Did I tell you we went camping?

We decided to try the camping thing again with Cayle. Last time we went camping, Cayle was 5 weeks old and we ended up at Children's Hospital in Denver and Cayle had his pyloric stenosis surgery. This time, Cayle was 12 weeks old and very happy and healthy! He was a real trooper - didn't cry hardly ever (which is nothing new for him!), slept all through the night, and made do with what we had just like an experienced camper! Camping was in the Green Mountain Reservoir about 30 miles north of Silverthorne. Cayle took naps in the hammock (pretty sure Grandpa Brummer taught him that skill) and used his backpack for the first time.


He's getting so big! We have had such an awesome summer at home with him :)

A very merry unbirthday!

Thursday, August 19: Nick had planned this day for a few weeks. All I knew is we were going to celebrate my birthday, Alana would be watching Cayle, and I should wear something decent (which is really code for "please don't wear the stretchy shorts you have worn almost every single day since you gave birth to Cayle.")

Turns out we had two stops on our unbirthday celebration: the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins and the Melting Pot in Louisville.

New Belgium brews Fat Tire - the beer they are best known for - and some other really tasty beverages. We had a 2 pm tour reserved and got plenty of samples along the tour. Crazy fact about New Belgium...the company was started in a guy's basement less than 20 years ago. They went from nothing to a huge brewery in less than 20 years...pretty awesome! Also, they have a guy whose job title is "director of fun." Seriously. I'm pretty sure I could handle being part-owner of New Belgium Brewery and making up fun things for the staff to do!
The above picture is me on the tour...kinda cool mirror!


After the tour, they had a bike you could pose on and this lovely poster to stand behind...
Ranger is the beer we got a growler of to bring home!
After the tour, we drove to Louisville (just outside of Boulder) and had dinner at the Melting Pot. Apparently Ronnie and Michelle frequent this place, but I had never been. I had actually never been out for fondue ever. It was amazing! First course was cheese (we selected a Swiss blend) with bread, apples and vegetables to dip. Then we had salads. After salads was the main course, which is what you see in front of me...chicken, shrimp, salmon, terriyaki steak and filet. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, dessert arrived. Nick and I selected something called Yin and Yang...dark chocolate and white chocolate, which of course came with fruits, breads, brownies, etc. The whole meal was so good, fun to prepare and eat!

Things with Cayle went well while we were gone. Alana did an awesome job taking care of him. It was lots of fun to have a date with my hubby :)

Last Week

Tuesday: Mt. Evans - I met with the Lister Bros. from Springfield, IL (Andy and Trevor) and Ferguson in Idaho Springs, CO. The plan was to Ride to the top of Mt. Evans. Mt. Evans is a 14er with a road going to about 150 feet from the top. It's not that steep of climb, but is 28 miles long... That's a looooong climb!!! I believe it averages about 6% gradient over that distance. However it's a little difficult to breathe and get oxygen to your muscles at anything over 9-10,000 ft.... Idaho Springs is located at 7500 ft elevation, and you just keep going up till you get to 14,000 ft.

I felt pretty good for about the first 20 miles, then started to fall apart. I ran out of food, and then ran out of energy. I burned about 4000 calories, and only took in about 600 ish... You can do the math. Andy and Trevor got to the top first, in about 3 hours, then me, then Ferg not far behind.
After reaching the top we noticed a massive cloud rolling in. No time to lounge around, or gaze at the mountain goats, or take in the sights. We HAD TO GET DOWN and FAST!!! There is no protection from lightning or any elements, for a cyclist at that altitude. Lucky for us there was an aide station at the top for a bike tour going on and they provided us with some much needed fluids and snacks. Then it was donning the wind jacket and arm warmers and heading for the treeline.

The Descent: In two words...... DAMN SCARY..... At the top of Mt. Evans it was in the mid 30's and cloudy. We were not at all dressed for that kind of weather. As if the weather wasn't a bad enough problem, we had to deal with the line of cars heading for the bottom. Descending a mountain, a bike can move much faster than a car. Trevor, Ferg, and I took off, passing car after car and flying down the mountain as fast as safely possible... Not only were there lots of cars, and it was cold, but it was so cloudy, you couldn't see more than about 10 feet in front of you. This can be an issue when you have couple hundred feet cliffs to your right.... Luckily we made it down to tree line, and whatdya' know... It was sunny and warm! It felt great! All of our fingers were numb. But somewhere along the way we had lost Andy... Then we found out Andy doesn't like going downhill anyway, never mind the terrible conditions. After regrouping we took off again for the bottom of the mountain. Pretty soon it was Trevor and I leading the way with Ferg not far behind. Trevor and I hit sleet twice! This was at about 30 mph, it started raining with a mix of sleet! It freaking hurt! Not favorable conditions for going downhill. Luckily we mad it down with no mishaps.

Everyone was wasted, and completely spent! It was a great ride with good friends, and a good experience. Everyone should have the chance to do this climb if possible. 60 some miles and 4000 calories later I was on my way home for some food and much needed recovery.

Wednesday: Boneyard Brawl - The day after Mt. Evans.... I was not expecting much, and sure enough, on the first climb I felt like I was falling apart. There was carnage on the down hill with a lot of rocks. TONS of flat tires! The downhill was slow going, a line of about 30 people each time, I could only go as fast as they would move.... I expected to finish toward the back of my race, but somehow finished 15th.... I was really pleased with this result considering climbing Mt. Evans the day before, and how tired my legs were... Excited about how I will be able to do at the Beav race at the end of August when I am fresh.

Sunday: Tubing the Eagle - This was our first experience tubing on the river since we moved to Colorado. It's a pretty popular activity, but we just hadn't done it. It was a blast! Very relaxing, had a few drinks (Cayle was at home with the sitter), and got some sun. Good time with friends and Natalie. She did an awesome job considering it was one of the few times she had been tubing on a river. I think we may have forgotten sunscreen in a few places..... (my stomach, her legs... :)

HOME....

Good to be home! It was great seeing everyone and visiting with folks in Illinois, but it feels fantastic to be back home in Colorado! No HUMIDITY! Above is a picture of Cayle on his second swim with myself and my youngest bro Michael. Cayle was having fun in his little tube, and really enjoyed when boats came by and made waves for him to float on! We had a good trip, took lots of good pics, and Cayle met lots of people for the first time.

Fathers Day

I have been wanting to blog about lots of things for a while now, but have been unmotivated/busy with my son to do so.... First up is Father's Day. This was my first Father's Day, and it was amazing! Natalie gave me the first 1/2 of the day off to go for a bike ride with a bunch of other Dads from around the valley. I left the house on my bike at about 6:45 a.m to meet some guys in Eagle for a ride up to Minturn. We left the Minturn Forest Service parking lot at 7:30. On the agenda for the day was about 80 miles and 4 passes. First up was Battle Mountain, then Tennessee, up next would be Fremont, and finally Vail. We rolled out with close to 40 guys! It was a large group, and the largest group of road bikers I have ridden with since I have been out here. At the top of 3 of the passes a couple of the moms had an aide stations set up, complete with lots of energy food, electrolyte tablets, and soda! I may have went out a little too hard on the first pass (Battle Mountain) but crested just slightly behind the lead guys (including several pro mountain bikers....) Once we hit the 2nd pass, the others went uphill, and made me look like I was going backward.... Did ok on this one however once I got my rhythm. The next was Fremont, where I bonked big time! Had no energy whatsoever. Hit 59.5 mph going down the other side of Fremont, and then hit Vail pass back with the lead riders. Did ok over Vail, kinda riding my own pace, and back to the parking lot outside of Minturn. I finished with 85 miles, and lots of climbing!!! I was fried. Came home to rest my legs and hang out with my son and wife for a while before we all went out for dinner in Edwards. Fish and Chips to replace some of the 3,000 calories I spent on that ride..... Great first fathers day!

men's room

Thank goodness Nick is willing to share his knowledge with Cayle...

Crazy Couple of Days!

Monday: Nick and Natalie get a crazy hair up their butts, say hey, it's summer vacation, let's do something. So we plan a short camping trip to Durango - located a nice campground that had camper cabins which would provide a little shelter for Cayle on his first camping excursion. Side note, Cayle was spitting up on this day...nothing major, but different for him.

Tuesday: uneventful

Wednesday: We left early for Durango. Mark was watching the dogs for us, so it was just the three of us. Very scenic drive, awesome views as we headed down to the very southwest corner of Colorado. Campground was great, had dinner and ColdStone (yay!) in Durango and walked around Durango for a bit. Cayle had a major vomiting episode :(

Thursday: We slept in a bit then got ready and headed out for our drive. Our plan was to go to the Four Corners Monument, then backtrack and go to Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings. On the way to Four Corners, Nick got pulled over. He again got away with a warning. He's just so charming, cops can't give him a ticket I guess??? Four Corners was.....closed. Yep, closed for construction. So, we didn't get to do all four corners. But we were apparently parked in New Mexico at one point, so Cayle did get to go to a different state. Mesa Verde was pretty cool. Nick and I enjoyed the history lesson. Cayle enjoyed all the attention he got as we were out and about. Cayle had a few major vomiting episodes :( Dinner was at Home Slice Pizza in Durango...yummy as usual!

Friday: We had planned to get breakfast at Bread (uber awesome place in Durango) and then take a scenic route home. However, Cayle had been vomiting overnight, and we decided we needed to get him in to the dr. Communication with the dr resulted in her making an appt for an ultrasound for Cayle on our way home. That ultrasound pointed toward Pyloric Stenosis. So we were then instructed to drive to Denver to the Children's Hospital. Basically Cayle can't keep food down because the stomach muscle keeps tightening and not allowing the food through to his small intestine. How to fix this? Surgery. We were in the ER until about 1 am Saturday morning, and were then admitted into our own room.

Saturday: At this point, we are waiting for another ultrasound to confirm what they found yesterday. After that, they will do surgery which should hopefully fix all of the issues.

Pictures of the week and more info to come...