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.... :)