MileHighker Mama

McCullogh Gulch, Near Breckenridge July 2011

2011-07-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

This photo pretty much sums it up. Sums what up, you ask? Um... why I LOVELOVELOVE this state and why I LOVELOVELOVE my husband. Sometimes, he has to drag me up these hikes, but 99% of the time, when I'm on the trail, surrounded by all this majestic natural beauty, I thank him for it. And God for creating it and giving me the legs and the ability to hike it... Legs which are starting to fold like a cheap beach chair under the weight of my growing 2 year old.

Holy.

Heavy.

Toddler.

Batman.

And what's funny is he is still a lightweight according to all the official doctor charts... I can't imagine if he was what he is "supposed" to be. I wouldn't have made it up half this trail!

Thank God then, that he is my tiny little Tea Sam-wich instead of my footlong Meatball Sub Sam-wich, I guess... (Ha, he'll love hearing this when he's 17, huh?) Thank God though that I can still manage to haul his cute little heinie up mountains. Hiney? Heiny? Spell check doesn't like any of them... oh well. Tushie? Nope. Not that either. Oh well!

So here's the trailhead... we took a gamble and drove past almost a mile of parked cars, and SCORED rockstar parking and snagged the second-closest spot to the trailhead, arriving right as someone was leaving. Someone who was out of the house and on the road earlier than us, I should note. We didn't get out of Denver until nearly 9am, and didn't even start the hike until 10:30... I'm guessing the someone who had the spot before us didn't have two kids who slept in, dragged their feet getting dressed, needed a last minute emergency diaper and freaked out over not having their giraffe lovey in the car...

Thank goodness it was a mild, 70 degree, slightly breezy day in the rockies. Even though it was a late start, it was b-e-a-utiful!!

This was pretty much the only time ever that The Hubbs has been behind me on a hike. He had to deal with a Four-Year-Old needing to find a place to potty. (Again, please reference the article "Things Early Hikers Don't Need to Deal With")

This hike is an old mining road, so sure enough, there was an old mining cabin (now converted into a storm shelter) alongside the trail, just a few minutes in.

There's not much that's fun about being a miner I'd bet, but the real estate sorta rocks. Oops, bad pun! :D

At the end of the hike, (well the end of OUR hike, since we were late for lunch in Breckenridge, tired and needed another pitstop) was this beautiful waterfall...

We were told that about another 30 minutes further was a lake, that was "worth it" but that gentleman and his wife lacked two hungry, tired children strapped to their backs, so what do they know.

Maybe next time. As in when the kids are old enough to hike it themselves. Go here to see a photo of it, apparently taken by someone with a really cruddy, like 1.7 megapixel camera.

The Directions: I-70 W to Breckenridge. At the last stoplight at the end of Breck, hit your tripometer thingy or whatever it's called and continue south on 9 for 7.6 miles (past all the cool houses I want to retire in someday) and turn right on Blue Lakes Drive (#850). Go about 100 yards and turn right on McCullogh Gulch Road (#851). Go 2.2 miles to the trailhead. You'll pass the trailhead for Mt. Quandary, one of Colorado's great "fourteeners'. Laugh at the amateurs starting THAT hike at 10am, then realize you haven't done a fourteener in 5 years and shutthehellup.

The Details: Well, a few differing opinions on how long this trail is, depending on what website you query. It's at most, 2.7 miles, so go with that one. It took us about 2 hours, roundtrip and we hung out at the waterfall for a good 10 minutes.

The Dog?: Yup.

Sidenote, be sure to cap off your hike with lunch at Quandary Grill in Breck. Best view in town, nice beers and one helluva burger.

Castlewood Canyon, Lake Gulch Trail

2011-03-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Ben Franklin once said "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Or something like this. You Google it, I'm too busy with important stuff, you know, like making fish sticks and/or wiping something off of some end of someone small. I promise, if it's both, I wash my hands in between.

Anyway, back to Benny Boy. While I agree with his sentiments if one is say, climbing Everest or even taking two small children to the zoo, (which is arguably harder), sometimes you have to just go with the flow. Sometimes, with small kids, and often with milehighkermunchkins, you can't rely on a plan, planning is pointless and/or not planning is more fun anyway! Wow, lots of and/ors so far today... I am sleep-deprived and/or a little crazy...

*coffee break* *elevator music*

And now, back to our regularly scheduled show. So...Our Castlewood Canyon Lake Gulch hike last weekend was a perfect example of this not-planning-just-fine-loosey-goosey-way. We checked out the directions and a few details on my cool new other iPhone app, AllHikes, (the first one being iMapMyHike) tossed the kids and the dog in the car and off we went. Really, all we knew was that it was $7 bucks for a day pass, a few friends and family had done it before and said it was fun, and that it was a gorgeous Colorado day.

Oh hello, Pikes Peak. You look lovely today.

On the no-planning tip, (Tip? Who am I, Run DMC?) we brought our jogging stroller and NOT our hiking backpacks. MilehighkerHubby figured the trail would be flat and wide enough for it... well, except for the first few hundred feet from the parking lot, nope. Upon arrival, the ranger, who took our aforementioned seven bucks, told us the trail has railroad-tie "stairs", big ruts and was single-track in most parts.. oh well. So the kiddies walked and/or we carried them. Oops, guess the coffee didn't help that. I'm just an and/or sorta gal. Whatever the heck that means.

The kids did great! There were a few parts when descending into the canyon that the mama bear in me ~~shrieked and desperately leapt to whisk my precious babies away from the drop-off~~ gently guided my children away from the small, short hill, but other than that, it was a few-feet-wide trail where we could even hold hands and sing a few bars of "The Bear Went Over The Mountain". Note, while the above sentences were a *slight* over-dramatization, there are a few parts of this hike where an unattended child could fall and get hurt, so keep them eyes on them babies if you ~~forget~~ leave your backpacks at home. Even better, we always teach our kids to walk on the inside of a trail, the side far away from the ~~abyss~~ edge. On an unrelated note, I love that movie, and not just for Ed Harris. I'm a sucker for Russian Water Tentacles and purple alien-Manta Rays.

Note, we sorta went off trail a little bit here and crossed the river- not an easy feat when carrying a toddler in your arms, but we did it and if the CPS is reading this, please look at the photo above and note it was a small creek, not a raging rapid scene out of The River Wild (another fabulous movie). While we started on the Lake Gulch Trail, we ended crossing over to the Inner Canyon trail, which ended up at the same Canyon Point parking lot, so no worries.

The Details: 1.98 miles, took us 1:40:05 and elevation gain of 171 feet. Starting elevation was 6618, max elevation was 6621. (it's okay, this confused me at first too, until I looked at the elevation tab on iMapMyHike.com and realized we descended into the canyon first 177 feet, walked along the bottom and then climbed back out to the max elevation of 6621.)

The Directions: Parker road south, past Parker, through Franktown, then follow the signs for Castlewood Canyon and turn right (west) into the park. Follow signs for Lake Gulch trailhead.

The Dawg?: Yup, leashed and since it's a state park, probably a higher chance you'll run into ranger-man, so keep him leashed.

Coyote Song trail, South Park

2011-03-19T20:26:00.001-07:00

You know those Where's Waldo books? If it was Where's Milehighkermama?, it would look something like this: a beautiful Colorado *almost* spring day, red sandstone foothills, my MileHighkerHubby and MileHighkerMunchkins all loaded up in the jogger stroller. We skipped the striped shirts and fruity hats, by the way...

We packed it up this morning and headed out the door to South Valley, a Jeffco park lined by towering cliffs, dotted with mars-like sandstone formations and with scrubby (pine?) trees of some sort. Sorry, didn't major in Botany! Bout the only tree I can name on sight is a palm tree and there aren't too many of those around here.

Ha. Anyhoo...

It was a great, hour long loop with rolling hills and nice scenery. Not too shabby for a 20 minute drive! We kept our kids in the double stroller, but we did pass two families with kids the same age that were walking. Note, the trail had deeper ruts than a boring relationship, so if you are going the stroller route, go with the knobby tired variety.

Details: 1 hour, starting elevation of 5802, highest point of elevation 6024, gain of 230 feet, 2.88 miles. (I got me a cool new iPhone app called imapmyhike that shows and records all those nifty stats) nifty_app_link

Directions: C-470 to Wadsworth, south to Deer Creek Canyon Rd, take a right (west) to South Valley trailhead on right.

Dawg: yup, leashed.

Awesome hiking app!

2011-03-16T07:56:00.001-07:00

I am a new, and totally i-ddicted iPhone user... My weekly obsession is free apps from the app store. I was so excited to find the Alltrails app- check it out if you have a smartphone and are thinking maybe you should get out and flex something besides your thumb muscles!!!

Birthday Bucket List

2011-01-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

For your reading pleasure, a non-hiking post...

So on the eve of the eve of my 33rd birthday, I thought to myself "hmmm, what can I do to mark the occasion? Okay, really I am just procrastinating on rewriting my screenplay, (See bucket list item #7) but I thought, hey if you're going to be procrastinating on writing THAT, why not at least write SOMETHING?

So, here's my bucket list...

I know what you're thinking... why celebrate life with something that sounds so death-y? But really, if you think about the true essence of a bucket list, it's ALL about living. I think the long title is actually a "what-to-do-before-you-kick-the-bucket-list". But that didn't fit on the marquee with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. (Great movie, btw.)

It's not about the end. It's about what you want to do with the in between. And hopefully, there's a lot of in between!

In no particular order... Oh and yes, I know most of these involve travel. I LOVE travel.

1. Walk on the Great Wall of China.
2. Do THIS on the Uyuni Salt Flats. Hot damn, this place is cool. It deserves another photo link. And another. bwahaha these people are funny!
3. See my kids as happy, well adjusted, fair-minded, beautiful adults.
4. Go on a luxury Kenyan Safari with a really good camera.
5. Klimb Kilimanjaro.
6. Read the books of some of my favorite movies: Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, and Legends of the Fall. Note, I did this with my all time favorite movie, Last of the Mohicans and was endlessly disappointed. This leads in to why I want to do #7
7. Write a screenplay and submit it. If there is anything I love like my family and travel, it's MOVIES. I get a thrill when the lights go down, I snuggle into my seat and BOOM. I'm transported. Sometimes the movie can be so well made that it's BETTER than the book. Or in my case, so good you wrote the movie instead of the book, heh heh.
8. Hold a grandbaby. (Duh, mine...)
9. Learn to play guitar. Why is this on so many people's bucket lists by the way? What is it about the frigging guitar that is so enticing? Why isn't it this way with say, the piccolo or accordion?
10. Climb more fourteeners. I used to want to climb all of them in CO... until I realized how technical and dangerous some of them are. I would really like to climb the ones that are hike-able and don't conjure up thoughts of puke-inducing vertigo, heli-rescues or sweaty palms on a fraying climbing rope.
11. See Iguacu Falls
12. oh and Victoria Falls. No, mom, I don't want to do the bungee jump that Victoria Falls offers off the bridge to the left. I did that sort of stupid shit here when I was childless and in college. Please note that skydiving is also not on the list for the same reason. And yes, I would want to strangle my child with the bungee cord too now that I have kids and know how I made you feel when I called you from 6000 miles away telling you what I just did.
12. Kayak amongst calving glaciers and surfacing orcas in Alaska. No grizzlies please. Well maybe from a helicopter, but yeah, I'm not into being shredded. See my camping posts.
13. Sleep here.
14. And here. They have a bar in the lobby too. Now that's the kind of place you do a vodka ice luge. NOT a frat party.
14. See this in real life, of which I made a 1/500th clay model out of my sophomore year of high school, fired and handpainted. I wanted to poke out my own eyes after all that handiwork. Thanks Mr. Dingle for the A+!
15. Keep making fun memories with my wonderful friends.
16. Take my husband and kids to Australia, one of the places that ignited the fire in me to travel. Such a beautiful, diverse, foreign land. And a lot of places I couldn't afford to see then, so pony up, honey.
17. Continue to take photos of charming stray dogs on vacation, give them all witty names and hang 8 x 10's in my house someday of my collection. I already have Pompeii Pooch and Peruvian Pup. Thanks to my mom for her recent submissions of Beijing BowWow and Cairo Canine.
18. Write books about my mom's and dad's family histories. While my days highlights are often something concerning boogers or ballet classes, my parents' backgrounds are pretty fascinating!
19.Wear a bikini again someday. And not wear a ski mask along with it. Scratch that. ROCK a bikini again someday.
20. Walk on the Grand Canyon SkyWalk. I just dig the booties you have to wear. The view sucks.
21. Float here.
22. See more of the United States... Hey BooBoo, let's start with Jellystone, Uh Yogi, it's Yellowstone.
23. And these guys. And them too. But I'll skip the backside.
24. And more in my homestate. It's embarrassing I live here and haven't been here or here.
25. Kiss my husband on our 50th anniversary. Yes, sweetie, of course I mean you.

So here's to wishing and making those wishes come true... Happy 33rd to me!

Well Bing Crosby didn't like hiking I guess...

2010-12-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Because if he did, he wouldn't have been dreaming up that whole White Christmas thing. What do outdoorsy Denverites do when they have a brown Christmas? Strap on the kiddies and go hiking of course!

(I joked with The Hubbs about this photo by the way, quoting the Princess Bride- "you were supposed to be this colossus!" Sa-Sa walked a lot of the way, but needed a little help and he likes the workout!)

I heard on the radio the other day that Denver only has a white Christmas 35% of the time. Meaning, not only does it not snow ON Christmas Day very often in Denver, but there's not even snow on the ground from recent storms. True, I thought, if I remembered years past... a little sad, but true. The mountains are enjoying a fabulous winter, however, and that's all that really matters. Who wants to drive in snow in the city? (insert chorus of boos and hisses here.)

So while it's a little sad that only one in three of our Christmas mornings are blanketed in winter white loveliness, you're happy if you're a hiker in CO and it's blue skies and 40 degrees the day after Christmas! Then it's WAHOO! Strap them kiddies on, don the knit caps and gloves, spackle them with a little sunscreen and go! Go! GO!

Or stop every thirty seconds to admire a dead, brown weed, cry about your slipping mitten, trip, cry some more, have a sip of water, pick up a rock, throw the rock, ask daddy if coyotes like three year olds... at least that's how hiking goes with OUR family.

In other words, SLOW. The Hubbs carried Samwich, while Sa-Sa and I pulled up the rear and I muttered to myself "it's the journey not the destination, it's the journey, not the destination" and reminded myself over and over that when they're teenagers, they will run screaming from the idea of a hike with their totally lame parents and I need to suck up every wonderful, however frustrating moment of this ~~trail of tears~~ lovely winter hike.

I would have had more photos, usually, but The Hubbs was carrying my new iPhone 4 (yay Christmas!) in his pocket since I was only wearing a light fleece with none. Pockets that is. Anyhoo. Moving on. Slowly. Here's near the top: (the last switchback)

And here's a great shot of the view to the right (south) from this same spot:

And from the top- with Green (Brown) Mountain in the background, looking east... and right into my dog's tush, sorry.

Sa-Sa is really a little too big for backpack carriers now, even though she's built like a lollipop (thin stick of a body, big round head if you missed it), so we have to keep to the cliff-less trails, hold hands and grit our teeth at our new pace. The Red Rocks Trail/Morrison Slide trail near Red Rocks Amphitheater fit the bill. Took about an hour (maybe 90 mins?) up and back, easy switchbacks, great views from the top and except for the very top where there is one small cliff, not a whole lot to worry about, danger-wise. No coyotes. And we never hike this in the summer when it's rattlesnake city with no shade, so this mild winter day was a nice visit back.

Directions: From Morrison, follow signs for Red Rocks Amphitheater. On the eastern side of the theater is Red Rocks Trail Road. Look for a small parking lot, (About 15 cars would max it out) on the east side of the road. The trail begins on the opposite (west side) and shoots straight up alongside the roadway.)

Details: Kid's pace, 90 mins up to where it levels out and back to the car. You can continue and go through Matthew Winters Park and meet up with Dinosaur Ridge Trail I believe, but we never go that far. Well maintained, switchbacky trail, not steep at all, Oh, often used by mountain bikers, so keep an eye and ear out for them. It seems to be too steep for most of the ones we've seen to go fast at all, so it's never been dangerous to share the trail.

Dog: Yup, and you saw too much of her. Leashes please, especially because of the bikes and horses, but also because we have seen rangers with their trusty ticket-books on this trail before.

Lily Pad Lake/Meadow Creek

2010-10-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

I love Colorado in the fall. The aspens turning yellow and orange makes me want to don a dirndl and sing "the hills are ALIIIIIIIIIVE...."

Well, okay, maybe not. I don't even sing in the shower. Samwich even scrunches his nose and hollers "no!" when I try to sing him lullabies.

But I do love me some Colorado fall colors.

So we went a hikin' near Frisco a few weekends back when the colors were in full bloom.

I was amazed at how tall the aspens were!

I loved how the leaves were just beginning to fall and carpeted the ground a bit for us. Autumn is definitely here!

This picture really shows the majestic height of those trees! See the little blue dot? That's the Hubbs.

The kids of course, got ~~heavy~~ wriggly, so we let them down out of the backpacks. Slower pace, but worth it for ~~my aching spine~~ adorable photos.

Disclaimer: This isn't Lily Pad Lake. Note the lack of Lily Pads. The real lily pad-filled Lily Pad Lake is another five minute hike up the trail and is really just a beaver pond. I had been there before on another hike, and the kids were hungry, exhausted and wanted to keep throwing rocks into this lake. So we stayed while The Hubbs went to check it out. He came back saying, yup, it's a lake full o' lily pads. :) If you keep going past the Lily Pad Lake, you'll meet up with Salt Lick Trail. As appealing as that sounded, we decided instead to go feed our kids and ourselves lunch down in Frisco. We had committed the egregious error of hiking with hungry hungry ~~hippos~~ toddlers and a meltdown was imminent.

DETAILS: 5 miles out and back if you go down the Salt Lick portion, but we didn't. It was more like 3 miles for us just to the lake and back. It's mostly an easy, rolling trail without a large elevation gain and no super steep sections. The kids hiked most of it themselves easily.

DIRECTIONS: I-70 West to Exit 203. On the traffic circle, take the dirt road that runs along side the highway. Go about 1/2 mile to the trail head and parking lot.

Dawg: Yup. Horses are allowed too, so be sure to keep the dogs leashed.

Rocky Mountain High

2010-09-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

John Denver's song, Rocky Mountain High has always made me smile. I'm a dork who loves all things cheesy, so most of John Denver's songs make me smile. BUT, Rocky Mountain High in particular makes me smile because of the similarities it holds to The Hubbs' life.

He was born in the summer of his 27th year (He did move here the summer when he was 27!)
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before (ok, he'd been here once before, but he said it felt like home.)
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door (he found a job, a wife, had kiddies)

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away (The first thing his mom said when they helped drive him out here was "this is too far!")
On the road and hangin' by a song (he drove to CO with a girlfriend at the time)
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care (they lived here for a bit, but she moved home after a year or so and they broke up)
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long (He met me 4 months after she left)

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky (um, well we have a lot of forest fires here..?)
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below (He LOVES hiking, did a few fourteener s where the clouds are below you!)
He saw everything as far as you can see (ever been on the summit of a fourteener?)
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun (ok, not really. No Icarus here)
And he lost a friend but kept his memory (He did have a friend take his own life unfortunately. This was a man who introduced the Hubbs to many hikes when he first moved here, so he keeps his memory alive by taking those hikes again)

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes.
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake. (In particular, he loves water in the mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. Maybe it's his Great Lakes blood?)

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply (we don't go to church as much as we should. The Hubbs and I often hike on Sundays, saying we feel closest to God in his creation, not in a church...)
Rocky mountain high

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land (ok, losing me here a bit. I mean, we're all for land conservation, and no one wants a concrete jungle here in the mountains, but we're also capitalists. Gotta have a ski lodge or two.)

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high

It's Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high (we don't do drugs, so assuming this is a "natural" high, but it was the 70's so Johnny was probably talking about sumthin' else...)
Rocky mountain high

Chief Mountain Hike- and a nudist colony on the summit!

2010-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

So after a long hiatus, The Hubbs and I dragged our sorry butts out of the house and up a mountain today- Chief Mountain to be exact. VERY fun hike and gorgeous summit views. Almost as good as the ones way (way way way) back in the day when we had the time and energy to hike Fourteeners. I strapped on 22 pounds of Samwich and The Hubbs got the long, lean 27 pound Sa-Sa. Not really fair, if you're a math geek and considering the ratio of kid to ~~pack mule~~ parent weight. The Hubbs weighs about 200 lbs and has a fair bit of muscle. I am er, *cough cough* less than that by give-or-take 60 lbs, but a lot of it is still "baby" fat. I know, I know, WHAT baby? "Isn't the Samwich almost two" you ask... Well you can shut your trap. ;)

As for the math geeks figuring out the ratios there, well, um, lemme see. I was an English major at a liberal arts college and the only thing I could figure in college was what year I was *supposed to be* born in to be able to purchase beer at the local liquor mart. Let's just say I pulled more than my fair share.

Oh wasn't there supposed to be a hike in here somewhere?

So the hike starts out just above Echo Mountain ski resort. For all the oldies out there, I guess this used to be Squaw Pass resort or something. Which makes sense, given that you're on Squaw Pass Road. The parking lot is just a deep gravel shoulder along the road, so park carefully, lest you roll down the hill and watch your kiddies if you have 'em. There's one of the lifts, by the way. This is really the only landmark for the trailhead.

The hike is mostly uphill but it's not all that steep and it took us about an hour and twenty minutes to reach the summit. Sa-Sa did get out and walk for a good half an hour, so figure in toddler speed, which is roughly that of an arthritic caterpillar.

It's mostly densely wooded forest, which was nice since it was starting to get hot.

The last half an hour was un-treed, which was not as nice since well, you get it. Pack the sunscreen unless the idea of a cranky, sunburned toddler appeals to you.

Side note, we passed some VOC volunteers rebuilding a portion of the trail. When we were ~~footloose and fancy free~~ childless, we also did a few of these awesome volunteer projects. Check out Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado if you want to help out.

The top of Chief Mountain is a large rock outcropping, so let that common sense kick in and don't go up if there's a lightning cloud around. Unless you like the smell of BBQ.

That tiny gray blob in the center is the peek at the peak we got about an hour into the hike. (probably 30-40 mins if you're sans ~~arthritic caterpillar~~ toddler.)

The kids had a good time digging around in the dirt at the top until Sarah ended up peeing her pants, and then spilling her water bottle on her shirt so we joked that we had a little nudist colony starting up there when another toddler showed up and had to get his diaper changed. (I'll spare you the practically naked photos of her and just post this one where we made her wear one of Samwich's diapers for the ride down since The Hubbs didn't feel like getting Niagra'd down his back later.)

Note, only nice, fluffy white clouds in the distance.

The hike down was quieter since both kids fell asleep and we didn't have Sa-Sa asking about every tree, bug, bird, etc or the old family favorite "how many more minutes?" Side note again, I actually enjoy my kids being so inquisitive about nature, but sometimes a mama also just wants to savor the sound of silence and hear only the birdies ~~squawk~~ chirp.

We topped off the day with lunch at The Ice House Cafe in Evergreen (great panini sandwiches and a cool old-fashioned Victorian toilet (you know, with the tank six feet up in the air and the pull chain). Trust me, your toddlers will love this. Okay, okay, I admit, I like pulling it too and pretending I'm Nellie Oleson or something for a minute. I promise, that's where the Nellie fantasy ends. That sausage-curl wig is really hot and itchy.

and I think THAT's where we shall end for tonight! Happy Hiking!!!

The Directions: I-70 west to exit 252 (Evergreen Parkway), then take HWY 74 about 3.4 miles until you see Squaw Pass Road, which has a traffic light. Take a right and go about 12.4 miles until you see the line of cars on the right side, or the Echo Mountain chairlift if you're a butt-crack of dawn kind of person and arrive first.

The Details: round trip about 2 miles. Starting elevation is 10,600ish, ending is 11,700ish. Mostly uphill, but not super steep, just a steady gain all the way.

The Dog?: yup.

Fish Creek Falls- Steamboat Area Hike

2010-08-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, slap me on the wrist...it has been way too long since my "hiking" blog has had an actual hike on it... we've been bad lately about actually doing any hiking on the weekends- choosing instead to swim over at the parents' house, or just go on short trips around town... so, I'm gonna dig up an oldie but a goodie from my files. Fish Creek Falls near Steamboat.

Great views...

We did this hike when I was 6 weeks pregnant with our first, Sa-Sa. Literally, I think we had just found out the day before. We spent the weekend with some dear family friends who have a house up there and they showed us the sights. Here we are by the falls... note, I wanted to use this as our Christmas card after I noticed how silly we looked with our (unplanned) red and green shirts. However, we went to Hawai'i a few months later and I had a great shot of us on Kaanapali Beach with me looking more preggers.

I loved how clear the water was, so this was one shot I had to take... (ah, the days when I had time for pedicures...)

Sidenote, I also remember this weekend vividly because we saw on the news that Steve Irwin had died. It was surreal! I always liked him, his show, etc and I had studied abroad in Australia. We met his wife when we visited his animal farm. She is American, so she was super excited to meet a bunch of American students and she was very nice...

So, I was just starting to feel the ill effects of "morning" sickness at this point with Sa-Sa, and it was getting hot, so we bailed after this point. Googling for directions and all the details I had forgotten in four years, I realized, We didn't make it to the BIG falls. The one I have a picture of is not 285 feet tall, so keep on truckin if you want to see them.

Anyways, here's a great shot of the falls that we did get to... I think maybe you can see the big falls in the background?

The Directions:

from Denver, follow I-70 west to the Silverthorne exit 205. (Sign also says Steamboat Springs.) Turn right, (north), on Colorado Highway 9 to Kremmling. In Kremmling, turn left on U.S. 40 west and follow it over Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Steamboat Springs.

In Steamboat Springs, keep following U.S. 40 west, (Lincoln Ave.), until you see 3rd Street. Turn right on 3rd Street, then turn right again on Fish Creek Falls Road. Follow Fish Creek Falls Road for about 3 miles to the pay station.

The Details:
Starting Elevation: 7440 Ending Elevation: 10,000 (if you go all the way to the BIG falls). 7.6 miles all the way, one way. I think we only hiked about two hours, total to get to the falls pictured here.

The Dog?: We didn't have ours, but you can bring yours!

Goldilocks and the ONE bear.

2010-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the last time we went camping, we were packing up at midnight in a light drizzle by the dim light of a headlamp, and I was glancing over my shoulder for sight of a 600 lb bear as I tossed sleeping bags, coolers and a travel potty haphazardly into the back of our SUV.

The man in the liquor store had been right, I thought to myself. As I had placed my box of wine down so that I wouldn't drop a wiggling Samwich, he had said my kids were cute and when I told him we were taking them camping, he glanced at Sa-Sa (who was running up and down the aisles, her outstretched arm much like a kid with a stick and a picket fence, which was clinking the bottles together), and told me I'd need another box.

Yet here were were the following weekend, giving "camping" a shot again. I use quotes because this time, we got mini cabins at a campground. They had space heaters if needed and more importantly, beds. And the beds made all the difference. The cabin allowed us to 1) not get cold at night 2) use a pack n play for Samwich 3) not worry about Sa-Sa and the cold ground 4) see a bear and know we we could run inside at anytime. That's right, this time we actually saw a bear!!!

The campers all gathered around taking photos and the owner came out and calmly shooed him away from the dumpster. It was neat, and I really didn't feel unsafe at all since we were pretty far away. Oh and and we had cabins nearby to protect us from sharp fangs and slicing claws. This picture is actually zoomed in from my computer, so we were a lot farther away. And he wasn't anywhere near 600 lbs, but I am guessing. Because I could totally take a 400 pound bear, natch.

We also went into town and played on the beach of the lake and got ice cream for the kiddies. And Samwich of course, had to be Samwich and play Ninja a little bit. Not a day goes by that kid has to hone his ninja skills and scare the bejeezus out of his mama.

We had a nice night, making smores and relaxing by the fire. The people that had invited us camping were new friends and it was good to hang out and get to know them a little better. (I recently joined a mama's group in the area and one of the wives had invited us along.) And thank goodness it was a wet spring- "camping" just ain't "camping" without a fire. The kids had a blast throwing small rocks into the fire. I swear, give my kids a rockpile and they're happy for hours.

The next morning, we just had a quick breakfast and headed out since checkout was 10am. The Hubbs and I made a small detour on the way out of town for a VERY short hike since we didn't have the backpacks and I was in jeans. Now I was the person I always giggle at on hikes; the silly person not dressed right.

The "hike" to Adams Falls was short, but pretty and the waterfall was a nice surprise. And no, that's not my rear end next to The Hubbs and the kiddies. :)

In short, we got our "camping fix" and the kids were warm and happy all night. The cabin made all the difference.

My highschool friends would die laughing...

2010-07-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, if only they could see me now. Me, who used to try so hard to be cool, rocking out to whatever tunes were hot, windows down in my Jeep Cherokee, (mom, dad, Hubbs, close your ears) probably smoking a cigarette and checking out boys at red lights.

If they could only see me now:

"Talking" to Barbie or Minnie Mouse on a pink plastic fake cell phone.

Singing all the lyrics to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Even when my kids aren't around.

sporting a "Potty Watch" so my toddler (who is too cool to wear it) knows when to go.

Trying (and failing) to maneuver the huge cart with a racecar on the front through the grocery store.

Out in public with mac and cheese or boogers on my tee shirt.

In a public restroom with my older toddler giving the other bathroom-users a play by play of my activities.

Trying to show my daughter how "cool" it is to use a Tinkerbell Folding Potty Seat by actually using it myself. She's on to me though. She's seen me wearing the potty watch.

The Camping Trip That Never Was

2010-07-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

What the heck were we thinking?

A friend of mine, Michigan Mama, is shortly going to be moving back to Michigan. *tear* *sniffle* and she approached me (well, facebook-messaged me. We're both moms with two small kids. We have to be efficient) with the idea of one last camping trip before she and her family left. Did I mention we both have two small kids?

Again, what the heck were we thinking? Haha!

Actually, the day went pretty well. The campsite was nice, secluded in the trees and had a nice lake nearby, but not too close that we had to worry about the kiddies.

Now, my kids are 3 and 1 1/2 and Michigan Mama's are 2 and two months.

(Everybody now) What the heck were you thinking???

We got the tents set up, pulled out the coolers, set the kids up with snacks, and then had a nice chat with the ranger. A nice chat that included him talking about the SIX HUNDRED POUND bear known to frequent the area. And by area, I mean he lived on the mountain directly above our camp and loves to come down every three or four days and sniff around for ~~campers~~ food left out by campers. The ranger, who was a shaggier, heavier version of Barney Fife, clearly didn't see the looks of terror on the faces of the moms whose babies wouldn't even begin to satiate a SIX HUNDRED POUND bear, and he continued, showing us claw marks on the dumpster on the hill directly above our campsite.

Still not noticing our faces, (or maybe now, I was beginning to wonder if he gets his jollies scaring the pants off of young women,) he tells us that a few months back the bear rolled the dumpster down the hill. Luckily there were no tents in the way. Like ours were. Well at this point, we're thinking of packing it in, but he reassures us that the bear never really intends to hurt people. He's just looking for food and might pull you out of your tent by your leg in order to get the food he thinks he smells in there. Uh yeah, I am thinking, shredding your femoral artery in the process. Oh yeah, buddy, you really made us feel better on that one. I can just see the headlines now "Family of Four Mauled by SIX HUNDRED POUND Bear Confused By Mama's Coconut-Scented Shampoo". Oh, but thank goodness he didn't intend to hurt us.

At this point, I am clutching my bear spray that I thankfully remembered to pack at the last minute. I notice though, the ranger has the same can... but his looks suspiciously older and worn in, like it's been used a few times. When he tells us again that he only shows up every three or four days, Michigan Mama asks when he last saw the bear. Without batting an eyelash, he answers "mmm, bout three days ago."

Well, long story short, we decide to be super careful about food preparation, park the cars in line of the dumpster, keep the bear spray handy and just hope and pray. We had driven a long way, paid our site fee and wanted to spend some time together before they left.

Little did we know we'd end up with facial lacerations anyway!

The Samwich was not quite steady enough on his feet on the uneven ground, so I was back to being super vigilant about watching him as if he were a new walker. After his three hundredth fall, I was thinking all this campsite needed to really send me into a heart attack was a raging river, a sheer cliff and maybe a herd of porcupines. At one point, he toddled backwards towards the edge of the raised area where the tent pad and fire grate were, so I made a running leap at him to catch him. My large, heavy, SLR camera swung around from my shoulder and bashed him in the face. I would have been better off letting him fall! He cried uncontrollably, had a scratch on his nose and a small gash under his eye dripping blood. In my guilt and panic, I screamed for The Hubbs who was gathering firewood. Michigan Mama's husband reassured The Hubbs that he was not bleeding to death as I made it seem like, and we soon had him neosporin-ed and bandaged.

He got over it pretty quickly:

Michigan Mama made a quick, easy, delicious dinner (seriously, even without the carrots, it was good, girl!) and we all took a walk down towards the lake to watch the sunset. It was getting a little chilly, but we had plenty of extra hats and things for the kiddies. The little newborn was bundled up in some adorable hand-me-down pastels from his sister, but hey, it's the Rockies and that's the way it is with second kids. You're not going to go out and buy a boyish coat, hat and gloves for one camping trip in JULY. Kids grow so fast it won't fit by the winter anyway.

We made our way back, hung out for a bit, but then it started to rain. We all huddled in our tents and the kiddies were getting tired anyway, so we all started to settle in for bed. Our kids actually fell asleep pretty easily, but the others had a little harder of a time. Then Michigan Mama realized the difficulty in nighttime nursings and diaper changes by the light of a cell phone. At ten pm, they tiptoed past our tent and let us know they were leaving. I totally understood and while I was happy my kids were asleep, The Samwich, snuggled in my sleeping bag was making my arm fall asleep and I was switching between worrying he was too cold or was going to suffocate under the blanket. And I was trying desperately to remember if we'd picked up every piece of doggie kibble from the ground and wondering if bears liked doggie kibble. Then I realized that without Michigan Mama's car, we were in the direct rolling path of the dumpster should Mr. Bear come back. I stared at the ceiling of the tent, tense and braced for the impact, with no hope now of falling asleep. Of all the things to keep a mama awake in the middle of the night, I laughed to myself that a bear rolling a dumpster on me had to be one for the books. Finally around midnight, Sa-Sa rolled out of her Disney Princesses Sleeping bag, onto the cold ground and cried. This woke up The Samwich and after a few minutes of dueling crying toddlers, we decided to pack it in and go home. We were home, snug in our beds by 1:45am.

And get this, we're actually going to do it again this weekend, although in cabins with beds, space heaters and no 600 POUND BEARS.

What the heck are we thinking?

The Horn Section, or sharing a room with kids on vacay

2010-07-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, what a vacation!!! We just got back from a week in gorgeous Oak Island, NC with the family... cousins, aunts, sisters, brother, grandparents, etc etc etc. We packed that rental house to the gills and made the most of every square inch!!! If by chance the owner happens to read this, we were within our contracted numbers... :) It was a gorgeous home,

right on the intercoastal and just a block from the beach...the beach that my kids had a total blast on!!! They're Colorado Mountain kids, born and bred, but I was very pleased to see them take to the sand and surf so well! My beach bum mom was very happy to see her ocean genes got passed on down...

We had a grand ol time- playing Minute to Win it, eating crab, hanging on the dock, watching sunsets and taking everyone over on kayaks and paddleboards to the sandbar.

Samwich loved the kayak!

We have taken a few vacations with our kids, and had to share bedrooms, or even beds, but whew, not so sure I like it...now don't get me wrong, nothing brings a satisfied smile to my face like the warmth of one of my babies sleeping on me, or hearing their quiet, quick breaths in the dark. I am one of those moms who HAS to, and I mean HAS to, go check on my kids one last time before I can fall asleep. If the flash wouldn't wake them, I would snap a hundred shots of their perfect, curled up little forms fast asleep.

But at 1, 3 and 4am when you get elbowed in the neck or kicked in the stomach, it's not so warm and fuzzy anymore.

It's even better when the aforementioned elbowing jerks you awake and then their incessant gas-passing has you staring at the ceiling, partially miffed that you're not getting to sleep and partially trying not to laugh because all the tooting sounds like the horn section of the Boston Orchestra on overdrive. It's almost worth the extra money to get our own hotel room or just the little backache of hitting the couch like I did in this case.

The time change was also fun- my kids were up at 5am North Carolina time, so that meant that my until-1am hangout sessions on the screened patio

with my sister and cousins left me wanting a few ~~No-Doz~~ coffees in the a.m.. Of course, now, back on Mountain Time, my kids are running around the house at 9:30pm and sleepy by 10am for naps. Oh well... it was worth it for all that beach time, a gorgeous house, memories and time with my family!!!

Lake Isabelle Hike

2010-06-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Wow. Now that's a mountain lake!" This was my first thought when we finally got to Lake Isabelle. So our hike a few weeks ago to Lower Cataract Lake had me wondering what John Fielder was thinking putting that lake in his Best of Colorado book... Hey Johnny, this is the one you should have picked. Okay, okay, so it's not as easy to get to, but wowwowowow.

It is, in all senses of the word, a HIKE. I won't lie about that.First, it's outside of Nederland, which is outside of Boulder, and haha, by the way, if you think Boulder is full of liberal hippies, go to Nederland. They moved there because Boulder was too conservative I think. The place is great though, and the people are fun to watch. Perfect example, an old lady in a motorized wheelchair with an OBAMA GIRL bumper sticker cut us off in the traffic circle.

Second, the trail is not clear until ~~the sun explodes and rains down a hail of fireballs~~ at least July, if not longer. And by that time, it'll probably snow again. So if you're wearing shorts and trail-running type hiking shoes, be prepared to have wet ankles and soaking socks. It's a long hike, about 3 hours round trip, but not really steep at all.

The trail winds through a pine forest, so you're shaded most of the time which is nice, although it's partly why the trail has so much snow on it still.

The Lake Isabelle Trail starts at Brainard Lake, then passes Long Lake. At one point as we were walking along it's ongoing shore, The Hubbs marveled "wow, is that still Long Lake?" and I laughed "yes, honey, it's LONG." I hit a little bit of an exhaustion wall at this point and The Samwich was feeling pretty heavy on my back and shoulders. We stopped a guy on his descent to ask how much longer. He said "about 45 minutes, but boy, is it worth it!" I dug deep and decided I was bound and determined to finish. (My back and feet are killing me today, but hey, that's why they invented Advil.)

And boy, am I glad I finished. We were in a bit of a hurry to get back down since we and the kidlets really needed some lunch, but we did stop and marvel at the world's beauty for a bit. We also snapped some great photos of Sa-Sa and The Samwich.

I just know I am going to LOVE these types of photos when they're all growed up! *sniff* So, tummies a-rumbling, we hightailed it back down, laughing at the family who hauled a sled up there to slide on the glacier a bit. Awesome!

We had a great lunch at the Sundance Cafe just past Nederland. Seriously, best grilled teriyaki chicken sandwich I have had in a while. So if you're up for a long-ish drive and a slightly snowy-muddy hike with kick-butt views that remind you why you live here, try Lake Isabelle. Don't let your dog swim in the lake though. It's glacier water, you silly little pupsicle.

THE DIRECTIONS: From Nederland, (we took CO 119 to get there) go about 12 miles north on CO 72 to the small town of Ward. Just past the beginning of Ward is a sign for Brainard Lake Road. Go left and in about 2 1/2 miles you'll come to a fee station. We paid 9 dollars. We got there a bit late in the morning, so parking was limited to the roadside along the campsites at Lake Brainard and then we had to hike about one mile on the paved road to the trailhead.

THE DETAILS: 4.2 miles, round trip, out and back. 10,515 to 10,868 elevation.

THE DAWG?: yup.

Do you have a payment plan for the sculpture?

2010-06-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

I took my two kids to the local art museum today. I had three goals in mind here:

1) rediscover my old, semi-cultured pre-kids self and see some art.

2) appreciate the uber-cool, super-slick architecture of the new wing

3) introduce my kids to a little culture. Can't start em too young, in my opinion!

Once I got there, the goals changed:

1) glance at some art

2) walk out of there without being the proud owner of a six foot paper clip made of eggshells, twine and bubblegum after my toddler tipped it over and broke it.

3) ask for an art book for Christmas instead.

I have to say, it was fun to go and I am very glad I got to see the new wing of the museum (see pic). It was built like five years ago, and it was getting increasingly embarrassing (to myself only, really) that I had not been there to see it yet. So, I dusted off my old art history minor and packed up the kids in the car.

So kids ages 0-5 are free at the museum. I think this might be curator-code for "we really don't think kids 0-5 belong here, but we can't say that out loud".

I pulled Sa-Sa aside and crouched down to her level. Kids seem to instinctively know this subtle gesture means "hey, pay attention, this is important!". Her eyes widened and she stood still for all of ten seconds, which is an eon in Toddler Time. I told her there were two rules in art museums: no running and no touching. I should have added no yelling because as the elevator doors led us into the modern art section on the top floor, she proclaimed in her loudest voice "hey mama! Yook! Evvey one is NAKED!" Luckily, we were the only ones on that floor, but Daniel Liebskind in all his architectural genius had opened up several of the floors to the floors below with baclonies, so I think only a few dozen people heard her.

She was fascinated however, with one piece of art that consisted of a doll's body inside a suitcase. The head of the doll was a tiny, oval movie screen and the artist had a projector looping a video of a woman making faces and saying random things like "FIRE!" and "I'm angry", etc. Sa-Sa heard the thing from across the whole room and ran over there to stare at it. You could see the little wheels in her head turning... and she couldn't communicate all the "why's" that were running through her head fast enough. "Why is that doll talking mama? Where's the fire? Why is she angry? Why is she in a suitcase?" I tried to lead her away before she picked the doll up or something, but everywhere I turned, there was more naked sculptures. I am by far, no prude, but in there, I suddenly felt incredibly Amish. I was just trying to keep my sweet, innocent daughter from telling all the other art patrons that she could "see that lady's wooby".

We continued down to the third floor and I am mortified to admit I don't remember anything I saw there. After a small room filled with Pacific art (Alaskan totem poles and canoes mostly) we decided it was time to go home.

The second floor had a bridge that spanned across 13th avenue and led to the older wing of the museum. I think that bridge was Sa-Sa's favorite part of the museum. She could touch whatever she wanted!

The elevators were a close second. That girl could push buttons all day long... ha, figuratively and literally!
The museum was closing soon, so we started making our way back downstairs. I steered Sa-Sa away from the gift shop because if she broke anything in there, I knew the museum's insurance policy wouldn't cover it and we'd be footing the bill.

Thankfully, we left without any six foot paper clips attached to our ski racks.

Sleepless in Seattle*

2010-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be making out a grocery list right now, but all I can think of are Advil (for me) and a straight jacket (for my overtired toddler). Does Target sell those? Ooh, the pet section might have muzzles...

I swear, I would rather be locked in a small room with a hungry tiger than an overtired toddler. What finally broke me tonight was Sa-Sa complaining (in slobbery, crying gibberish, naturally) that her covers were folded too neatly and she wanted them messed up. Then when I messed them up for her, I was "doin it all wrong mama!" Hey, I never claimed my toddler was going to get upset about something that made sense...

I was about to cry harder than she was when The Hubbs stepped in and saved the day. Thanks sweetie! I love you! I was just as mentally and physically exhausted as my poor, sweet, toddler was and I couldn't conjure up any mama magic to divert her attention or solve the problem. The Hubbs masterfully did both by slowly grabbing tiny bits of her comforter and asking her where she wanted him to put that part. She felt in control, felt like she was getting her way and got her covers messed up successfully.

Dang, back to my grocery list.

*Yes, I know we live in Denver, but with all the rain this weekend, it feels more like Seattle.

The Black Hole

2010-06-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

My purse is a bottomless pit. Half the time, I can't even find my phone in there. When it's ringing.

Now that my kids are out of the unpredictable new-baby stage where you need to lug a diaper bag full of every single possible thing, and I am out of the new-mommy stage where I didn't realize the kid's not going to implode if we have to wait to get home to get every single possible thing, I can now just bring my ~~everyday purse~~ Black Hole with me.

My ~~everyday purse~~ Black Hole is a simple, black, crocheted Le Sac bag with just one inside pocket and one small outside one. Nothing much. But it is always chock full and seems to ingest things that I place into it, so I have nicknamed it The Black Hole. It is really not that large of a purse, I mean, I don't walk around like all these Hollywood starlets with their gargantuan purses (ha, like that was the one thing that made the difference between me and them) and their bug-eyed sunglasses and designer jeans and Ugg boots when it's 85 degrees. Anyhoo, back to the purse. It's regular-sized, simple and gets the job done. Every few weeks though, I can't find anything in it, so I dump it all out on the living room floor, take inventory, re-organize and trash half of what's in there, (mostly lollipop wrappers).

Some items are essential though. E. SSENT. IAL. And this ain't your mama's purse with a lipstick, a compact mirror and a pretty floral address book. Heck, it ain't your college purse either with cigarettes, three dried out pens, a random phone number written on a bar napkin, a few sticks of gum and an old condom from the Safe Sex day table in the college center. Nope, it's a purse of a mama-with-toddlers:

(Aside from the obvious wallet, keys and ever-lost cell phone)
#1 Four lollipops in assorted flavors to ward off tantrums in Target. Different flavors are key here or else you'll just induce a larger "I DON'T LIKE GREEN" tantrum.
#2 Two diapers and a ziploc bag of wipes.
#3 Another ziploc bag for used item #2 (be sure not to leave these in there!)
#4 play cell phone
#5 tictacs (but not for eating. They make a great rattle toy to distract toddlers while in line at a store. In fact, I have been known to even tape the top shut so they can't eat them!)
#6 extra ponytail holders and a foldaway brush for when your daughter looks like mice have nested in her hair and you're about to meet grandma for lunch.
#7 three Hello Kitty band-aids for those emergency, shrill-shriek inducing tiny scrapes.
#8 snacks that won't melt if you leave your purse in the car. No chocolate covered granola bars I have learned.
#9 mini travel toothbrushes pre-filled with paste. It's amazing to me that as a sleep-deprived mom how many times I was on the way somewhere and realized I hadn't brushed my teeth yet. And I am so beyond caring what the teenagers in the jeep next to me think about me doing my due dental diligence at a red light. Just swish-rinse with your water bottle and spit it out at them if they're laughing.

Things that you think would be handy, but really aren't:

Pens or highlighter markers. Your toddlers will steal one and these will end up on your car's leather upholstery or in someone's eye when you turn your back. Just ask to borrow pens wherever you go. Everyone's got a cheap pen with their cheesy marketing slogan on them nowadays.

Gum. It's the biggest choking hazard for toddlers this side of hotdogs and it's impossible to sneakily eat a piece. I swear, Sa-Sa can hear me unwrap a piece of trident from fifty yards away and all I hear for the next hour is "I WANNA PIEEEEEEEECE".

Any noisemaking toys. Your kids will dig these out and the boop-beep-bopping will be all you can hear while you're trying to order through the drive-through at Starbucks or talk to your pediatrician on the phone.

This list can be tailored to your kids quirks and desires of course. One kid's lollipop is another kid's fruit rollup or whatever.

And now you know why I can never find my phone, so don't take it personally when it goes to voicemail.

Vail Teva Mountain Games

2010-06-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend! We spent all day Saturday in Vail at the annual Teva Mountain Games. We've been twice times before, once without kids, and once with just Baby Sa-Sa. I spent many a 4th of July in Vail and countless winters skiing as a kid growing up, so it's always going to be one of my favorite places. It is a little freaky being on the banks of a spring-melt raging river with two toddlers, however. The Hubbs and I had to play STRICT man-on-man defense as parents and make sure neither kid was ever out of our sight for even a split second. Putting the Samwich in the backpack carrier helped a lot!!

Sa-Sa played in the trees by the river...

While The Samwich leaned back and put out the vibe for all the ladies.

The main events we watched were the SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) Sprint:

and the DockDogs, which is hilarious! The trainers throw a toy off a dock and these dogs launch themselves off the dock and into the water. The world record is like 25 feet or something crazy! (This dog clearly didn't make it that far and this chick in the blue shirt clearly didn't care if she was blocking my shot.) :)

The Hubbs was so impressed with the SUP that he bought his own board! He's going to get good on the local reservoirs before he attempts any rivers... I might even give it a shot on a lake or reservoir. I'm a little skittish when it comes to rivers though... I'm a very good swimmer, but as all CO residents know, you don't mess with spring runoff and even some good swimmers learn that the hard way every season. I'm actually even a wussy about rivers when it's not spring runoff though... :)

We decided then to take a break from the crowds and hit up the classic Vail Gondola for lunch at the top of the mountain. They've re-furbished the gondola, which sorta bums me out since the old red and vellow ones were so adorable and vintage looking, but I have to admit, the new ones with seamless glass and the 360-degree views of the mountains are AWESOME.

We had a great BBQ lunch at the top, then took in the views some more. Possible Christmas Card since we're all looking at the camera, and both kids are smiling!!!

The weather was perfect up there, so we rented some bikes and took a spin through Avon, Vail Village, and then towards East Vail a bit for some waterfall views. The Hubbs had the kids in the trailer and all was well and good until we heard a shriek, a thunk and a wail. We pulled over and deduced that the shriek was from Sa-Sa when Samwich pulled her hair, the thunk was Sa-Sa walloping Samwich with her sippy cup and the wail was then, from Samwich who was the proud new owner of a tiny cut and a shiner. Ah, my lovely, well behaved children. We told Samwich no more hair pulling, and I think this time, he might actually listen to us.

They fell asleep for the rest of the ride back and I died laughing when I saw this photo-op:

I love that they're asleep with their heads in the same position! That whole hair pulling sippy cup walloping mess was water under the bridge and they fell asleep together. Now, not to bring up old family fights, but that pink minnie mouse cup was the weapon of choice, by the way... and just under Samwich's left eye is the tiny little cut. His lashes are so dang long you can't really see it. And I think he may have had his sunglasses on when she hit him.

All in all, Vail at any time of the year is a great family day or weekend trip. There are really nice hotels up there, some mid range and budget ones and also nice options in Summit County nearby like Breckenridge and Keystone. We're taking the In-Laws up there when they come visit in September which will be beautiful since the aspens peak in color about then.

Ninja Samwich

2010-06-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am going to call it right now: This kid will have stitches before he's two years old. He is an absolute ninja when it comes to climbing things in the house. He is quiet about it too, which means if I am not on that kid like white on rice, then I often hear a thunk and a cry about two seconds after I think to myself "hmmm, where is that kid?"

Maybe he'll end up on that Japanese game show Ninja Warrior where contestants scale walls and jump like a grasshopper twenty feet up in the air. Yeah, cuz that won't totally scare the bejeezus out of his mama.

Those are his fingertips by the way, gripping on the windowsill. Maybe with that upper body strength he'll end up an Olympic gymnast! He's not very lean yet, but he is short for his age! And here's why I am now the proud owner of one of those upside-down sneeze guard looking thingies that guard the stove:

We should have known to watch out for this kid when he did this at the park, all by himself:

That's right, face first, down the tube slide all by himself. This is at an age where his sister would not have even ventured near that same slide, much less careened down it and taken a nose-dive into the wood chips. And smiled the whole way.

Yup, stitches by two. Mark my words.

Still Life With Toddlers. Wait, come back! Be STILL!!!!

2010-06-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

You know the old saying about not turning your back on the ocean? Well, same goes for toddlers. The ocean might try to drown you. Toddlers will face-paint. With ketchup.

So today I sat the kids in front of some lunch and turned around to take care of a few things in the kitchen. Unfortunately lunch included a little ketchup and toddlers can't be trusted. Especially when it comes to something as fun as ketchup. I couldn't see them from where I was, but I was sure to keep them engaged in conversation while I loaded a few dishes into the dishwasher. My theory here was if they were talking, they weren't choking. Here's the transcript of the conversation.

Milehighker Mama: How's lunch kiddos?

Sa-Sa: yummy, mama.

MH M: Samwich? Can you say dog?

Samwich: DAHG!

(Samwich can't really carry a conversation, so I use what I can... a few seconds pass...)

MH M: You still eating?

Sa-Sa: no mama.

MH M: Whatcha doin?

Sa-Sa: painting!

Samwich: (giggles)

(MH M doesn't quite put two and two together yet, fills washer with soap, closes door)

MH M: Painting huh? Painting what?

Sa-Sa: FACES!

(MH M is still pretty slow on the uptake and assumes her older toddler is just being silly)

MH M: Painting faces? With paint? (sorta starting to figure it out here...)

Samwich: (giggles again, then squeals)

Sa-Sa: no, with ketchup!!

(MH M can't get around the kitchen bar fast enough, but laughs when she sees the carpet, walls and couch are safe, runs to get camera and preserve the moment)

The Artist formerly known as Sa-Sa, with her palette and brush and canvas of choice. Samwich being the canvas, that is.

Now, to be honest, this is not the first time I have made mistakes of leaving my dear toddlers alone with something enticing. Please note, I don't leave them ever for long and all the truly dangerous stuff is really, really out of reach. They won't be fencing with hot curling irons or playing catch with the bottle of bleach.

Unattended toddler, unlocked pantry.

Unattended toddler, roll of tape.

Unattended toddler, delicious blue crayon.

Unattended toddler, jar of potty training treats.

Unattended toddler, MY apple.

I clearly have a lot to learn. I think I dodged a real bullet today with the ketchup and it only being on the washable surface of my kiddies faces... I am very lucky to not be searching online for a whole new living room right now... oh, snap! Now there's an idea!!!! Oh kiddies, want to paint again????

And I'm Proud to be an American...

2010-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

So, okay, okay, I know this post is two days late, but I have two toddlers and a house to manage, so lay off. ;)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

I will admit, I used to think this holiday was mostly about a three-day weekend, a bbq and some beers. Oh and some soldier stuff too. ooh, my mother would be mad to hear me say that- she's a former Air Force Brat, we have a cousin who was in Desert Storm, The Hubbs' dad was in Vietnam and my mom used to make us all go to the local veteran's cemetery and put flags on the gravestones on Memorial Day.

Well, now I have grown up, and more importantly, I have a ~~little~~ younger brother who's an Army Lieutenant. He's six feet tall and built like a brick you-know-what so I can't call him little anymore. So now, Memorial Day means a whole heckuva lot more to me. And I now understand what my mom was trying to ~~pound into our heads~~ gently guide us to appreciate. I love her for it.

In my opinion, no matter what you believe, you should support your country's soldiers. Even if you hate the war, you should at least be thankful for their service and for some, their ultimate sacrifice. They are truly what make our freedoms possible. Now, I don't want this to turn into a big debate between me and any of my friends or readers- I have seen a few bloggers go overboard screaming out their beliefs and their blogs practically explode because of it- I 1) don't presume to have that many followers, but 2) I also just like to keep most of my beliefs private since I believe you can't really convince most people to change their minds anyway, especially the really extreme-minded ones. I also know I have some pretty liberal friends in the real world and I welcome them. That's what this country is all about anyways, and what my brother and others fight for- the right to say and think whatever you want.

Anyhoo, As Memorial Day approached and went, I found myself thinking a lot about my brother. He is such a good person; intelligent, caring, strong, confident... exactly the kind of guy I want to have my back, as I say that as a sister and an American.

I'm proud to share his blood and his name.

It's scary of course that he's going to get shipped out to a war zone someday and it's terrifying to think of the consequences. But I couldn't be more proud and more honored to say he's my brother. He, along with all his military brothers and sisters, deserve our utmost respect and reverence. Love you, B.

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
~Francis Marion Crawford

I'd like to thank the Academy...and my bear-bear (toddler drama)

2010-05-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Oh dear me. If there were Oscars given out for Best Drama Performance by a Toddler, Sa-Sa would win.

I can just see her in 20 years or so, in her sparkly gown, hair in an updo, bright lights a-shining. And she would go through the usual thanks of her agent, her director and co-stars, but then would have to thank me, her mama, for putting up with all her drama as a three-year-old, as it paved the way for her stunning performance in the year's blockbuster drama "I Will Freak Out Over Nothing" (OR "making people glance over nervously, thinking my mom is abusing me in Wal-Mart", working title).

She can shriek alongside the most cunning velociraptor or out-yell the best horror-film scream queen. But it's never just nature's hunting call or over an axe-wielding psychopath.

It's the little things that count with Sa-Sa.

It's her pancake syrup being in the wrong divot of her divided breakfast plate, (NOOOOOO MAMA! Syrup goes on DAISY not MINNIE MOUSE!!!), me daring to detangle the rat's nest of her hair, or heaven forbid, her finger being wet because she dripped milk on it from her own sippy cup. Try explaining that one to a toddler, Mr. Science.

Today, it was all the above, but later on. also the thought of me "making" her sit in her freshly-peed pants until we got to the restroom to change her. I apologize deeply to the field-trip chaperone who watched, mouth agape and eyes a-bug as she wet herself right in front of the bear pit at the zoo.

I would apologize to the bears, too, but they're bears. They're used to public displays of pee. I envy bear mamas right now, not having to potty train their little toddler bears. What's that saying about a bear and shitting in the woods? Well, count my toddler in there too. Anywhere she wants, actually. Woods, Target, my coffee table...

So, knowing the local zoo as well as I do, I knew we had about three hundred yards to the nearest potty, but explaining to Sa-Sa that she'd have to "sit in it and wait" was enough to conjure up a scream so guttural and raw that the Cannes judges would have wept. So off we hustled, ignoring the stares of the moms who were about to speed dial Protective Services on their cell phones.

Twenty minutes later, she followed up a repeat performance as I had to return a souvenir hat to the gift shop as the one she picked out was an infant size and fit her like one of those dorky beanies with the propeller on top.

I actually pulled out a trick my mom said she used frequently on me as a child... (karma, much?) I threatened to leave her in the store if she was going to throw a fit. Then I stood off to the side, out of her sight line, but still safely close by.

Nope. Fail. Bigger fit. More moms speed dialing Protective Services. Sigh.

Pretty much all I can do at this point is pick her up, hug her and say "It's tough being a three-year-old, huh?"

And all she does is thank the Academy.

I get by with a little help from my (mama) friends...

2010-05-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

So, I had a hard moment earlier in the day and I was blessed and honored to see my friends step up and offer support. Watching American Idol's duet tonight "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends" made me realize how important mama friends are.

We're in potty training Round Two (our Jamaica trip set Sa-Sa back to square one) and after the sixth or seventh accident in my carpet today, I was at a loss for what to do/try/say next. I was particularly upset because the first round was a bit of a struggle and when she was finally, consistently going well and we were on the right track, I was getting really excited and sighing a big sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe, my carpet would survive, my house wouldn't smell like a kennel and we could go out in public without three spare outfits and crossed fingers. And now I felt like all that was for naught and I had to go through it all again. Thinking of her peers who all seem to be trained, and then preschool looming up on us with it's scary "CHILDREN MUST BE POTTY TRAINED" heading, I burst into tears and proclaimed on facebook that I felt like a total failure.

Please realize I don't think this is real, true suffering. I follow many blogs, one of a little girl with brain cancer, a single dad who lost his wife to a pulmonary embolism the day after their daughter was born, a mom of three who suffered a stroke, a mom of four who was horribly burned in a plane crash, etc. I have dear friends who have lost babies and children, and when a story on the news of a kidnapped or injured child is on, I don't turn the channel. In fact, I turn it up, pay closer attention and say a silent prayer, partially for the child and partially in thankfulness for my own blessings. I try to truly let those people's stories soak into me. I try to imagine their pain and hope fervently for them to find peace. I use their stories daily to remind myself how lucky I am.

So when I posted on facebook, I got posts back all day, a few offering suggestions, but mostly just offering what I really needed, support and some laughs along the way too. I was hit upside the head with a big 2 x 4 of "hey, mama, you're doing a great job! Raising kids is tough, but we'll all get through it. Soaked in pee maybe, but we'll all get through it!"

I also suddenly remembered that after I had Sa-Sa, I TOO forgot how to pee! When you have a cesarean-section, birth, you have to get a catheter. Well, about 24 hours later, the nurse takes it out and tells you to go pee. Yeah, not that simple for me. For some reason, probably the stress, the narcotic painkillers, and just a little good old-fashioned luck, I could not, for the life of me remember how to pee in a potty. I was 30 years old, full of coffee, jello, popsicles and water and would just sit there, staring at the wall like "COME ON! Is this a joke?" Total bladder regression to that of a child. They eventually had to re-fricking-catheter me and *ahem* let it all out so to speak and let me try again later. After a good laugh today when I remembered this, I pledged to not have such high expectations of my small daughter!

So, if you're a mama out there (sorry, dadas can certainly apply here too), make sure you reach out and get the support of your fellow mama (or dada) friends when you need it. And be sure to be there for them as well. It can be pretty lonely in a house with two toddlers some days and if you're like me, it's hard to remember that others out there are all going through the same troubles and tear-your-hair-out moments. If your mama friends' houses all seem spotless when you go over for playdates, don't beat yourself up when it's 2pm and your breakfast dishes aren't done... just picture them scurrying to vacuum and dust five minutes before the doorbell rings just like you do. Do your mama friends a favor and don't show up ten minutes early and turn a blind eye to the goldfish cracker crumbs in the carpet.

And most of all, try to remember, if you're a mama (or dada) who loves your babies, you're a good one.

Dishes and laundry are done. Has anyone seen my kids?

2010-05-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Why on earth is she SMILING???

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep
-- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

At least, this is the sort of stuff I try to remind myself when Sa-Sa hands Samwich a fork and he mashes an entire banana into my carpet. And then as I am cleaning up the banana, Samwich fills his diaper and Sa-Sa dumps out an entire basket of folded laundry that took me three days to finally get to.

Lower Cataract Lake Loop

2010-05-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. I am wondering what John Fielder saw in this lake when he decided to put it in his book, Best of Colorado. While so far I have loved his book and have always loved his photographs, I have to give this hike a C+. It's definitely not the "Best" of Colorado, in my book. Oh wait, I don't have a book. And he has forty, so I guess he wins. :)

Anyway, I think when he took the photograph for his book, it was a little deeper into summer, or was a greener spring. Also, he has fancy zoom lenses and such, and the waterfall was pretty teensy, being off in the distance a good ways. The hike was also pretty flat and I like a good climb. In my opinion, it was just too far of a drive with small kiddies for so-so views. I'm pretty jaded though when it comes to gorgeous Colorado vistas. I think I like the big, fourteen-thousand foot jagged peaks in the distance best. That makes a great lake shot for me.

Ok, so look at the picnic table and go straight up, about halfway up the mountainside. See the tiny little strip of white? That's the waterfall.

All in all though, it was a nice hike and a gorgeous day with the family.

No major drop offs, except for the bridge we crossed here. Definitely hang on tight to the kiddies over those rushing rapids! The Samwich's smiles for the camera crack me up, by the way.

The hike doesn't go to the actual falls; they're way up on the mountainside, but you can hear them thundering for most of the hike. When you're at this bridge, the falls are directly up the mountain a good ways. The Hubbs tried to go up a bit to see how far he could get, but with the dog in tow, he couldn't get far he said. (and our dog has hiked fourteeners, so it must have been steep!)

And both our kids slept the whole long way home... bonus!

The Directions: I-70 west to Silverthorne Exit, then take CO 9 north 17.5 miles to Heeney Road. Go 5.3 miles then go left on Cataract Creek Road. Note, the sign is small and if you hit the town of Heeney, you've gone about 1/2 mile too far. Take Cataract Creek Road for 3 miles to the trailhead.

The Details: 2.02 miles around the loop. Elevation at trailhead, 8,652 feet and nominal gain the entire way.

The Dog?: yup!

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

2010-05-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

Want a perfect example of defiant toddler behavior?

So, Sa-Sa's got a little cold. She's up in bed and I hear her sneeze and it sounds, er, how do I put this... productive. Very productive. Inevitably, the sneeze is followed by a muffled "mama! I need a tissue!"

I run up and get a tissue from her bedroom and quickly wipe it all up. She shrieks "no! the tissues downstairs mama!" I tell her it's the same tissue and put the tissue in the trash.

What doth my protesting toddler do next?

Digs the tissue out of the trash and (brace yourself) WIPES the booger BACK ON!!!!

I pick my jaw up off the floor and stand there dumbfounded as she commands I go downstairs and get the *right* tissue.

Sigh.

10 Favorite Photos- Part Two

2010-05-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, my ~~five~~ TEN favorite photos of The Samwich:

This is Samwich at about 1 day old, in the hospital. I was alone with him, but still in an anesthesia haze (both babies were non-elective c-sections), so I am amazed I was coherent enough to take this photo. I just remember loving the light that was streaming through the window and his peaceful, inquisitive expression and thinking "must. grab. camera." It was the first time I really remember looking at him and checking each other out.

This picture, where both The Samwich and Buddha are proudly displaying their bellies, shows why his nickname is The Samwich... one of my first nicknames for him was Meatball because of that adorable little meatball of a tummy. Meatball Samwich (mixing it with part of his real name) just came naturally!

I took this photo at the zoo one day and I still have no idea why his eyes look so light. Only for a few months did I think they might go blue, but they were already on their way to brown by this time. I think the sunlight just caught them. I love how he's so cute here he almost looks girly!

He was just learning to hold his head up and I just thought his "oh, hi mom" expression was so cute! This was also in his spiky-hair phase. I miss that!

Speaking of girly, I am sure he'll kill us someday when we whip out this photo for one of his girlfriends. We were back visiting the inlaws and some friends wanted to take a pontoon boat ride. They only had a girl's vest for him to borrow. I think he's saying 1) "I hate you guys" and 2) "if I'm gonna be in a pink, flowered get up, I'm at least gonna flex my arms out and try to look tough."

Same trip back to The Hubbs' homeland- at the beach. Again, love that meatball of a tummy and his little man-boobs.

Hiking in the mountains. Mama got tired. Mama found a convenient tree to hook me on.

At Unka B's and Auntie Bri's wedding. He wasn't walking yet, but just cruising using the furniture. I love how it looks more like a "ladies, check me out" pose.

At Easter, licking the window for goodness-knows-what-reason. Dude, save it for the jellybeans!

Get your motor running, head out on the highway... looking for adventure and whatever comes our way. Like a true nature's child, we were born, born to be wild!

Ten Favorite Photos: Sa-Sa

2010-05-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Edit to add: Okay, so originally, this post was going to be titled Five Favorite Photos. As an English major, I like the alliteration. But, as a shutterbug who loves taking photos of her kids, I quickly found I couldn't pick just five and I like taking photos more than I dig alliteration.

Remember the old question "if your house was on fire, what would you grab?" Well, besides the kids and the dog (duh), most people answer "photos". Now, in the days of virtual photo storage, we're lucky that those can all be replaced.

But, for blogging's sake, let's harken back to the days of yore and pretend our beloved shutterfly and kodak gallery don't exist. What are your TEN favorite photos and why?

Now, I actually had to pick ~~five~~ ten per kid since I couldn't possibly pick only ~~five~~ ten and hey, it's my blog, so neener neener. :-p

This is Sa-Sa's birth. Now, anyone that knows me, knows my pregnancy with her was anything but textbook, so when she arrived at 34 weeks and 1 day, emotions were running high. She was a little small, at 4 lbs, 11oz, but overall perfect. I love this photo because she calmed down after screaming and just looked peaceful and beautiful.

Sa-Sa was just a few weeks old and I this photo always just breaks my heart into a million mommy pieces. I forget how small and fragile she was and that darned oxygen tube in her nose always crushed me. We were so thankful she was ok, but it was a rough few first months for me with my first baby. It was probably 2 or 3am and she passed out in my arms after feeding. She interlaced her tiny fingers and I could not grab the phone fast enough for a photo. I had to guess on lining it up and barely got it. I think she was maybe praying for me or saying thanks to God herself.

She just looked so cute in her pink towel. I confess, I took about 50 shots before I got this good one. Thank goodness the room was warm and thank goodness for digital!

Gotta love a little kid running on the beach! Outer Banks, NC.

At Ft. Benning, GA after Unka B's graduation from OCS. It was swelteringly hot, Mama was 25 weeks pregnant, Sa-Sa had destroyed her cute camouflage outfit with a stomach bug in the parking lot five minutes before the ceremony, but in this photo, she's pure patriotic sweetness to me.

Ya gotta stop and smell the daisies...

This was while visiting the inlaws in Florida. We spent the day at a local gator park and while I was enjoying a cup of Gator Stew, (yes really), The Hubbs was entertaining Sa-Sa. I just melt over photos of daddies and daughters.

As a photographer, I love the unexpected angle, but as a mama, I just LOVE her sweet face.

Sa-Sa just loves her swing.

On Grandpa's speedboat. Look at that hair!

So, this post took a lot longer than I thought it would since I had to dig through all my digital photo folders... My ~~five~~ TEN Favorite Photos of The Samwich will be tomorrow's post. Nighty-night!

Whaddya got against Yemen?

2010-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Sa-Sa has some of the cutest mispronounced words. She's got the usual ones that most kids do, and I always laugh when a big truck passes us on the highway and she yells "MAMA! BIIIIIG SUCK!".

I know I will miss that when she's older and pronounces things correctly.

Some of my favorites are:

Mazzageen (Magazine)

Pohta-docks (Polka dots)

Radicky-uss (Ridiculous)

Finnage (Spinach)

Frinkles and Farkly (Sprinkles and Sparkly) pretty much anything starting with Sp- is hilarious

Foovee (smoothie) At Jamba Juice one day she had me cracking up.

Finter (splinter)

Cavoggan (Toboggan)

anything starting with L. Examples are:

Like (Yike)

Lemon (Yemen) She told me one day "Mama, I don't yike Yemen".

Llama (Yama) I overheard her once reading to The Samwich about animals and telling him how to pronounce them, sounding each one out. "This is a YAMA. Ya, Ya, Yama!"

And my all time favorite: Fart. (Smart)

The Samwich is well on his way to making me laugh with mispronounced words. He's only got a few words under his belt right now, Mama, Dada, Dog, Go and No and he does pretty well with them. But yesterday at the park he picked up a stick, held it up proudly and proclaimed "Dick!" Oh dear me.

The Witching Hour

2010-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

You can set your watch by my toddlers most evenings.

If they are inconsolable, whiny, clingy, etc, then you can bet your britches it's between 4:30pm and 5:30pm, the hour I have dubbed "The Witching Hour". It is as if evil witches who plot against a mother's sanity have cast spells over my normally happy, lovely children.

This is always of course, right as I am trying to fix dinner. The witches know this, of course. They didn't go to Evil Witching School for nothin'.

This time period usually consists of me trying (desperately) to find something to occupy Sa-Sa for five minutes and holding The Samwich in one arm while trying to crack an egg/slice vegetables/layer lasagna with the other. I'm sorry, but even Rachael Ray can't dice an onion while holding a fussy toddler. Oh wait, I buy the frozen, pre-diced bags of onion... okay, even Rachael Ray can't open a bag of frozen, pre-diced onions while holding a fussy toddler.

While holding him, I don't want a stray piggie toe to get burned or splashed with hot oil, so I have to stand awkwardly, basically perpendicular to the burners instead of parallel. (Wow, had to conjure up some middle school math class on THAT one).

Sometimes I have to put The Samwich down for thirty seconds which then elicits cries of what loosely translates to "oh-dear-Lord-Mama-how-could-you?". He then velcroes himself to my legs and tries to wedge himself between me and the stove, so I have learned to (again, awkwardly) stand about three feet away from the counter in an awkward bridge position that isn't good for my back, but at least keeps him away from the stove or keeps him from shoving his head in a space too small for it.

He can sometimes be distracted momentarily by a metal pan and spoon set for an impromptu drum concert... but when mama already has a bit of a headache from earlier fussing, this isn't always the best choice.

Having to open the oven door always presents a challenge... if I am not holding The Samwich, he will inevitably be drawn to the light and heat like the proverbial moth to a flame. And we all know how THAT proverb ends up. Holding him and trying to get something hot and heavy out with one hand doesn't sound good either. Thank Goodness for highchairs. But, he hates highchairs without food on the trays, so if you're ever babysitting him, take note and sprinkle a few cheerios around or something.

Oh and we can't forget about the other dear, sweet child o' mine. She has usually lost interest in something, misplaced a toy or is just simply possessed by the Evil Witches again, so in she comes to ask to be held as well. I have gotten pretty good at blanching/browning/deglazing/dicing/mashing/mincing/sauteeing/searing/whipping/whisking etc with one hand instead of two, but until mommies evolve and grow the third arm they've needed for eons, one kid is just gonna have to wail.

Blessings in Target

2010-05-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

So I was in Target the other evening doing my usual weekly grocery shop, and had a profound experience I just have to share. Profound experiences in Target... who knew?

Anyway, after hitting the grocery side, I meandered over to the household goods and clothing just to see if there was anything I (wanted) needed. I heard a young boy throwing a temper tantrum and figured it was someone who hadn't put their kids to bed and gone to target alone like me. This is pretty much the only way I will go to Target, unless it's for an emergency diaper or goldfish crackers run.

Turned out the boy was actually about ten or eleven, in a wheelchair and afflicted with some sort of brain injury or mental disability. I thoroughly apologize if I am not using the correct terms here- I do not know anyone with any such issues and therefore do not know if I am using the most sensitive terms. I wouldn't even know where to start on educating myself. Please comment if you know a better way to describe it.

I have seen one documentary about teen drinking that had a boy who fell off a balcony at a mall while drunk and sustained a massive head injury. They seemed very similar, so that's why I think it was a brain injury issue. The young boy had trouble communicating, trouble controlling his volume, his emotions and the smallest thing to you and me was upsetting to him.

So, this boy and his family ended up in line behind me and the dad and teenage sister waited to pay for their few items while the mom and the boy waited closer to the door, with him occasionally crying, flailing and yelling. I quickly glanced at them, scanning their faces to see how this stressful situation was affecting them. The dad seemed resigned to it and just went about waiting in line without much emotion clear on his face. The sister looked conflicted. She looked partly humiliated, glancing around at the other teenagers and people in the store, but she also looked a little sad for her brother and maybe, herself. I could sense her love for him, but also her frustration with how he acted in public. I imagined being a teenager and feeling sorry for myself that this was my brother, but then immediately feeling guilty for that feeling.

I then glanced at the mom and my throat got tight when I saw her face. She was the epitome of the phrase "wiped out". She had a blank stare, a tight, thin line of a mouth and an overall aura of exhaustion. Her shoulders were slumped as she held on to the wheelchair handles and she didn't even react as her son protested and questioned everything and anything around his confusing, frustrating world.

I wanted desperately to reach out to them. I wanted to hug the sister and say "if anyone laughs at him, they're not worth a damn in this world and I bet you're a wonderful blessing to him and your parents". I wanted to shake the dad's hand and say "you are the rock and the support system in this family" and I really wanted to hug the mom and tell her I'd try harder to not get stressed out by my kids as much. I wanted to buy them all massages and all expense paid trips to Disney World for some fun and relaxation. I wanted to make sure all their medical expenses were paid. I wanted to fix their son. This is all just dreaming of course, but I wanted so badly to erase those expressions from their faces.

Most people in the store were ignoring them, I imagine, trying not to stare or embarrass them further, but I imagined that to be tough in a different way, to be clearly standing out but have people turning their faces from you and trying to pretend you don't exist. I tried to connect with the dad by commenting that the "Everybody Loves Raymond" DVD's he was buying were funny. He smiled and nodded. I don't even watch that show really, but I just wanted to say something to him and "I'm sure you're doing a great job with your son" just didn't seem right.

I always (sort of) joke that my two toddlers exhaust me and leave me feeling wiped out. Yes, in many ways, they are like that boy, constantly needing my attention, asking questions, crying, flailing, embarrassing me, etc, but they are 18 months old and three years old. They are not brain-injured. They will grow up and grow out of it. They will become independent. They do not have monstrous medical bills and needs. They do not act like this all day long and all night long.

I went home and tried to be extra nice to my husband. I told him to rest on the couch and get his reading for work finished while I unloaded the groceries that he usually helps me with. I kissed my sleeping kids' heads twice that night before I went to bed and I thanked God for health and peace.

Oxen Draw/Eagle's View Hike

2010-05-16T20:32:00.001-07:00

This kid slays me.

Absolutely slays me.

Seriously. What a ham!!!

So we took advantage of this gorgeous Colorado spring day (high of 70) and got out and got hiking by 9am on a Sunday. Go us!!! We picked an old favorite hike of my husband's, Eagle's View Trail in Reynold's Park near Conifer. The Hubbs first hiked it one Christmas Eve when we were just married and there was no snow in sight around town. I think he was feeling a little sad about a "Green Christmas" and maybe even missing his home state up north which although sometimes gray and gloomy, always guarantees a white Christmas. Had they done music videos in Bing Crosby's day, they could have easily filmed it in The Hubbs' childhood backyard.

I hiked part of Eagle View once before when Sammy was just a couple of months old and as my wonderful husband loves to remind me, I shrieked like a little girl almost the whole time. We picked a wet winter month and most of the trail was ice on top of snowpack. I slipped and slid while trying not to land on my sleeping infant who was in a chest carrier. I was also nursing and hormonal, so I am sure I over-dramatized it a wee bit. We didn't make it far that time, so the summit this time was a treat for me!

You start at the Oxen Draw trailhead and it's a nice, easy climb in a pine forest
along side a tiny, burbling creek. That's right, I said burbling.

After a little while, the trail splits- I think you can follow Eagle's View like we did, for an out-and-back or take Raven's Roost and make it a loop. A few websites I checked said the Raven's Roost Route (ha, say THAT three times fast) is about 4 miles.

The Oxen Draw/Eagles' View hike is 1.9 miles to the top and I think it took us an hour or hour and a half total. I kept telling the Hubbs I need to note things like this more often now that I have a fancy blog. I still have to come home after every hike and google the directions and make sure I am spelling the name right.

The top at Eagle's View is aptly named- you suddenly come out of the forest to a meadow and 180 degree view of endless mountains including the Rampart Range and Pike's Peak to the South. It was a bluebird day and I got some great shots of snowcapped Pikes.

We let the kids out to stretch their legs and ease my back. I seriously need to get stronger and in better shape before the Samwich gains any more weight.

At one point up on the summit, we saw something flash through the trees at one point and The Hubbs thinks he saw an pretty impressive rack of antlers. All I saw was tail. Figures.

Back down we went, and then straight to LODO's rooftop patio for some well earned fish tacos and buffalo burgers. Then it was nap time for The Samwich and we still had a birthday party to attend later that afternoon:

Ahhh, nothing like a little ball pit with the ladies at the end of a long day.

The Details: 1.9 mile out-and-back, best in any season but icy winter, haha.

The Directions: US 285 South from Denver to Conifer. Left on Foxton Rd. (Follow signs for Reynold's Park. After 5.5 miles, hit up the parking lot on the right.

The Dog?: Yup.

Sa-Sa's Bedtime Menagerie

2010-05-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Toddlers and bedtime have never been good bedfellows. Wait, that sort of absolutely made no sense.

But anyone with an average three year old knows what I meant. I laugh when I see articles about bedtime struggles. Bedtime "struggle" is an understatement. Bedtime World War III is more like it. The word struggle conjures up images of maybe a little arm twisting, a scream here and there, a lovey tossed across the room and bed sheets all in a jumble.

Imagine dragging a crying child down the hall by their ankles, while saliva and shrieking gibberish fly from her mouth. Now imagine trying to brush her teeth and then wrestle her into a pair of beloved minnie mouse pajamas in a futile attempt to soothe her. No matter which ones you pick, she will then proclaim she "totally hate[s] them mama!" and will insist (again, all through excess saliva and gibberish) on wearing the ones with the fishies/giraffes/moose that she puked/peed/wiped boogers on that morning.

Bedtime is never easy, but every few weeks or so, just the sheer mention of bedtime seems to make my daughter melt into this overstimulated, exhausted, alien-language-garbling puddle. Honestly, when she throws tantrums like this, she seems to have NO bones. She collapses as if she was made of jello, flails aimlessly and rolls as though it was her only means of ambulation. The only time she seems to be made of any solid mass at all is if you get too close and you get a foot or an elbow square in the nose.

One of the many things that can cause this "struggle" is if the delicate balance of her bedtime menagerie is disturbed. The following is a list of the items she must have in bed with her:

Bear Bear. (her #1 lovey, a small graying blanket with a teddy bear's head)
Peanut the stuffed horse.
Harriet the stuffed hippo.
Figaro the stuffed cat.
Not one, but two Minnie Mouse dolls. "Red Minnie" and "Green Minnie".
Separate blankets for each of the above animals. You cannot mix up the blankets.
Sa-Sa's sippy cup. Just water.
Bear-Bear's sippy cup. Empty. This took a while to explain why to her.
Harriet's bottle. The "magic" toy one with the pretend milk that disappears.
Bear-Bear's toy car. ("In case he gets bored while I'm seepin' mama")
Bear Bear's toothbrush. (this is actually a small, plastic stroller hook. No idea where she got the idea it's a toothbrush.)
Cheetah Purse. (A plastic cheetah head lunch-box that you get at the zoo when you order a kid's meal at the cafeteria. We also have Polar Bear, Grizzly, Tiger and Monkey head lunch-boxes adorning her bookshelf as if she's some sort of cartoon trophy hunter.)

If you have lost count, that is EIGHTEEN items that must be in their place, in her bed in order to avoid World War III. Actually, if you opened Cheetah Purse, you would find a multitude of small dinosaurs and farm animals but we won't include them in the count. That would only make me feel crazier for typing this.

As you can imagine, once she is in the dark, she often loses one or many of the small items in one of their blankets. I have learned to check all eighteen when she loses one and to reassure her they're all in their place before leaving again. And then pray she falls asleep before she counts again. The Hubbs and I have often wondered if we get her evaluated for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or if we'll see her on the A&E show "Hoarders" someday. All articles I have read show this to be common toddler behavior. OMG. Whew, but still, OMG.

Actually, up until about age 2 she was pretty easy to get to go to sleep. We obeyed all the books and articles about bedtime "struggles" saying to have a consistent, enjoyable routine and make it fun. There were even a few nights she would grab me by the hand and drag me up the stairs proclaiming it was bedtime. The closer she got to two, the harder it got and the closer she got to three, the more of a battle it became. You know what they say, "Three is the new two" and "Three is two with practice." Amen, sister.

All in all, she is a wonderful child. She is curious, imaginative, playful and willful at times. Being her mama often makes me think of the line in Legends of the Fall where Isabelle, the mother of Samuel, Tristan and Alfred, writes her husband William Ludlow a letter back answering his questions about whether he is raising their three boys right. She says "They are willful, yes, but who are you and I to complain of willfulness?" She has a small role in the film and you don't get much insight into her character, but she is one of my favorite female characters in film.

The Ludlow men in that film are all men of substance, spirited with a strong sense of self and what is right. That line reminds me that willfulness as a child can translate into many wonderful characteristics as an adult and I shouldn't stifle it much. I only need to help guide her. And go find Harriet the Hippo.

Chocolate on my shirt and bite marks on my face. OR, Traveling with Toddlers

2010-05-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ah, home sweet home... Jamaica was a blast- an absolute blast! But I gotta say, traveling with two toddlers, especially to a "developing" country, brings the word challenge to a whole new level. The Hubbs and I want to expose our children to a lot of experiences and cultures, we want them to be flexible and adaptable people and we want them to see beyond the scope of their blessed lives in America. Right now, Sa-Sa loves Sesame Street and The Samwich is at an age where he's still pretty flexible and adaptable to anything. We also love traveling and hanging out in the tropics specifically, so when we found the Beaches Sandy Bay hotel in Negril, Jamaica, which comes complete with the whole Sesame Street crew performing nightly, it seemed like a good time to pack em all up and give it a shot.

I like to think of myself as a relatively organized, but laid back mama, so while I had my lists upon lists of things to pack and every imaginable emergency planned for, I also knew we'd have to go with the flow a lot and improvise. One of my favorite mommy quotes is "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." I had to find a way to meld this line of thinking with The Hubbs' desire to only bring one piece of checked luggage. Thank goodness I am an efficient packer. And hey, we saved money on those ridiculous checked-luggage fees!

Sa-Sa is still not totally potty-trained, but I wanted to encourage it if she brought it up. This means we had pull-ups and panties packed, and had to tote around the travel potty just in case. Sidenote, the miniature Annie look-a-like on this website creeps me out. She's smiling, yet also not fully dressed. (bud-ump-cha... Thanks folks, I'll be here all week.)

Jamaica is downright beautiful. The natural, lush tropical forested hills and the clear, turquoise water... it's heaven. It's also sad to drive through the cities and rural towns though, and see the contrast of extreme poverty. The rivers littered with trash, dirty, barefoot children, half-built homes overgrown with weeds, all break your heart. The local people we met though were all very friendly and smiles come easy.

The resort was perfect- it's smaller than the sister property, Beaches Negril, so we felt we got to know a few of the staff and other guests, and it was also big enough so we didn't feel overcrowded. It's also an all-inclusive, so you can get a plate of chicken nuggets whenever you need for a hungry kid and not kick yourself when they pick at one and proclaim they're full. We also loved that you get resort privileges at Beaches Negril, with all their hip restaurants and water slides that the kids, er, The Hubbs loved. He was the only one tall enough to ride it. Before I start sounding like a paid commerical for Beaches Resorts, I'll move on to funny travel stories...

So, like I said, traveling with toddlers is a challenge. I love the looks we get from people in the security line. Any comments we do get are usually "boy are you brave" or "you have your hands full!" Both kids fell asleep pretty easily on the plane trips, luckily but The Samwich is at a tough age for plane travel when he's awake. He's not old enough to color or watch a movie on the DVD player, and he's too big to just nurse to sleep or entertain with something simple like a set of keys. He wants to run run run. And climb. He spent a lot of the flight trying to launch himself over the seat into the lap of the passenger behind us. Or throw his sippy cup at them. He's pretty lucky he's cute.

And Jamaica's driving is overall, terrifying. And I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to adventure. I have bungee jumped the third highest jump in the world and skydived from 10,000 feet. This scared me more. There are signs all over the two-lane highways proclaiming SPEED KILLS and just about everyone ignores them. They tailgate so close you can't see the trunk of the car, then swerve around them and pass two other cars, missing the oncoming truck by a centimeter. With my two unbuckled toddlers in the van, I twice found myself closing my eyes and trying to make my peace with God quickly, just in case.

We stayed on the resort for most of the time not just because of the driving, but there really was a LOT to do- Sa-Sa tried to ask us every day if she could just sit inside all day and watch Caillou on my nano, but once she was out in the sunshine, slathered with SPF and had her watering can in hand, she was a happy girl for hours. The Samwich was more than pleased to sit in the sand and dig, or run to and fro. The water was so calm and shallow I didn't need to worry too much. I just sat in the water up to my waist, faced the beach and kept them both in view pretty easily!
By lunchtime, they were pretty tired, so we'd put Samwich down in the room and sit on the patio with sa-sa watching the Nano or coloring. And yes, that's an ashtray she propped it up on! The Hubbs or I often took this time to go snorkel or wakeboard while the other one stayed back.

Eating in restaurants three times a day was also a challenge. I was surprised at how well Sa-sa did actually, except for a newfound love for dumping out the salt shaker at every meal if we weren't fast enough to grab it (and all the water glasses and knives while we were at it.) The Samwich took this trip to suddenly hate highchairs, so he was often on one parent's lap, grabbing the knives we were trying to keep from Sa-Sa while we took turns shoveling food in our mouths. And it certainly wasn't a week of model nutrition... We joked with another couple with kids the same age how ironic it was we were bribing our kids with ice cream if they'd just eat another processed chicken nugget or bite of hot dog.

The Sesame Sail Away catamaran tour was actually cancelled, which we were sort of glad for. Sa-Sa was actually a little scared of the characters when they were in her face, all seven feet tall and overzealous. An hour on a boat with them might have sent her over the edge. She was happy to watch the nightly shows from a distance though. It's funny how something that would drive you bonkers before kids can be so fun when it's your kids laughing and dancing to it. Even The Hubbs got up on stage at one point, grooving with Grover and boppin with Bert.

By the end of the week, I think we'd all had enough fun and schedule upheaval and were ready for home. The Samwich had one good meltdown on the plane ride home that initiated me and The Hubbs into the honored Flyers with Criers Parents Club. The poor kid was exhausted after the long day of travel, but luckily, the tantrum tuckered him out for pretty much the whole flight. Funny how five minutes on a plane with a baby crying can seem like an hour. I just had to remind myself that I would never see these people again and most of them didn't care or had been there themselves. The first time Sa-Sa cried on a plane, I burst into tears too and said to the Hubbs "oh God, we're THOSE people now that everyone hates."

When we arrived in Denver at 10:30pm, the kids were pooped, my shirt was covered in chocolate fingerprints and I had a bite mark on my face from a tantrum-ing toddler who will go unnamed. My mom could only laugh and help us into the car.

All in all, a grand ol' time and we made some fantastic memories with our beloved babies. I guess the best way for me to look at it is, I haven't lost my ability to go on adventurous trips, my adventures are just different.

Mt. Galbraith/Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! First off, thanks to this guy:

for these two beautiful blessings in my life:

So we started out our mother's day with hugs and cards in bed and then my charming daughter told me "mama, you have a big tushy". Awww, thanks, my sweet.

A big thanks also to my wonderful mama. As I told you today, you are amazing for what you give and for what you give up as well. I am a lucky woman to have you in my corner and forever on my side. Love love love you.

We kicked off my "Throwdown" to get in better shape and continue to be a MileHighker Mama with a new hike, Mt. Galbraith in Golden Gate Canyon. Thanks to an old highschool friend, we'll call her Twins Mama, for the suggestion. It was a GREAT hike!

Sa-Sa wanted to hike on her own at first, but after about 10 minutes, was proclaiming "walking is kinda hard, mama" so we packed her into her backpack and continued on. It was a good choice- for the rest of the hike, (a good hour and a half at least) there is a pretty steep drop off on the left side (see pic above). The trail hugs the side of the hill, and the trail is only about two feet wide. If you were to let small kiddies walk it on their own, you'd have to be so watchful of their every step that you'd miss the great views of Golden, Coors Brewery, Tabletop Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Downtown Denver "where daddy goes to da office, mama!"

By the way, not judging, but I will never understand people who hike in jeans. It's akin to skiing in them. It's like wearing a snowsuit to the beach or a corset, bustle and hoopskirt on a transcontinental flight. Not an optimal choice for the conditions or the activity... especially on a day with a high of 75 degrees. No one likes seeing a man in jean shorts since the 1980's, but even those would be a better choice hiking today, people. I love my jeans, but hiking is one of the main times they stay home and I break out the short, stretchy, breathable stuff.

But I digress.

The first hour of the hike is treeless and had me patting myself on my supermama cape for slathering on the SPF and always keeping brimmed hats in the car for kiddies. It was pretty hot for 10am. Oh and this parking lot gets pretty packed by 9:30, by the way. We got one of the last spots and when we were done, around noonish, the cars were lining the road.

It's a loop hike, or more accurately, a lollipop shaped trail, so the back end was mostly cool evergreen forest, which was a nice break from the sun on the uphill portion. Here's me and the Samwich in a woodsy self-portrait:

Near the top end you could see a few snow capped peaks against the blue sky. It was the perfect hike to remind me why I live here, why I hike here and why I love introducing my kids to it all. Two thumbs up!

And tomorrow night I will post about our trip to Jamaica. Right now, it's 11pm and there are still dishes to be done. Sigh. Mama's work is never done.

The Details:
4.2 miles, round trip, elevation gain of 1100 ft.

Directions: From HWY 93 and CO 6 intersection, go one mile north to Golden Gate Canyon entrance. Trailhead on left pretty quickly.

Dogs? Yep.

Throw Down!

2010-04-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this photo has me inspired and motivated. This photo was taken June 2004 the weekend that Jogger Mama got married, one month before my own wedding. I am issuing a Bobby Flay-style THROWDOWN! With myself. And this one will not involve the deep dish pizza, lasagna or apple pies that Bobby's does, God bless his little *occluded* culinary heart.

Lemme give you a little background... I was always relatively slim, always involved in sports, ate pretty healthy, but in high school and college, fast food was often the lunch (or 3am snack in college) of choice. Seriously, who needs an over sized everything bagel with enough veggie cream cheese to cover the streets of Philadelphia and a large coffee with real cream and sugar at 11pm? Apparently cramming college students do. Jeebus, where the heck was Truvia when I needed it? Four teaspoons of real sugar??

In high school, I played volleyball and soccer, but both of these fell by the wayside in college... add that and too many rounds of Beer Pong and the freshman fifteen ensued. I lost a little weight my sophomore year walking with my friend, I'll call her Manhattan Mama, but overall, I was not the model of fitness. I just skated by, happy I could squeeze into a size 6 and didn't think much of it. Oh and I forgot to add one little part. I smoked. *hides face and runs in shame*

Okay, so fast forward to 9/11. A few days after this horrific event, I had a realization. By killing myself slowly with cigarettes, I was dishonoring every innocent human being killed in those attacks. It's a long shot, but stick with me. As the stories came out in the news of wives, mothers, sons, fiancées desperately searching for or mourning those lost, I realized I was not honoring LIFE. I was not taking full advantage of the breath I was blessed with and in an indirect way, I was spitting in their faces. They would give anything to have their loved ones with them and here I was, puffing away and declaring that life didn't matter to me. Maybe it's a long shot in terms of a connection, and obviously none of the widows or other mourners knew me or cared that I was smoking, but it hit home with me and I quit right then and there. Some of my friends gave me the nickname "Patch" since I would wear my nicoderm patch out to bars.

But I didn't totally get in awesome shape right then and there.

So three years later, I met The Hubbs (to be) at a wedding. You know how your mom always tells you to look nice because "you might meet someone there"? Well, I rolled my eyes just like you did, but dang it all, I ran right into him and cursed myself for not buying a new dress or putting on a little more makeup. Luckily, The Hubbs (to be) was smitten and so was I. He had just moved here to Colorado and was entranced with all the natural beauty and abundant opportunity for activity the Rockies had to offer. He had hiked more in the year he had been here than me in my pitiful Colorado Native existence. Who was I to proudly claim "Native" when all I knew was the bars and the malls? I might as well have been from Tulsa. So we hiked together. A lot. He showed me how to lift weights. HEAVY ones. I knew how to eat healthy, but he really got me into consistency and making it a lifestyle. I dropped 18 pounds without hardly even noticing it and got the muscle I never knew was possible. I felt fit, happy and like a true Colorado girl. (see above pic).

Well, two inactive pregnancies (due to medical reasons on both accounts) and five years later, I am feeling a little BLAH. I still hike, but not as much as I want to, and squeezing into a size six (or actually a four like in the above photo) is a far gone dream. But this is not about pants size. I want to be fit again. To kick butt on a six hour hike up a fourteener, to look around at the beauty around me and feel like I am a part of it all, not just a frumpy mom drowning under a pile of burp rags and diapers. Who might as well be in Tulsa*.

So here's my THROWDOWN.

I am going to hike every weekend from May 1st through this summer that weather allows. (Yea! Blog fodder!)

I am going to eat better to FUEL my body, not my boredom or need to grab something quick.

and lucky you, I am going to POST IT ALL ON HERE. Including jPEGS of my progress. Yahoo! jPEGS!!

So let me ask you... ARE YOU READY FOR A THROWDOWN?

*No offense to Tulsa.

test post

2010-04-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Making sure I can blog from my blackberry... Hope it works, but I'm sure two toddlers, four airplane rides, two airport shuttle buses, a Sesame Street Sailboat tour, one small hotel room for all of us and potty training won't make for ANY interesting blog fodder. *wiping sarcasm from chin*

Devil's Head Fire Lookout Tower Hike

2010-04-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

Fire, Fire on the Mountain...
you'll have to excuse me. We're going to Jamaica in less than a week, so reggae song lyrics have been going through my head a lot lately. I saw three little birds in the grass the other day, and well, I'm sure you can figure out what song I had stuck in my head after that...

So, back to our regularly scheduled programming... being a mommy who hikes in the beautiful state of Colorado...

Devil's Head Fire Lookout Tower hike is an amazing one. One of my favorites to hike, especially with kids. I hiked it when Sa-Sa was just a few months old, and then again with The Samwich in tow. Interestingly enough, we hiked it both times in August, which I only discovered as I was going through my photo files. One tip for hiking the Denver Metro area hikes in summer. START EARLY. Like as soon as the kids wake up, throw some food in them, diapers on them and get in the car. It can get hotter than H-E- double hockey sticks if you know what I mean. And hot in the foothills can spell rattlesnakes, so the earlier you go, the better. In fact, The Hubbs and I usually take advantage of the mild mountain summers and try to hike deeper into the Rockies for most of the summer months and save the front range/foothill hikes for Spring and Fall.

You also don't want to deal with dehydration or heat exhaustion issues. Little kids are more susceptible to these conditions, can deteriorate faster, and often can't communicate how they're feeling.

ok, now that I have scared the bejeezus out of you and you've vowed to stay on the couch and eat cheetos, let's go HIKING!!!

So bring a hat...

Pack some bottles (or a nursing wrap if that's the way you swing)...

and know that you can change a diaper ANYWHERE. Even this nice, comfy rock.

note, this product here helps. That's what I am using in the photo, and no, I don't get any money from this company for sayin' I like it.

This hike is one of my favorites for a few reasons.

One, it's not too hard, but you still feel like you got a good ass kicking. I mean workout.

Two, a lot of the hike is in the shade, so the trail doesn't get blazingly hot, and if you forget the sunscreen, you might be all right. Being a mama, and a milehighker mama at that, there are a lot of things to remember to bring! Sometimes the sunscreen gets left right by the door at home where you just knew you would see it and remember it, right? You didn't know the dog would bolt out the open door right as you're trying to balance the backpack, diapers and the water canteens all while holding one kid by their ankle and you'd walk right past the suncreen.

Three, the views are incredible. From the fire tower itself, you have a 360 degree unobstructed view for one hundred miles on a clear day.

Four, the tower itself has some cool history. It was built in 1912 and the last of the original eleven front range towers. Helen Dowe was also the first US female fire ranger and helped staff the tower in the early 1900's.

Five, I also saw one of the creepiest-yet-coolest spectacles of nature on this hike the second time we did it.

Yup, those are ALL ladybugs. Creepy spotless ones. And this photo was one of about ten I took of different clusters. We never found out what was going on or if it was a usual occurrence for the area, but there was obviously some sort of ladybug mating ritual earlier in the month and this was the result. The spine tingling, gives you shivers and makes your skin crawl and itch for the rest of the day result.

I would not recommend letting small children climb the stairs to the fire tower themselves or walk around on the fire tower balcony. It is very high and does not have safety railings suitable for children. It just has a handrail. It is also worth noting that the fire tower lookout has an antennae nearby that often gets struck by lightning and the whole reason the tower is there in the first place is because it's a great vantage point to spot the thirty to forty forest fires started by lightning during a typical summer. So hiking in the summer on a day with thunderstorms in the forecast miiiight not be the best choice, right? ;) A clear day and an early morning departure is better.

When you get to the base of the fire tower stairs, there is a nice flat area for a picnic, restrooms and the ranger's tiny log cabin is sort of fun to see, but you can't go inside or anything.

The Directions:
Take Rampart Range Road south for about nine miles from Hwy 67 near Sedalia. Look for the signs for Devils Head Campground/Trail/Lookout Station

The Details:
Duration: 1.5 hours approx.
Trailhead elevation: 8600 feet
Top elevation: 9700 feet
Dogs allowed? Yes
# of stairs to the top: 143
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/spl/devils_head.shtml

Finding your "muchness" again.

2010-04-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

It had been a helluva day.

Piles of laundry, potty training and then afternoon rain kept us inside almost all day. The Samwich is in a clingy mood lately about whoknowswhat and follows me around crying with both arms in the air, beckoning me to pick him up if I dare, oh, I don't know, put him down to crack my breakfast egg with both hands or try to go to the bathroom by myself. Such a mean mommy!

Sa-Sa is still knee deep in potty training (oh what a urine-soaked image THAT just conjured up. That'll teach me to think before I type...) and it makes it very hard to leave the house without the travel potty, three spare pairs of minnie mouse panties, socks, and pants. And a partridge in a pear tree.

In fact, the only time we left today was after she used our folding travel potty seat for the first time. I had declared she would get a special treat if she did, then kicked myself when I found my cupboards were bare... it was pouring out, but ice cream was the first thing I thought of, so off we went. There were a few squabbles over the fact there were two kids and only one cup of ice cream, but overall, a nice outing.

We went home, made dinner and then the shazaam hit the fan again. Neither child wanted turkey burgers and sweet potato fries, The Hubbs couldn't find something upstairs that was hidden in plain sight, etc etc etc and so forth. So after playing airplane a few times with sweet potatoes and turkey bites and managing to get a few in The Samwich, I put him to bed in record time and declared I was going to the movies. Alone.

I didn't even check the movie times. I just left, figuring something would be playing soon, and if not, I could just enjoy the dark, the quiet and nobody asking me for anything.

I picked the 7:55 Alice in Wonderland and settled into my seat in the totally empty theater. Ahhhhhhh.

I got weepy during two of the trailers and realized maybe it had been a harder day than I thought. Babies looks incredible, by the way.

Ten minutes before showtime, two men and a young boy enter. In a totally empty theater, where do they choose to sit? Right in front of me.

Five minutes before showtime, two older ladies enter. In a practically empty theater, where do they choose to sit? Right behind me. Shit, I'm popular. Must be my perfume.

The guys all talk and one of the women keeps bumping my seat back. It's still better than being home I guess, haha.

Overall, the movie was sorta meh. I'd give it a C. Extra credit though for cinematography or whatever that is called that "makes the movie look cool". One part that totally struck me was when The Hatter (Johnny Depp looking rather unattractive unfortunately) tells a self-doubting Alice that she's lost her "muchness", or her spunk, courage, vitality that he remembered about her.

I got all weepy again (Dang you Tim Burton) when I realized that mommyhood sometimes sucks the muchness right out of me. And it was all I could really think about for the rest of the movie. Well that and being kicked in the back by the dingbat behind me.

I love love love my babies. Every second with them, I am enamored with and entranced by them. I kiss them on the neck honestly a thousand times a day just to hear them laugh and breathe them in. But they are difficult. They seem to know when the other one is about to cry so they start up too. The phone rings and they both hang on me like monkeys, all claws and howling. I often refer to mommyhood as wonderful chaos to my friends who have just had children. I also wonder what the heck I did with myself all day before kids. I know I hiked a lot, read more books, went snowboarding most weekends, I had a lot more time to devote to me and my muchness.

Sure, I doubted myself on occasion, had moments of weakness, meanness, we all do. But I had a twinkle in my eye more often than I didn't. I never ever went to bed feeling drained or dulled.

Who knows, maybe this blog will help me dig out and dust off my muchness. I should wear it more often, even if it is a little tight around the middle after having two kids in two years. I think I'll renew my ski pass too. They've probably forgotten who I am after FOUR seasons with no sight of me. How rude, I didn't even write. I will vow to read books about stuff I am genuinely interested in, not just parenting magazine articles. I will take photos of things other than my children. I will hike every weekend this summer. (Ooh, fodder for my hiking section!)

But right now, I will get some rest and gear up for tomorrow. I'm taking the kiddos to the zoo. Might end up there myself.

Fourth of July Trail

2010-04-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I am going to start rifling through my thousands of photos and start posting some of my actual hiking experiences on here. You know, so you actually believe that I AM a Milehighker Mama and I don't just spend all my days doing laundry and going to the mall. ;)

Here is Fourth of July Trail, which to be accurate, I hiked before I was a mama. We got pregnant with Sa-Sa shortly after. (ha, note, this hike is in no way responsible for that. I don't want to get a phone call from the Forest Service telling me that a bunch of hopeful mommies and daddies to be were caught doing the deed in the bushes and reported me.) Although, I will admit I find my hiking hubby very cute in his shorts.

We did this trail on July 4, 2006. I thought that would be fun to do when I found the trail the night before online. This trail was named this because the high elevation makes it so that higher portions of the trail are often covered in snow until this date. This trail had some of the most beautiful wildflowers I have ever seen, so I would also recommend you go around that time of year.

While we did not have kids yet, we could have easily brought them along. Most of the trail that we did was flat or slightly pitched. The trail ends at Diamond Lake, but with our kids, we probably would not have made it that far.

The Directions:
From downtown Nederland, go north on Highway 72 for .5 miles to County Road 130 and make a right. You will see a sign for Eldora Ski Resort at this junction. Continue on Highway 130 through the town of Eldora, just past which it becomes a dirt road (4 miles). Continue on the dirt road (past the Hessie Trailhead) another 4.8 miles and take the right fork at the Buckingham Campground up into the designated parking area. Though suitable for most 2WD cars in good condition, the road between the Hessie turnoff and Fourth of July Trailhead can be rough. High clearance vehicles are recommended.

The Details:
Round-Trip Length: 5.3 miles
Start - End Elevation: 10,172' – 10,940’ (10,957' max elevation)
Elevation Change: +768’ net elevation gain (+1,222’ total roundtrip elevation
Dogs Allowed? Yes

oh c'mon, it's just a little Hepatitis.

2010-04-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yech. Blech. Ewwwwwww.

Sorry, I am too busy shaking off the heebie jeebies right now. I just took Sa-Sa and the Samwich to a local indoor play place and the following experience has me running for a vat of industrial-strength hand sanitizer. It also has me baffled at some mothers. I try really hard not to judge, especially other's parenting choices. I promise. Hey, if what you're doing doesn't directly affect me I generally don't care and leave you to it. But when it goes WAY beyond cooties like this does, and then you're also rude on top of it, I just gotta blog.

I'm with my friend Michigan Mama who has a two year old and is preggers with her second. Just as we're getting ready to leave, we notice a small boy (maybe 2 1/2 years old) sitting alone on one of the waffles (the play place is made up of over-sized foam breakfast food). He has peeled off his socks and is picking at a cut that is BLEEDING. Sa-Sa doesn't want to leave yet and keeps trying to climb all over the waffle with him. I am holding the Samwich and trying desperately to keep her away from little Mr. blood-borne pathogen. Michigan Mama and I glance around with that concerned look on our faces that clearly translates to "where's this kid's parents?" in mommy language. Any mom with a kid who pushes, bites or likes to eat playground sandbox sand knows the look I am talking about. Nothing. The moms within the generally acceptable, invisible border of where a two year old's moms SHOULD be are all preoccupied with their own children.

Michigan Mama makes an accurate observation that his cut is actually an old one. She spots the mom she thinks she saw with him earlier about 50 feet away. She chatting with another woman and looking generally unconcerned. I consider minding my own beeswax and toting my wriggling children off to lunch, but her fake tan that would make a Birkin Bag envious just gets under my skin. I vow to be polite and try to come off like I am just letting her know. I mean, we all lose track of our kids for a sec here and there, toddlers are self-exploring, socially immature beings, and like I said, who am I to judge? Maybe she truly doesn't know he has a cut and an obsession with picking things until they bleed. Turns out it's not her, but her equally self-absorbed friend. In parentheses is what I wanted to say but didn't.

"Excuse me, (so sorry to interrupt. I'm sure talking about how badly you need a manicure is important, but) is that your curly haired blond little boy (aaaall the way) over there?"

"uh yeah" she practically has to squint to see where I gestured.

"Well he has a little (gross, infected) cut on his foot and-"

Self-absorbed Mama doesn't get up, laughs to her friend and seems a little bored with me. "Oh, ok."

"And well, it's bleeding (in a public place surrounded by children, moron)". My tone goes from casual to slightly insistent, but still polite.

She cuts me off again, "I'll get it." I walk away before I start saying some of the things in parentheses.

When I see her again, she's putting his socks back on and leaving. I doubt she went out of her way to get a wet wipe or alert an employee that it might be time to clean the play area again.

I'm off to find some photos of recent hikes to post for future topics and keep myself off the proverbial soapbox. In no way do I ever claim to be perfect. Parenting has humbled me to an unimaginable degree, but really, I don't think I would ever be rude and snobbish to a fellow mom who was trying to alert me to a public safety issue. Mortified, sure, apologetic, most likely, especially if she had shown me a courteous tone. Haha, at least because she might blog about me later!

Enjoy the Ride

2010-04-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have come to a parenting realization today and you'll have to excuse the cheesy metaphor. Parenting is like a roller coaster. You will run through a myriad of emotions such as but not limited to: apprehension, terror, elation, dread, giddy anticipation, disappointment, and nausea.

Here's what made me realize that parenting is like a rollercoaster: Potty Training. Up until now, most milestones in my kids' lives was pretty simple and straightforward. It was the Ferris Wheel, for those of you still stuck at the Amusement Park metaphor. One day they were babies who couldn't lift their heads. One day they did. One night they slept straight through. One minute they babbled incoherent nonsense and the next they looked at the dog and said "DAHG!".

Potty Training has not gone this way.

On Sa-Sa's first birthday, we found out we were pregnant with The Samwich, so when she was about 22 months old, we had a 2 month old. (He was early). I was a zombie, nursing all hours of the day and night, usually unshowered and really, had zero time to devote to potties and Elmo panties and extra laundry. I was already changing 12 infant diapers a day, really, what was a few more? Sure, toddler diapers are WAY grosser, but when you can't remember if you brushed your teeth or not and your boobs are leaking milk through your shirt, what's a little extra crap between friends? Before I knew it, she was turning two and I vaguely remember hearing so and so's kid was trained at 18 months and thinking "oh dang it, she's two and still in diapers. " Well we went out and bought a potty and she sat on it right away, laughed and clapped. Hooray! I thought. This was easy! She'll be trained in no time. This was my first introduction to the roller coaster however. For the next 11 months (yes, I said 11 months) she wavered between the occasional success and sheer, shrieking, make-the-neighbors-call-CPS terror of the potty.

I am not a squeamish type at all, so don't get me wrong here, but I had no desire to deal with potty training accidents on a daily basis, so I will admit it: I was LAZY and kept her in diapers because it was easier. I would push the issue for a day or so, then give up and claim she wasn't ready. Potty trained kids are easier when they are actually trained, not in process. In process kids are the most work of all. Maybe I should say MY in process kid was a lot of work. I am sure that somewhere out there, there is a kid who woke up in their 2nd birthday and said "today's the day!" and never looked back. Twas not my kid.

So here we are now, 3 years, 3 weeks old and doing pretty well. She has been doing very well for the past three weeks, but has not gone one whole day without an accident, is still in a pull-up for nighttime and has very little (almost no) success outside of the house. Week one, she got great at using the little potty all day, even going on her own without really telling me. We had accidents every day at home, but usually just one or two. Week two, about the same, so we ventured out in public. BIG hill on the roller coaster. She peed her pants in just about every store in a 2 mile radius of our house. I won't be able to show my face in a few of them for a while. :) Thank Goodness the local Target is large and has laminate floors. Just sayin'. I tried bribes of candy, coloring books, play doh, and a new dollhouse. Nada.

The moment that really made me realize that this area of parenting was going to be like a rollercoaster? When she peed in a restaurant while sitting on my lap. An unexpected corkscrew in the roller coaster that had me reeling with frustration. But then I just had to laugh, apologize to the waitress and tie a jacket around my waist. That moment made me realize I gotta just let it all go. I can't expect it to be like her first laugh, or her first step. Those sort of milestones were precious, blink and you'll miss it, happy split seconds in time. This? I have to read the warning signs, wait my turn, jump in, strap in, hang on, let loose, take the hills and the dips, sometimes shut my eyes and sometimes holler for joy.

Where to Hike in Denver Area with Kids...

2010-04-18T07:17:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I should be true to my blog title and share some of my favorite hiking spots with our kids and some tips... so let's start with the basics. My kids are 3 and 1 1/2, so we usually employ a baby carrier backpack. Sa-Sa goes in her hand-me-down Kelty framed version and The Samwich has a Deuter KangaKid. When our kids were younger, we often used our BabyBjorn front carrier. Now, please note, I am not paid by either company (or any company) to mention these products. I just use 'em, like 'em and let ya know about it.

Sa-Sa is getting to the age where she often wants to walk instead of be carried, so we have to pick our hikes accordingly now, or put her back in when it gets too strenuous or dangerous for her.

Here's our usual packing list:

Diapers/wipes

portable changing pad

Water bottles (don't forget sippy cups!) or get this

Snacks for us and for kids

Sunscreen

Hats

Sunglasses

Clip on Toy (clip to baby carrier backpack)

Portable potty with bags

Here's a list of some of our favorite hikes in the Denver Metro Area. Google any of these trail names for more info. And please, do your own research on all these trails and decide for yourself if it is safe for you and your family. My husband and I are avid, expert hikers and we know our own limits; therefore I am not going to put my own interpretations of how easy, intermediate or difficult I think these hikes are. One note, we do these hikes in the late spring, summer or early fall. We rarely hike in the winter anymore since it's more difficult to gauge if our small children are getting cold, our kids are often on our backs and trails can be iced over so slipping backwards would not be good, and the thought of getting lost with two small kids in the snow is a LOT worse than getting lost in the summertime. I also don't like the avalanche danger in some of these areas.

Morrison Area:

Red Rocks Trail

Dinosaur Ridge/Dakota Ridge Hogback

South-West Metro area:

Boulder Area:

Mountains along I-70:

Maxwell Falls

St Mary's Glacier

Herman's Gulch

Hanging Lake/Spouting Rock

Diamond Lake

Lily Pad Lake

Beaver Lake Trail

Here are great sites with info on all these hikes and a LOT more:

Localhikes.com

summitcountyexplorer.com

hikingincolorado.com

And Away We Go!

2010-04-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

One of my dear friends suggested I start a mommy blog. While part of me is unsure about putting myself out there in the public like this, really, what's to lose? Not many people will read it, so what if people know that I forget to brush my teeth some days, and it's nice to have a little vent-fest every so often.

So, my friend, I'll call her Jogger Mama, we went out for wine last night and three hours later, after wine, a thai shrimp salad, coffee, tears, laughter and a few skeletons un-closeted, I was finally back home with my two toddlers and The Hubbs. It was almost 11pm, and the kiddies were long asleep. The Hubbs and I chatted a bit, but we were both spent, so off to sleep we went.

It was so nice to get away from the mommy grind and even though we talked mostly about our kids, it was an escape that I don't get enough of. What I love best about Jogger Mama is that we're kindred mama spirits. We agree on almost everything when it comes to parenting- we have similar parenting styles, similar lifestyles, even similar political views, but beyond all that, when one of us airs a grievance, the other one "just gets it". There is no judgement, just understanding and sympathy. While I love The Hubbs dearly, there is always that underlying "I'm from Mars, you're from Venus" difference that leaves us both shaking our heads saying "what the heck are they thinking??" as we stalk off to our opposite corners after a disagreement.

I realized as I drove home last night that Jogger Mama (and I only call her that for anonymity's sake... she is so much more than just a jogger. It's just one of the first things I think of when I think of her. My motto is that I only run when chased, so someone that makes jogging an integral part of their lives is always a bit fascinating to me. I could call her Genuinely Caring Mama, Breastfeeding Advocate-Organic-Eatin' Mama, SweetSensitiveFunnyMama, etc etc etc. ) is one of my dearest friends, and the one I am definitely closest to. When I told her this, she was a little taken aback, surprised that I was not this open with everyone and surprised I couldn't call more women my deep, close friend like her. She saw how many friends I have on Facebook and how many of them post after my posts, etc and said it just seemed like I had tons of friends. She loves my openness and I guess she assumed I am like that with everyone. While I do have a lot of acquaintances and a good group of people I call friends, I always seem to keep them at an arm's length. I don't mean to, and I would love to be closer with many of them... what I realized through Jogger Mama though, is that to get that level of deep friendship, you have to share a lot of yourself... and I often pull back from doing that with many people, for fear of being judged, or at best, just boring the piss out of them. I don't like the attention to be all on me and worst of all, I hate feeling like I am asking for their pity if I am telling someone something that was painful for me. I feel like when I am telling them something that was hard for me to go through, I worry that they are inwardly rolling their eyes and saying to themselves "wah wah wah, what a WHINER." Or, if I am in a group of women and some of them already know about it, they might be thinking "oh GAWD, not THIS story again..."

A perfect example is the story of when my daughter, (I'll call her Sa-Sa, the adorable way she pronounces her own name) was born. I had a horrible condition called Vasa Previa www.vasaprevia.org and had to spend 10 weeks on hospital bed rest. I could have lost my daughter any second of any of those 70 long days. While I did have walking privileges, and I made some good friends, it was pretty boring and stressful. She was also born 6 weeks premature, had to spend a week in the NICU and 6 weeks on supplemental O2. While I was on bed rest, I had an (unrelated) retinal detachment and had to undergo emergency eye surgery. I had to be transferred to another hospital (one that could not have dealt with my daughter's medical condition, nor delivered her alive had I gone into labor while having my eye surgery. I would have to either be AWAKE for my eye surgery, (uh, yeah, no thanks) or be put under general anesthesia for two hours, which is never the optimal choice for a growing fetus (still, no thanks!). It literally came down to me having to possibly choose blindness or baby. I remember crying and saying to my dad, "I love this baby girl and I want her to live, but really, do you get a chance at another set of EYES?" No.

Anyway, all worked out and I am not blind and I have a beautiful, perfect 3 year old. But even in writing all that, my palms get sweaty and I wonder what you all are thinking when reading it. I would hate for it to come across like a "poor, poor me" story. Whenever someone else pregnant discusses a complication, or bedrest, or preemies, or NICUs or O2 or whatever, I want to share... I want them to feel they are not alone like I felt many, many times. But something nags at me in the back of my mind saying I am being an attention whore or trying to steal their thunder and butting in with "oh yeah, but look at me and MY horrible story. It's waaaaay more than you had to go through!" To a lesser degree, it's the same with other issues... I decline to talk about marital struggles, family issues, parenting difficulties and so on. I often shut my trap and just keep to the small talk and the occasional joke with my mommy friends.

And it's not that I want to appear perfect. Anyone that sees me in person can tell THAT's not one of my goals, haha. My hair is usually in a sometimes-unwashed ponytail, often stuffed up under a baseball hat, my clothes are usually from Wal-Mart or Target since I have a 3 yr old and a 1 year old with constantly sticky hands and runny noses. Until Ann Taylor and J Crew invent popsicle or barf stain-free fabrics, I'm saving my money.

Anyway, Samwich (my one year old son's nickname) is awake and we're off to go buy my husband some new hiking shoes. Ha, you may wonder about the blog title now after all this talk of bedrest, wine nights and Target. I am an avid hiker as well as a mom. We're from Denver, the Mile High City, so well, I'm sure you have figured it out... :) I will share a lot of our hikes on here, but also just me being a mommy and sometimes that is MORE of an adventure!