect combination of climb for a workout, fast riding, technical and views. We headed back through Mary's to Wrangler's. When we got back to the car we didn't feel ready to be done so we added in Rustler. This was a steep climb up but then just a fun fast ride with beautiful views. Our total ride was 12 miles and just about 3 hours.
It was nice that we had some clouds this day, it kept it a little cooler.
A raft WAY down in the river
A video of the views
We almost made it through the whole trip without a tire change. Hopefully Paul fixed the real problem and we won't be doing this every ride
The only injury from the trip(Paul got attacked by a tree)
On Saturday morning we slept in and didn't get up until 730! haha....that is sleeping in for us. This day we decided to do the Lunch Loops area of trails in Grand Junction. The trail head was only 3 miles from the hotel so it was really easy to get to. When we got to the trail head we realized it was also an off leash area for dogs. This made it a little interesting in the beginning of the trail.
We headed up Pet-e-keys for the climb. This climb was a lot different than the night before. It was pretty steep and we realized this area was a lot more technical. There were lots of rocks, so lots of steps up and down throughout the trails. From Pet-e-keys we headed to high noon, raven ridge, coyote ridge and over to Miramonte Rim. This was a fun loop out around the rim of a small mesa. It was fun. This was also pretty exposed. We did the whole loop, counter clockwise and then headed back by Miramonte and Leftover Lane. Leftover had a STEEP climb but that took us out to Curt's Lane which was a fun down. We finished the trail by doing the Kid's Meal loop. We didn't realize it prior, but this little loop was actually for kids. They had signs posted teaching techniques for biking. There were different areas where you could take the green circle or black diamond option. It was a cute little training run. The whole loop that we did was 7 1/2 miles. This one took us longer than the night before because it was a lot more technical. I really enjoyed the trail and was able to challenge myself and do some technical things that were new to me. I did get off my bike quite a bit though.
Paul riding the ridge of Miramonte
After the ride, we headed back to the hotel for showers and then went out for a round of golf. We golfed at Lincoln Park course. We picked this one because it was on the way to the wineries we planned to visit afterwards. It wasn't a very nice course. It was nice in that it was very open and we didn't have to worry about losing many balls. However, it was on busy streets with industrial areas around it. Some of the holes circled the driving range which wasn't fenced in. There were dogs barking at us from houses around the course. I notice that I am getting a little better but have a long way to go.
After 9 holes of golf, we went wine tasting. We drove a town over to Palisades where there are 19 wineries that do wine tasting. We went to three. The first one was Talon/Katherine's, then there was Grand Valley and lastly Plum Creek. They all had free tastings. We bought wine at each.
For our anniversary this year we decided that we would take a mountain biking trip to Fruita/Grand Junction Colorado. We were able to find affordable flights to fly Paul's mom out to watch the kids so we could go away for the weekend.
(I am going to post a bunch of details about the trip so we can go back and look at our rides and know what we have done there and what we thought of each. This might be pretty boring for anyone else to read)
On Friday we left SLC at 1030. We drove to Fruita and stopped at the OTE bike shop to get some maps and advice on must rides. We headed out from there to the 18 road trails and to do Zippity do da. We headed out at 330 to start our ride. It was HOT, 95 degrees and up during our ride. We took our time and drank lots of water We started at the main parking lot and took Prime Cut trail up. This trail was a pretty easy climb. It had a few little technical spots but nothing too difficult. It passed back over the dirt road and onto Frontside to get to Zippity. This started to be a lot more climbing. It got pretty steep for awhile. Zippity was a fun trail. It is fast and exposed, right on the rim. There were some steep climbs and really steep and fast downs. The whole trail that we did was just under 8 miles.
Here is a YouTube video of someone riding Zippity that is actually a good rider. It's a cool video because it shows you how intimidating of a ride it can be
(now, back to us)
Heading out to Zippity
Standing by the Zippity trail sign
Paul riding on the ridge
Me riding the ridge
Here is a video of Paul and I each doing a huge steep
After our ride, we headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Main St in Grand Junction. We checked in, showered, and then headed out to dinner. We ate at 626 on Rood. It was a really nice place. We had great food and a bottle of Spanish Tempranillo wine.
Paul at dinner
I took a picture of the wine because we enjoyed it and wanted to remember what it was
And then a minute or two later it will look like this....
It goes both ways but we are definitely having some issues with biting in the house. We got a letter from daycare the other day that Audrey bit someone. I hope we get out of this phase soon.
.....has invaded our house. I had always heard about this show, but never really knew what it was. We didn't have the channel. I saw that Brad Pitt dressed up as DJ Lance one year for Halloween and kids all over the place were having Gabba birthday parties. They came to town and had a show and the tickets were super expensive....but still....I didn't get it.
Then it came on instant cue on Netflix. It is really a weird show but Colin LOVES it. It has catchy little songs about simple things that he understands and can interact with.
Audrey has been starting to say some words lately and the other day she said "Gabba".
Sunday was just a great day with the kids. It started out with Audrey sleeping in until 830. She then went right to the nursery worker at church without even a second thought and definitely not any cries. It isn't even a person that is in there on a regular basis. She gave me some hope that she's not going to be miserable around "strangers" while we are home in NY.
After church the kids were just so good the rest of the day. They played so well with each other all day. They shared and actually enjoyed playing together.
