Celebrating in Colorado

We have only taken one solo trip since having kids.

Our 20 year wedding anniversary calls for another one.   

We headed to Colorado 

for a long weekend filled with hiking,

eating, and relaxing.

We splurged on a jeep

so we could take off the top and really enjoy the sites.

We had hoped to take of the doors but

it was too cold

On our way to Estes Park,

we stopped in Boulder for lunch

and a hike.

It was straight up hill

but the view from Royal Arch

was worth it.

We hiked in the Flatirons too

before settling in at our cabin.

The website oversold the niceness of the cabin.

It was fine,

but it was really just an old (but tidy) fishing cabin

right on the Big Thompson River.

It's big perk--

our own hot tub,

complete with fancy robes.  

This is going to be a lovely get-a-way!

My long-awaited medal

My medal for our 3rd place in the soccer tournament

arrived as unceremoniously as the season ended.

It still requires a picture!

Looks good with my Broncos football camp shirt!

We escaped!

My buddy Bennett and his family

did an escape room

and if they could do it, I know we can do it!

  

On this rainy day, we got our chance.

We took on Scorpio today.

We had our back-up man on a walkie talkie

and he helped us out every once in a while

but we did most of the problem solving ourselves.

It was fun--

except for the part where we tripped off the alarm

and he told us we needed to hide in the back room

because the bad guys were going to find us.

Tuck and I bought into that a little too much.

We wanted OUT.

Mom and Dad talked us down,

but we didn't have quite as much fun after that.

With about 5 minutes to spare,

we broke out!

Was it fun?  Yes.

Do I want to do it again?  No time soon.

I was NOT a fan of the alarm.

The Myth. The Man. The Legend.

In case you didn't know,

we honestly feel like we have 

the greatest dad in the world.

He cooks amazing things.

He runs us everywhere.

He can fix anything.

He can do anything.

He puts up with us every. single. day.

   

So Father's Day is the perfect chance to honor him.

I colored him a card.

Beckett made him a cool card

at school and kept it hidden until today

Mom helped us make him a shirt

and bought him foot pads for the jeep

And Weston hit it out of the park

with a cookbook from Dad's favorite chef

that he found and bought all on his own.

Today we were doing

whatever Dad wanted to do.

And that is a bike brew tour

(I tried to keep my grumbling to a minimum)

First was Diametrics

We had fun with the cereal bar

and games

And our second stop with The Goat

where Heinzs met up with us

It may be 90 degrees,

but we make biking look cool

Anything to make Dad happy...for today!

Perks of a stay-at-home Dad

There are lots of awesome things about 

having Dad at home this summer

(although he still gets dragged in

to more legal work than he'd like).

We get to do all sorts of half-day camps.

We get in more video game time than we should.

And he takes us out to lunch

at a place of our choosing once a week.

Our first trip to Gates

Hi, may I help you?

 

Gotta love a drive in!

We've seen the original and

Top Gun: Maverick

hit the screens while we were on our cruise.

     

We couldn't be the last ones to see it!

Everyone settle in

because the drive-in is calling our name!

Let's roll, Waves!

We missed our first meet last week

while we sailed the Caribbean

(worth it!)

so we were really psyched for this week!

Unfortunately,

as Mom predicted,

we brought Covid back from the cruise.

Mema was sick for about a week

(not too bad, though)

Dad was sick for 3-4 days,

Beck had sniffles for a day.

But that meant

it was up to the rest of us

to represent Team Reed.

Even though I swam last year,

I was a little nervous.

I didn't look like it on the block though!

Diving like a pro

Making starts look good

and cranking out my strokes.

First times of the season:

25 Freestyle 31.28 (7-10 seconds faster than last season

depending on which time you look at)

25 Backstroke 44.31 (4-8 seconds faster)

And my new love 25 Butterfly...no time this meet.

I got a DQ for not clearing my arms.

Something to work on.

Weston has always rocked his starts on the blocks

and Mom thought his strokes really looked good

Opening times of the season:

50 Freestyle 40.43 (new PR by 1.4 seconds)

50 Backstroke 47.47 (PR by 2.3 seconds)

50 Breaststroke 53.68 (PR by 1.7 seconds)

Jackson had a good first meet too

He swam on both his age group's relays

and had some cool lighting

for his events!

New PRs for everything he swam:

50 Freestyle 33.50 (1.4 seconds)

50 Backstroke 42.87 (0.8 seconds)

50 Breaststroke 47.65 (2.8 seconds!)

It wasn't the same without

Beckett and Dad

but we did our best to make a strong showing

 

All good things come to an end

We were sad to say goodbye 

to our towel monkey

and start our journey home.

The upside?

We're already trying to decide

where we should head next...

Cruisin' Day 7: Crossing everything off the list

We hadn't wandered back to the Flowrider yet--

today's our chance!

I went first.

I was a natural last time

but struggled this round.

I toppled shortly after getting to on my knees each time

Weston hadn't been up to the trying out

the Flowrider last time

but he made it look easy on his first ride

Beckett got to try this year!

Shocker:

he made it look easy.

He made it on his knees

but wiped out shortly after

It took Mom a minute or two

to remember how to do it,

but she got the hang of it

She made it to her knees for a few seconds,

but maneuvering around

threw her off pretty quickly

And Dad?

Duh.

Pro.

He even got to try flipping to his butt.

Mom said she wanted to be sure to go before him--

she knew he'd show us all up

After that,

obligatory ice cream break

(we've been eating it several times a day)

Mom heard there was a towel folding class

so we stopped in to learn a few tricks

It was pretty cool.

A lot like origami

We learned an elephant and a bird.

#lifeskills

Me, Wes and Beck wanted to go give the Flowrider

another try,

but Tuck didn't want to have to stand around

and wait on us again.

So he and Mom

rode the Abyss, did some shopping, rode the waterslides

and did some swimming...

and we finally got another chance.

I briefly got up on my knees on my second round

Weston had some success

and so did Beck

Dad made it look awesome...again.

We all met up in the pool

for one last happy hour

and happy it was!

Dinner was lovely

and then Mom drug us to another ice skating show.

iSkate was definitely better than 1887

but some of us still thought a nap

was a better use of our time.

We stopped in for a comedy and magic show

before heading to The Friendly Feud.

We all got raffle tickets and a chance to make

the contestant panel.

When one of our numbers was called,

Aunt Mandy felt like one of her life's dreams

was coming true

When a second of our numbers was called,

as the only member of the Scholar Bowl team

in our family,

I leapt into action.

I thought I'd be good at it--

trivia right?

I didn't know what I was up for.

Some of the questions:

Name something slow

(old people was one of the answers).

Name something people do once a week

(shower was an answer!)

When Aunt Mandy's team got

Name a way to sneak something into prison,

she answered "your bum"

which everyone in the room thought was a good answer.

There was a lot of grumbling when it wasn't on the list.

We tried to steal.

I answered 

"in your pocket?"

and the host questioned me.

I confessed "I've never had to sneak anything in to prison"

which brought a lot of laughter from the crowd.

My answer wasn't up there.

However,

my most embarrassing moment was still coming.

The question was 

Name a fruit that looks like a human body part.

Peach was named,

eggplant (yeah, not a fruit).

There were lots of obvious ones

that I am NOT going to mention.

My team encouraged cherry.

That brought more laughter

of which I don't quite understand.

And it wasn't on the list.

Aunt Mandy's team won

when her "incorrect" bum was overturned

and deemed correct 

(our judge didn't know bum = butt).

No matter.

We both had a blast

and everyone left with some stories to tell.

We finished was some air hockey,

Sorrento's,

and a stop at the pub.

Awesome long-awaiting vacation

jam-packed with fun?

Check. 

Done.