BTWD 2011

We are an hour or so into Bike to Work Day 2011.  I'm riding around Greeley today with Andrew and Rebecca and seeing how many breakfast stations we can get to. Here is Dr. Busse and I at the Bittersweet aid station. Beautiful day for a ride!

Stretch

Rockies get a home run in the sixth and lead 5-3 as we head into the singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.  On a personal note, my streak  continues: made in to a Rockies game each month so far this season. Sure would love to add October!!

Sno-Cone

And the sno-cone wins!! Thanks for the vote aunt Kim!! Rockies pick up another and lead 4-1 heading into the sixth!

3-0

Ubaldo helps himself in the bottom of the 2nd with 2 RBI's and the Rockies are up 3-0.  Nathanael is decided between a snow cone OR a Dippin Dots.  Not both. Beautiful night at Coors Field!

Ubaldo

So this is where Nathanael and I will be spending the evening. Really need Ubaldo to get his first win of the year against the Tigers! Thanks Big D for the tickets!

Anti-Kindle

Had a neat experience today that happened totally by random chance. This morning while reading the Greeley Tribune, they had a feature article on a touring book bus that hands out free books to underprivileged kids around the country. It just so happened that the bus made two stops in Greeley this week, before heading back east (article here: http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20110615/NEWS/706159967/1051&ParentProfile=1001). I just happened to be meeting Noah and Jen at the Verizon store when what pulled up but the bus! I got to speak with one of the two people in charge and get a picture. Really neat group, so please check them out over on Wordpress (http://bessthebookbus.org/). Nothing beats the feel of a new book in the hands of a reader, not even a Kindle.

Construction!

So here is the reason that three of the kids don't start school until after Labor Day this year! The remodel of the greenhouse/lunch room is in full swing. We are so blessed to have the leadership we do here at Frontier. A better lunch room, more classrooms and a better arts department will be waiting for the kids come September 7!

Swimming!

Enjoying the afternoon at the Family Funplex!! Kids are swimming, and dad is blogging and reading. Started the day with a 15 mile bike ride around Greeley with my friend Mark. Looking forward to home made pizza, wings, beer and game 7 of the Stanley Cup with Big Andrew tonight!

Learning

So one of my few failures as a father has been my inability to teach the kids how to ride a bike. Every summer, I get the bikes out and encourage them to learn to ride. They have had nothing of it, and preferred their scooters to their bikes. Well, all that has changed. Quickly. Suddenly. Without warning. Five days before Noah got his bike, Andrew's friend taught him to ride a bike. I guess all the kid needed was a little peer pressure. Well, Nathanael wasn't about to be left behind, literally and figuratively.  So he learned to ride that very night. Sarabeth was a little more timid, and still wants her training wheels.

It was quite a Wednesday night at our house. We had bikes zooming everywhere. Noah even got out his Park Tools and did a few quick repairs. Big Andrew just happened to be over for the evening and got to enjoy the spectacle. Quite a night, one that this dad will remember forever.

Perfect

It was sometimes difficult on those cold December mornings when he wasn't feeling well. Or in March when the cold season struck again. Or some Monday mornings when it was just tough to get out of bed at 6 AM and start another week. But through it all, Noah was perfect. Attendance that is. The kid made it to school every single day this past school year. And for all his dedication, besides straight A's and a 4.036 GPA, he earned a brand new bike from a local car dealership and bike store. Several days later, the dealership took out an ad in the local paper congratulating all the 6th graders who had perfect attendance. Great job Noah! We are so proud of you. Enjoy your new bike.

Mountain Park-Thursday

Sadly, we arrived at our last day at camp. The real world was waiting for us just down the hill, but we still had a meal to eat, a hike to go on, and camp to pick up. Breakfast was a huge hit of blueberry muffins cooked inside oranges placed in tinfoil in the coals of the fire. We also enjoyed more fresh fruit, coffee, cinnamon strussel cake, and milk. While Jen made preparations to break camp, the kids and I enjoyed a great hike right next to our campsite. We climbed almost 450 feet and were rewarded with a magnificent view of the little valley we were in. The kids were sad we had to return home, but were already talking about the next camping adventure. The Roth family rated Mountain Park a 9.1, and agreed it was the best place we had ever camped.

Mountain Park-Wednesday Night

After we had finished up the hike, we headed a bit more west on Highway 14 to Archers Pourde River Resort for some cold ice cream and other snacks. We ended up with soda, ice cream, nachos, and fresh french fries from the roadside grille. After a nice leisurely drive back to camp, the kids played at the playground, climbed rocks, and made a trip to the river with the three-man slingshot. Dinner preparations were made for walking tacos, more fresh fruit, beer, and of course more s'mores for dessert. As you can see, Jen was really enjoying the new book on her Kindle, and Noah couldn't resist getting in a few minutes on the DSi.

Happy Anniversary

Would like to congratulate my mom and dad on another year of marital bliss. Today marks 38 years since they said their "I Do's."  That is a really impressive number. Only 12 more years and Wes and I will be planning their 50th! Congrats mom and dad. I love you.

Mountain Park-Feet

Most of the group on the hike had the right footwear on, except for poor Miss Sarabeth.We didn't have time to get her a good pair of hiking shoes, and she insisted she would be OK with her school shoes. Nathanael on the other hand wears his shoes like they are a Hummer 4x4. We did get Sarabeth bandaged up back at the car and she was none the worse for wear. Nathanael washed the mud off on the next river crossing.

Mountain Park-Wednesday

Everyone was up and at 'em bright and early Wednesday for a full day of hiking, eating, fun, and enjoying everything Mother Nature had to offer. Breakfast included pancakes (forgot the syrup), hash browns, more fresh fruit, hot coffee, Starbucks Via for Jen, and juice for the kids. We even had a few of "Miss" Kristi's amazing homemade biscottis to have with our coffee. Then we loaded up the Camelbacks and lots of snacks and headed to Dadd Gulch trail for the days hike.


We ended up hiking almost 4 miles, with an elevation gain of about 600 feet up to 7700. The hike included one of the Roth family's favorite thing: water!! Several of us (Sarabeth, Nathanael, Dad) plowed right through it. Other (Jen, Noah, Andrew) picked their way across it on rocks and logs. Thankfully we all had plenty of snacks and water for the 3 hour hike. And guess who was waiting for us when we retured to the parking lot? Nope, not Santa. It was Ryan's Frito friend Shawn! What a nice surprise to visit with him for a few minutes.