Lance's sixth birthday party

Last week we had Lance's Party Safari birthday for his 6th birthday. He greeted his guests wearing a Pie Bald Ball Python. Lance was in heaven and was quite the host.

Lance got to pick 10 animals from the Safari and it started off with a Yellow Bearded Dragon. All the kids (and the few adults) got to touch all the animals and we learned all about the different creatures.

Russell with the Yellow Bearded Dragon

The biggest snake was the Coastal Carpet Python

There was a Sulcata Tortoise...

and a Rose Hair Tarantula. Russell had the appropriate shirt so got to hold the tarantula first.

Lance and the Pie Bald Ball Python

My favorite animal was the Black Throat Monitor. Trevor wasn't quite as thrilled.

Rachel, however, was fascinated.

I got to hold the monitor and ended up with some pretty scratched up arms.

The party ended off with a snake cake and lizard pinata. The animals were a big hit and Lance had the time of his life.

Longs Peak

Last week I tackled another 14er. I've been wanting to do Longs Peak for several years now, and finally bit the bullet. I went with my brother-in-law Andy and Pie Konchar. We left Denver at 2 a.m. and started hiking at 4. As the name implies, it is a LONG hike - about 15 miles round trip and over 5,000 feet elevation gain.

Andy and I at the trailhead.

Pie Konchar

Sunrise

We hiked for about 2 1/2 hours in the dark until the sun came up. The first part of the hike was mostly trail through the forest. Longs Peak is in Rocky Mountain National Park, so the scenery is beautiful.


After a while we hit the boulder field which leads up to the keyhole. After that the hiking became more difficult.


You can see Andy and Pie hiking up toward the keyhole. As we passed through I think it was one of the windiest places I have ever been in, and I must say a bit scarry.

Close up of the keyhole

After we hiked through we traversed a face, which you can see behind Andy and me.

At the end of the face is the trough - a narrow steep section of bouldering. I took out the helmet at that point as there is a ton of loose rock which can fall down at any time. The section after the trough was the toughest, as we came around and hiked across another face which had some exposure. There were a few slightly scary moves but I made it across without much trouble. At the end of that face is the homestretch - a steep rock climb to the summit.

Summit of Longs Peak - 14,255 feet

More summit pictures

Pie, me and Andy on the summit

The hike down was somewhat grueling, as we were pretty tired by that point. The entire hike took 11 1/2 hours and it was definitely the hardest 14er I have done so far. I think that will be my last for the year - 13 down and 41 to go!

Arizona 2011

We had a great trip to Arizona this year. We drove to Phoenix first and spent a week at Grammy Anne and Grandpa Fred's house, or the Desert House as it has come to be known. Most of the daytime was spent in the pool.

There was much nakedness among the babies (Trevor and cousin Lauren)

The kids enjoyed the pool house, and ping pong and fooseball were frequent activities.



Lance climbed Camelback Mountain for the first time with dad and Grammy Anne, as is tradition when the kids are five years old. He made it the whole way and showed us he'll be a great hiker.

Calling Mom from the summit to let her know he made it.

My favorite picture from the trip

The other part of the tradition is receiving a Beanie Baby Camel after the first summit of Camelback Mountain. Lance was very proud of his and carried it around the rest of the trip.

Rachel and cousin William on the piano




Grandpa Fred harvesting his watermelon crop




We took a trip to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, a brand new museum with instruments from around the world.

Lance and Russell took a turn on the big gong.

Next was a trip to the Phoenix zoo. We went EARLY to beat the heat - the zoo closes at 2 pm anyway as no one is crazy enough to brave the afternoon heat.

Feeding the stingrays

The kids all love the carousel

There is a brand new orangutan exhibit and the newest baby was having a ball performing for the kids.

Cold drinks to beat the heat

There was a Marvel Superhero exhibit at the Scottsdale Library. The kids dressed up in costumes and took turns in the Batmobile, which turned out to be one of those little coin operated car rides - but they had fun anyway.

Then it was on to Greer. One of the great things about Greer is taking the kids on all the adventures we went on at their age. Here we are at Benny Creek - a short hike I remember from many years ago.

Russell spent a great amount of time whacking on trees and rocks with his stick.

While we didn't tackle a huge puzzle this year the kids had fun doing the smaller ones. (again, many of the same puzzles we had as kids) Rachel became quite the puzzle builder.

Up near the spring

This is a picture taken right after the previous one, as the log they were sitting on crumbled and the kids fell crashing to the ground.

Hiking up the creek

The bridge picture

There were a few fishing trips to the pond, but patience doesn't last too long in the little ones. I think we caught at least one fish.

Lance got his casting down pat.

I took one afternoon and went on a mountain bike ride on the Los Burros trail near Pinetop.

The Miles came up for an afternoon and we spent most of the time on the red swing.
(here with cousin Rhylan)

Russell and Nick

It was another fantastic Arizona trip. Each year the kids enjoy the cabins more and more and they're already asking when we're going back.