Living in Munchkinland

Saturday morning, after the fundraiser, I got up early and drove Davis to Golden for mountain bike practice. Michael mowed the lawn and worked in the garage. When I got home, we went and loaded up all the stuff from the party and took it to school and to our home. I rushed home and made a texas sheet cake. Then we quickly showered and headed downtown to have a dinner date and see Miss Saigon. We were exhausted, but we loved it and loved being together on a date. The next morning we hopped up and drove to church. This is Sam's Coming of Age year and he needs to be there as often as possible. Davis started YRUU this year and they were doing a really neat activity of painting a throw pillow that he will take off to college some day. I worked downstairs with kids while Michael and Sam enjoyed the service and donut debrief afterwards. We stopped at our favortie Poke place for lunch and then came home to change and pack the car. That afternoon we drove up to the Levitt Pavilion to cel...

Since the end of June, I've been working on a fundraiser for Anastasis Academy, where Sam goes to school and I work. I conceived of the idea of having a picnic/outdoor movie night fundraiser. I picked the Princess Bride, because I love it so. I was the event planner and worked on it ALL summer and early fall. This past weekend we had a weekend off between mountain bike races and we filled it! Friday night was the fundraiser. We worked all day setting it up and it was gorgeous. The team we had working on the event were amazing! We partnered with SAME Cafe for food and had wine donated from Tony's and beer donated from Crazy Mountain Brewery. We had lawn games and facepainting and an interactive game for the movie. We also had popcorn and picnic blankets and a great silent auction. I led a paddle raiser right before the movie and it worked even though I was terrified to do it. I thought the party turned out really well and lots of people said it was fun. And now it's over! ...

Sweet Sam decided not to go Sand Dunes with his school last week and we had a great week together. He built amazing things in his room, played his guitar, shot scooter videos for his youtube channel and played with Holly. He helped me at Costco, went to Snobahn and the skate park and worked on a super long story/novel he has been working on. He also decorated a pair of white shoes we had bought for his play last spring with a bunch of sharpies. His friend Garrett did one shoe and Sam did the other.

For our Steamboat race, we felt more prepared and experienced. We decided to pack up the car and drive up on Friday since it's such a long drive. We found a cheap hotel with a kitchen and a loft that was close to the ride and Suzy and Garrett were ready to feed and care for our dogs while we were gone. We were a bit nervous about Davis's safety since our last race was such a spectacular fail, but he was excited and were too. The beginning of our trip was not good, however. I loaded up the car and was ready-ish to roll out when Davis got off the bus from school, but when he got home, we realized his bike had a flat tire. We decided to change it before we left (terrible idea). This changing procedure was difficult and Michael was super frustrated and Davis was super frustrated and we waited and waited. It was pouring down rain. We finally got on the road around 5:30 and we had waited too long. A hail storm further west had caused a rock slide which closed both main arteries int...

For Labor Day weekend we drove to Almont, CO and shared a cabin with the Danielsons. It was a really fun weekend. We drove up early Saturday morning and the drive was lovely. We stopped in Salida for lunch at a great sandwich shop called Sweetie's Sandwich in Salida. I highly recommend. Then we drove over Monarch pass and I enjoyed remembering our trips there in the RV when I was a kid. Our cabin was at Three Rivers Resort which was great- right between Gunnison and Crested Butte. We got a sweet cabin with our hot tub on the deck overlooking the river. I loved our little room that Michael and I slept in because we could hear the running river all night. The first day the kids swam in the river and we hung out, taking a meandering drive to a bridge to see the trout run and then playing dominoes and cooking dinner in the evening while the kids watched a movie. The next day we drove to Crested Butte and hiked and then went into town for lunch at a great pizza place called the Secre...