Labor Day Weekend

The Blowers bunch made their way to Denver for Labor Day weekend. It was fun for Elias to spend time with his cousins. Two months in a row must be a record! Brit and E sported their matching shirts when we went to Ikea.

Saturday morning we all packed into one car (unbelievably) and drove to Buena Vista. We went on a short hike to Agnes Vaille Falls in the afternoon.

Mount Antero in the back

Look closely - everyone else is up near the falls

Elias loves being in his carrier. We made dinner over the fire, then roasted marshmallows.

The ranger warned us of bear activity earlier in the afternoon. Needless to say, I did not sleep well that night. Fun weekend!

E's first rafting trip!

This past weekend we took Elias out on the water for the first time. Sadly, we didn't even use our own boat. That marks a whole summer of our poor, lonely raft being left in the rafters in the garage. Hopefully next year will be less despicable. Elias seemed to enjoy himself as no crying ensued during the two hour trip down the river.

Ryder and Elias before getting into the boat



Right before E bit Ryder...not a proud parenting moment

Hopefully we'll get out more next summer! We put in near Glenwood Springs, right below the Shoshone section. It was a beautiful morning. After taking out, we drove over to Leadville to catch a glimpse of the LT100. Elias helped Aaron set up the tent.

We put Elias in the empty tent to play for a bit by himself while we caught up with Rob and Jenna.

We went into town and caught the first place finisher - I think he came in around 9 pm. That's an amazing time to have run 100 miles! Here's a shot of Aaron and Elias watching the finish...

...and one of Elias early Sunday morning in the tent.

We stopped at the finish line at watched the last two hours of the race. It was SO inspirational. Heartbreaking, too, to hear the gun go off signaling the 30 hour mark. I can't imagine being able to hear the gunshot, knowing you missed the finish by minutes. Aaron definitely got geared up for next summer.

Quick MN Weekend

We drove to Minneapolis for a very quick weekend, and Elias flew with Oma and Opa. Friday we went out on Kev's boat with Uncles, Oma and Opa, Auntie Rita, GG, cousin H and her parents.

Aaron spent Saturday recovering from a terrible hangover. He slept in the park while Elias laid in the grass next to him, and I was busy doing wedding things.

Elias was a machine on the dance floor! He seems to favor 80's bands. Sunday we woke up early and drove back home, and Elias stayed with Uncle Matt and Auntie Rita.



Pikes Peak

Friday night we drove down through Colorado Springs and camped near the base of Pikes Peak. There were beautiful backcountry camping spots before the trailhead - they were all very secluded. We arrived just before the sun set, and finished cooking dinner in the dark. Elias loved having his own little outdoor playground.

I sat and didn't do much while Aaron cooked dinner and set up the tent...let's blame my laziness on the fact that I was 6 weeks pregnant. That's all, not much else to report.

Weekly Training Review: July 3 - July 9

7/3/11

Nothing


Family reunion events keeping us very busy.

7/4/11

Nothing


Very busy with family reunion stuff.  Got to see my Dad's family today.  It was great to see everyone again.

7/5/11

A.M. Bike 17.19 Miles


Was able to go on one last bike out to the U of Mary in Bismarck before heading back to Colorado.

7/6/11

P.M. Swim .85 Miles


Bike is in the shop again.  The headset is messed up and not cooperating with me.  I'm trying to reassemble it after taking it back to Bismarck and either parts are missing or it was never put together correctly.

7/7/11

Nothing


I was able to get my bike today.  They had to put a whole new headset on it.  Luckily it is still under warranty and I wasn't charged anything.  Still not sure if it was my fault or the manufacturers.

7/8/11
P.M. Swim 1 Miles

I have been training for the Boulder Peak Olympic Tri this coming weekend.  My goal tonight was to do a one mile swim without stopping.  I was able to do it, but I did stop for about a minute or two just after half ways.  Tonight's workout definitely helped me feel more confident about the upcoming one mile open water swim.  

7/9/11

Nothing


Headed to Boulder today; getting ready for the tri tomorrow.  I am pretty nervous.  We got to Boulder later than I had wanted.  It was almost four when we got there and I was pretty tired.  I had wanted to swim in the reservoir for a bit, but was exhausted from the morning to do so.

TOTALS:

Run Week: 26.64 miles

Run YTD: 777.81 miles

Bike YTD: 275.69 miles

Swim YTD: 6.01 miles

Jenny YTD: 91.8 miles

Elias YTD: 31.3 miles

Back to the Bis

We went to ND for Aaron's family reunion over the Fourth this year. Elias had a good time on the plane.

We stayed with the Blowers, so Elias was able to spend lots of quality time with his cousins.

While in Bismarck, we spent a lot of time with Aaron's extended family. Elias was able to meet his namesake, too. We also went to the parade and watched fireworks on the Fourth, and I went to my first rodeo. (Apparently Aaron's already been to multiple rodeos). Here are a few highlights...

Watching the parade

Brit wearing E's clothes. Huh?

Elias squared

Waving during pictures

Yeehaw!

I'm writing this in January 2012, so my memory is a bit of a blur. It was a fun trip overall, Elias was able to meet a lot of relatives. We went running by the flooding Missouri River daily in the sweltering heat. And, we found out we're pregnant, too! That was by far the best part of the trip. :)

Weekly Training Review: June 26 - July 2

6/26/11

P.M. Run 5.68 Miles

6/27/11

A.M. Bike 2.31 Miles

P.M. Bike 2.81 Miles

6/28/11
A.M. Run 4.64 Miles

6/29/11
We headed back to Bismarck ND for a family reunion.  I needed to train for my upcoming triathlon, so I decided to fly my bike back with me.  We were in Bismarck until the 5th of July
A.M. Bike 17.21 Miles
Found a great route from my sisters place out past U-Mary and down to Kimball Bottoms.  I found that ND is a great place to bike because the streets are so wide and their are limited cars on the road

P.M. Run 4.08 Miles

Ran from my parents place down to my sisters place.  Ran a 6:52 pace.  It was incredibly humid and I cramped about 1 mile in.  I think I could have ran it at a 6:30 or less pace without the cramping.

6/30/11
A.M. Bike 17.15 Miles
Same route out past U-Mary to Kimball Bottoms.  I kept going a little more on the road out to Kimball Bottoms and found that it was flooded over top of the

P.M. Run 3.89 Miles

Ran along River Road with Jenny.  Jenny struggled with the humidity, but we finished.

7/1/11

A.M. Bike 13.46 Miles

7/2/11
A.M. Run 8.36 Miles

TOTALS:

Run Week: 26.64 miles

Run YTD: 777.81 miles

Bike YTD: 258.5 miles

Swim YTD: 4.16 miles

Jenny YTD: 91.8 miles

Elias YTD: 31.3 miles