Leed Reservoir, Sylvan Lake, Vail, and more sleepy time...

After a dusty, bumpy drive up the dirt of Valley road we arrived at Lede Reservoir. The reservoir was more than half empty, not sure what's going on up there. In this picture, Big Ron is pointing out a point of interest...

Family portrait in front of the now half dry Lede Reservoir.
After leaving the reservoir we decided to head to the Dusty Boot in Eagle for some lunch. We figured it may be quicker to go up over the mountain than to go around it..... good idea, but unfortunately we ran into some snow in the shady areas and had to turn around. We climbed a bit to get to where we were though. You can see the dirt road far below....

Posing in front of Sylvan Lake above Eagle, CO with the snowy mountains in the background. What a beautiful day! Low 70's and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. We stopped by Sylvan lake before heading up to Vail for some lunch and more sight seeing.
Ahhh - how sweet... Dad, Mom, and #1 daughter in front of Sylvan Lake.
First family protrait! Cayle was even trying to smile. It's fitting where he is laying, cause my shirt say's, "the year of NINER," but with his head there it could say, "the year of CAYLE."
Sleeping on Grandpa's belly... Grandpa was feigning sleep in this picture, but Cayle I can assure you was not. As you can probably tell by the open mouth, HE IS OUT!

Grandma and Grandpa Hammers and Nap time...

Grandma and Grandpa Hammers made it out on Friday. Grandpa enjoying his time with Cayle.
Grandma Hammers taking her turn at pass the baby...

And..... what can I say? Guess I must have been tired.... and there was a pillow....

Jimmy Johns!

W in round one and cutest pic

CUBS vs. CARDS - Game one goes to the Redbirds of STL. 5 runs in the first, knocking out the opposing teams starting pitcher in the first helps out a bit when trying to win a baseball game..... :)
Showed my kids at school a bunch of pics of Cayle. This picture gets the highest reviews from most that see it. Rusty just looks a little bit confused... Not sure if the kids think that Rusty is cuter or that Cayle is cuter. I think it's the look in Rusty's eyes and his ears flopped back that make this picture as good as it is.

Grandma and Grandpa Brummer

Got to meet baby Cayle for a few days. He is so well behaved, and they were fantastic with him. When grandpa wasn't holding him, grandma was. He was spoiled with attention. Grandma and Grandpa Hammers are coming soon.

SURREAL

For as long as I can remember my family would take ski vacations to Steamboat Springs, CO. Then after many years and as the family expanded we switched to Breckenridge, CO. We moved back and forth a few times, but mostly went to Breck. We would always get out of school in early March to go on these trips, and it was great bonding time with the siblings and family (thanks mom and dad). As I got older, (early teens) Colorado was definitely growing on me. I always wanted to move out and become the typical ski bum... work a couple dead-end jobs just to pay the bills and snowboard 100 days/year... The desire to be on the mountain in the winter that much has definitely faded over the years (still enjoy, just don't need that much) However, the desire to live in Colorful Colorado never faded. Always in the back of my mind. Always felt like there was a small part of me that would never be filled if I didn't do it. The urge to live there and become part of the culture and the lifestyle was instilled in me at a very young age, and just kind of festered over time.

Fast forward to the present time, and my lovely wife Natalie and I just had our first baby (Cayle Joseph Brummer) in VAIL, CO! As I type this blog, it's dumping snow outside our window on May 19th. I can look out the window and see the ski slopes, now covered in dirty snow. The mountain is slowly preparing itself for the upcoming TEVA Mountain Games, and the beginning of summer and all the activities that go along with it (mountain biking, fly fishing, rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, kayaking...) Living the dream, and loving every minute of it! Incredibly surreal!

Click on the picture for a full size. Its called Wordle, and you just type in a bunch of words and pick your colors and fonts and it creates a word type puzzle for you. Awesome program! We use it in school all the time. The kids love it! I created this one to describe all the emotions and feelings associated with having our first baby.

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

I awoke in a foggy haze at about 1:30 this morning to Natalie kicking me in the leg telling me that she was having hard constant contractions. So being the ever vigilant husband, I suggested we start timing them.... actually she suggested that.... and I while drifting in and out of sleep with 2 cell phones on my chest, one with a clock and one with a stopwatch, took times and length of each contraction. About 330 they were becoming more intense, and had consistently been 3-5 minutes apart for a while. Natalie called the hospital and they suggested we get on our horse and head that way. Driving to the hospital it became pretty clear that Natalie was going into labor, judging from the painful look on her face caused by the contractions. We checked in at about 5, and at 730 the on call Dr. came in to check on her. Took a look at the contractions and the pain, and decided to break the water. BABY IS COMING! Today would be the day that the Baby comes to play! As of this time, she is on the epidural, and we are just waiting for full dilation. Baby should be here sometime this evening...

Beautiful Day

Finally got a beautiful day! High 60's and sunny and very little wind. After church we sat around on the deck for a bit before rearranging some of the utensils and food in the kitchen cabinets. We switched the food and some pots and glassware. Makes the food easier to see is what we are hoping... After doing the kitchen work we headed into the Dusty Boot for fish. Every Sunday at the Boot they have been having Wisconsin style fish. This weekend at the Boot they had the Outdoor Expo which included fly fishing casting practice, mountain bike demos, and biking product samples. After having a nice lunch of pan fried perch and beer battered walleye we headed back home.After returning from lunch (where among other things we discussed baby middle names) I decided I should install the infant sling in the Chariot. This thing is awesome! It has windows for the kids, pocket to store toys and such, and full coverage in case of rain. And now it has an infant sling, so the baby can go on walks within days of being home from the hospital. Now all we need is a baby to push around......

First time (this year)......

I went on a ride without a rain jacket. And.... yep, you guessed it. It rained! I should have known better, it had been raining for the last 24 hours, but then got all nice and sunny, and the weather station said it was supposed to stay that way for the next 5 hours. I suited up in my new Cycling House kit (thanks Pops!) to head out for a 2-3 hour ride. The plan was to head up to Adams Rib Ranch above Eagle for a nice interval session. I did get up there, and while I was there it was nice and sunny, and rainy and cloudy everywhere else. I could see the storms all around me but was avoiding them somehow. Anyway, headed home, and about 10 minutes from home hit a wall of water! Luckily I was close enough that I didn't get too cold.
Natalie and I both did Saturday school this morning. Got a lot of work done, and in the meantime made a nice $75.00 a piece. At 10 we were done and headed home. We next got off the couch at about 4 o'clock.... just enjoying our time, drifting in and out of sleep while watching a Planet Earth marathon. What a great show! The narrators voice is so relaxing, it was hard not to fall asleep. Nice relaxing day with my baby, and my baby's momma. :)

70 and sunny tomorrow, looking forward to that and the Tour of California!

LAZY NIGHTS

One of our last lazy nights.... We did nothing tonight... Well, I can't honestly say that we did nothing. We played a game of scrabble, I also made burgers on the grill, and we also ..... Well, can't really think of anything else that we did, other than spend some time on the Net, and watch T.V. We are trying to make the most of our time that we have together and don't have to take care of another human being... We are looking forward to the baby, and are very excited about it, but are making the most of our quiet time on the couch with the puppies tonight.

Baby B should be along any day now.... :)

Mother's Day picnic and new mountain bike (frame)

Sunday morning it was beautiful outside! At about 730 we were able to go sit outside and catch some rays on the deck. The baby began to tell us (well Natalie anyway) that he/she wanted to go out for a drive and to play in the stream. I think he/she was also enjoying the warmth of the sunshine (from within mommy's belly...)

We had talked about heading over Cottonwood pass toward Aspen/Carbondale, but instead decided to head up Valley road. We were trying to get up to Lede Reservoir which is about 30 miles of dirt road from the house. About a mile or so from the lake we ran into some muddiness and patches of snow, still deep enough to prevent us from trying to get all the way to the top. So we backed down the hill and headed back down a few miles to one of the campsites along the road. This one was especially nice because it had a little island where the creek flowed around it, and it was a nice little play area for the dogs.
A little profile pic of mommy on mothers day standing along Gypsum Creek.
Daddy walking through the stream followed by the two puppies who actually like playing in the water.... and yes, it was a little chilly....Not going to be just us two and the dogs for very much longer....The new NINER mountain bike frame! The white looks pretty sharp. Will get it built up sometime in the next couple of weeks and post pics.

Hospital visit

FYI...not my belly or baby (from Nat)


(looks like this baby is trying to get out the wrong place....)

We had a hospital visit tonight. Natalie was having consistent contractions, so we called the Dr. and she said we better come up to Vail to get checked out. We were admitted and checked into one of the rooms. Natalie made herself comfy.... on the bed, and the nurse came in and hooked her up to the machine so that we could measure contractions and hear the baby's heart beat. We (she) got to answer a bunch of questions (at least we won't have to do that next time). It was kind of weird because she was having contractions about every 2-3 minutes, but they were lacking in intensity. They were a little nervous about sending us home, in case we had to come back later in the night, so they had us walk around for 2 hours to see if that would get labor started. After walking, Dr. Kohn checked her again, and nothing different, so we headed home about 9:00 pm. Soooo, I guess we'll just call that a practice run. Now we really know what to do next time. We are ready, whenever the baby decides he/she is ready.

BBQ

Thought the weather was going to be nice after school... I mean, the sun was out, it was about 60 degrees, and little wind... However out on the deck the wind was cool enough to put a slight chill in the air. We decided to have Torrey and Alana and another couple over to grill out, and hang out outside. I set up the bag boxes in the yard. Torrey and I and Miles played bags and had a few drinks while the girls sat and chatted inside due to the chill in the wind. Then I cooked up some delicious burgers and brats, and we had a few sides. It was an excellent afternoon of grilling and yard games. Looking forward to consistently warmer weather, and less wind.

Cinco de Mayo

Went out with Torrey and Alana for Cinco de Mayo tonight. We went to Mi Pueblo in Eagle. Same place we went to last year with the same company. I guess it's becoming a tradition. Before we found out otherwise we just thought it was called Mexican Food..... wonder why we thought that???? They had happy hour all night, so that meant $3.00 house margs on the rocks. The dinner special was their Cinco combo for $5.95. What a deal.... included was a beef chimichanga, a chicken taco, and a cheese enchilada on a plate of refried beans covered in pork green chile! This meal was normally $15.00, so it was a steal at six bucks! Love this place, we are never disappointed with their food or service, plus they are members of our church. For teacher appreciation week the ladies of the PTO provided a traditional Mexican fiesta for us for lunch, taco salads with all the toppings and tamales. It was amazing! Mexican food for lunch and dinner....

Avon Elementary bans chocolate milk!

Vail Daily article

A local elementary school bans chocolate milk in favor of healthier options.....

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand Chocolate milk IS full of sugar, and that is what we are trying to reduce in our kids diets. On the other hand it is still milk, and lots of kids refuse to drink regular white milk. Milk provides lots of essential nutrients and proteins for children's growing bodies, and I tend to think they should get those nutrients however they can, even if it means taking in the sugars that fill chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk has made a big statement in recent years as an effective post-workout drink. It contains the perfect amount of sugar to protein ratio that your body needs to recover from tough workouts. I think this could also pertain to children, as long as they have active lifestyles, and are not sitting inside playing video games all evening after school....

I feel the best way to keep kids healthy and fit is to keep them active and encourage them and teach them to make smart food choices to fuel their bodies. Drinking chocolate milk can be a healthy choice for active children.

Just my two cents.

Where in the World Have We Been???

Clearly I will have to pick up the slack for my non-blogging husband. Poor guy has been so tired; what with carrying around a baby, packing a labor bag, and nesting like crazy, he hasn't had time to blog!

In all honesty, I have no idea what's happened to our time! It seems like so many nights after work are busy with meetings, appointments, baby prep, bike riding (Nick's, not mine!), dinner, schoolwork, etc. But Lindsey would not be happy if I were trying to offer up excuses...so I won't. In her words, "whomever is in charge of the blog is horrible." So, I will start today with a fresh blog for a new month!

We headed home to Illinois for a short visit with family and friends over spring break. We got to see Finley and Ethan in L-P, had a nice dinner in Chatham with our friends, and helped celebrate Cathy's 50th birthday. We also got to spend time with grandma and grandpa Brummer and pick out our baby quilt. What an amazing job grandma does!

Aunt Natalie with a not-so-happy Finley

Everyone is happy because the quilt has been selected...there were 25 quilts to choose from!

One night in early April, we got a phone call from Nick's uncle Rich. He and his wife Maureen were on a cross-country trip visiting their out-of-state children. Rich and Maureen came and saw us on their way from California to Fort Collins. We had a nice dinner of homemade mac-n-cheese and a great visit. Our guest bedroom is really coming in handy!

A few weeks back, Target had a sail on patio furniture, so we decided that was the time to get some new furniture that hopefully wouldn't blow away in the Colorado spring winds. It is so relaxing to sit out on the back deck in the sun and look at the mountains!

View to the east-ish

View to the west-ish

Eagle County Schools has an annual awards ceremony held up at Beaver Creek. The awards ceremony is at the Vilar and dinner and dancing is at the Hyatt in the village. The village businesses offer specials to go along with the celebration, so Nick and I decided to take advantage of one of our last free weekends without child :) We got a room at the Hyatt for very cheap and had a great time sitting in (or, in my case, on the ledge of) the hot tubs at the base of the mountain. Our room was awesome, the king-sized bed was just what I've needed and the 1/2-price breakfast buffet was great. We ended the morning sitting at the base of the mountain in 60-degree weather and sunny skies just talking and hanging out with Torrey, Alana, Jeff and Jess. It was awesome!

Us at the dinner/dance

Enjoying a warm, sunny morning at the base of Beaver Creek

April 18 was Nick's first triathlon. (It may also have been his last!) I think he much prefers just biking, but he did complete the triathlon and did very well! The tri was a challenge he and Torrey had set for themselves over the winter.

this pic makes me feel uncomfortable...

the boys swimming, Nick in red cap, Torrey in black

action shot!

We had Nick's dad, Frank, and sister, Anne Marie, out for a few nights in mid-April. They had been in Moab for a class and drove over to spend some time with us after their class. Nick took a day off work so the three of them could go snowboarding and biking. We capped their visit off with a sushi dinner at Paradigm's in Eagle. They even had a vegetable roll for me! It was an awesome visit and a great meal!

Nick and Anne Marie at Loveland

Frank and Anne Marie biking to our house from Glenwood Canyon

May is usually a busy month, and this one doesn't seem to be starting any differently! Lots of birthdays and anniversaries coming up: my favorite sister, Lindsey, has a birthday May 6. Ronnie and his wonderful wife, Michelle, have an anniversary May 22. Mike has a birthday on May 23 and dad has a birthday May 29 (don't tell grandma H. that's when we celebrate it - pretty sure she celebrated it May 28??), and Nick and I have our 2nd anniversary May 31 :)

We'll be adding one more birthday to the month of May...not sure when exactly! Nick and I are getting anxious to learn if it's a boy or girl. All this time, we've done pretty good not spending too much time wondering if it's a boy or girl, but now it seems the closer it gets, the harder it gets to not wonder. We went to Target today after church and bought a few more things we needed for the baby: disposable diapers to use until the baby grows into our cloth diapers, wet wipes and hand sanitizer (for our baby visitors!). The nursery is all ready to go, as far as we know! I'm sure there will be things we forgot, but that's just the way it goes!

me posing in the rocking chair we sanded and repainted

On Friday we hosted our last big shin-dig for a while - a wedding shower for Jeff and Jess here at our house. We had a cookout in the middle of a winter storm warning! It actually turned out to be better weather than we expected, and the boys braved the weather to eat and drink outside. The girls joined them for a nice fire with s'mores.

Jeff and Jess with their cake
see, there was only a little snow on the ground :)

snow and fire

School is well into the third trimester now. I have all of my lesson plans done for the rest of the year, so whenever I leave everything will be taken care of. Nick is finishing up with all of his IEP meetings for the rest of the year. He'll miss about 5 days of school to stay with me when the baby is born. Our second school year in Gypsum has been really good, but we're really looking forward to summer and time at home with the baby!

We'll be spending part of our summer traveling home. First we're heading to a wedding in Michigan (yay for Jeff and Jess), then we'll hit up L-P for family time, Springfield/Chatham for friend time and the baby's baptism, and T-town for more family time and grandma and grandpa Brummers' 70th wedding anniversary celebration.

I'm sure Nick has lots more to say about biking and that sort of thing, but I think you are, for the most part, all caught up now :)