Denver Fun

We spent our Spring Break in Denver where Chris works. Chris flew home and drove with us to Denver on Saturday the 5th and then we came home on Sophie's Birthday the 13th. It's always fun to be in and explore a new place. The kids and I had a lot of fun despite the unexpected snowy weather!Maggie and Sophie enjoying the snow.


At Denver's famous (infamous?:) Casa Bonita! Where you can dine on horrible Mexican food in a cave while watching cliff divers and people dressed in gorilla suits. The kids had the time of their lives. They have games and a Marachi band and a scary cave to explore. It is in a horrible part of town, but totally worth it. I actually went as a kid and have always remembered it.
Sam actually caught a prize in the grabber game!

Our cave table.


Another fun dining experience. The Stardust steakhouse. It was kid friendly with a giant slide and a dance floor....


and a balloon dude....

Go Maggie!


Hitting the dance floor with Daddy.


Sam at Rock N' Jam climbing gym.


On one nice day we checked out the Denver Zoo. It was awesome!


We had a perfect day :).

My little animals!


On another day the kids and I checked out the Wildlife Museum in Parker. It was small but very nicely done. We also saw an Imax movie on Australia.

An exploration of the Jamestown settlement at the museum.


A trip to Build-a-Bear for an early birthday present for Sophie.


Chris took Friday off and we headed down to Colorado Springs. There is a lot to do there! We ate at Fargo's pizza, an old west joint. And then we went to the Cave of the Winds.
Chris and Sam trying on hats at the general store.


Me in the cave with stalagmites.

Sophie at the Garden of the Gods (like a mini Moab).


At the Olympic Training Center. Go Olympic Spirit!!


The countdown clock. It shows how many days until the Summer Olympics and how many until the Winter .


We left on Saturday and made a pitstop in Vail for some hot chocolate and people watching.

We got to St. George on Saturday night and then celebrated Sophie's birthday on Sunday! We were at my brother Matt's house and had lunch, birthday cake, and presents. Then we hit the road and made it home that night. It was a great trip!

Eight candles, I can't believe it!

The birthday girl with her uncles, Andy and Matt.

Matt and his girlfriend, Jenny (who incidentally was a childhood friend of Brooklyn's!)

Our two goofy kids with Jenny's darling kids, Gage and Scout.

The birthday girl with mom and dad:).

Just before we left we were finding spiders who were hiding in their web holes. We wiggled sticks to get them out. Out of everything that was probably Sophie's favorite part of the day. Our little nature girl.

A Night with the Phantom!

The Phantom of the Opera was playing a limited engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and I couldn't resist! So Chris, Sophie and I had a date and saw a Broadway classic.

We had such a nice evening together and the singers were FABULOUS!! Man I could live at the theater:)

He's an IRONMAN!

Saturday Chris competed in his first half-Ironman triathlon in Oceanside. It's a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and then a 13.1 mile run! He is such a stud! We all went down to support him, but with over 2000 competitors, we didn't catch him until his run. He looked awesome though. For more details go to Chris's blog.

Dragging three tired kids around, by the time we got to where the finish line we had missed him by about 5 min! Such a bummer. But here he his at the transition area after the race.

Next time (did I say next time?) I will come solo. Though it's great for the kids to see their dad, six hours is a long time for them to wait for a glimpse. And hard to get them to all the different areas. Here they are passed out waiting for dad to run by. :)


Yeah! Dad, you are our hero!! Way to go hon!

Easter Weekend

We had a really nice family Easter weekend. Well, every weekend is nice because it means Daddy is home. So we made the most of it!

Friday night we headed down to the beach to roas t marshmallows for smores. It was pretty crowded, but someone let us borrow their fire and roast away-yum!


It's times like this when we can't imagine living anywhere but Cali.

Easter Day! We went to a nice church service and then we came home and had an Easter egg hunt.

It was such a beautiful day out - 86 degrees! We decided we had to take a fun family bike ride. Chris knows a great trail that's mostly downhill. It was perfect and then we went home and had Easter dinner. Weekends rule.

Moab on the Run

We took a quick 12 hour each way jaunt to Moab over the weekend. Chris ran in the Moab 1/2 Marathon with his sister Kellie and her husband KC. Kellie hooked us up with a great condo and then Grandma and Grandpa came up from ABQ to join us too! It was a quick, but very fun weekend.

Upon arrival in Moab, growing up in St.George, the red rocks felt just like home.

We visited Arches National Park just outside Moab-incredible! The rock formations were amazing. Can you find Sophie & Maggie?

Now can you find Sam? We couldn't stop him from running up to the cave.

Chillin' in the arch.


Maggie and Isaac did a great job hiking and managed to look cute too!


Chris coming in from the run! We waited with the kids close to finish line and it was so exciting to see them come in.


The awesome runners! Good job you guys, very impressive. Chris finished in at 1:42 and Kel & KC about 20 min. later. They all did great.


Sophie playing at the marathon park.


What a stud! Though it was funny to see everybody the next day walking like old men. But I guess it was worth it. I think we should make this a yearly tradition.


After running 13.1 miles we took the pilgrimage to Delicate Arch. Not an easy hike. But everyone pulled it off and we got some awesome shots. This is our family with Grandma & Grandpa.


Me and my honey:)

Thanks Brookie!

Brookie had given Chris a gift certificate to a climbing gym and Chris had never been able to use it. So last night we were trying to figure out something fun and new we could do for family date night. Chris saw the certificate and said "let's go"! So we hesitantly set off for Solid Rock in Lake Forest, not sure how the kids would respond. But after Chris played 20 questions with them and they actually figured out what is was they were excited. Whew!

We got geared up, had a quick lesson and off they went! I was the designated belayer and the kids were climbing maniacs. Once they figured out they they couldn't fall, there was no stopping them. They absolutely loved it! It was so much fun.

Sam reaching new heights. With his long arms and legs and slimness, he was awesome.

Sophie was so fast it was hard to keep her rope tight, she's a natural-no fear!

Chris mastering one of the toughest climbs.

Maggie and Sam just hanging out...

Go Sophie!

The belayers at work. Sam was handling Chris and I had Sophie.

Maggie was able to climb a little, but when it got too high, she was done. She was such a good sport and just played in the gym and hung out with us.

What a babe.....

We literally had to drag the kids out of the gym. We were there a couple of hours and it was past their bedtime, but they did not want to leave. I think we found a new family favorite.
Thank you Brookie!