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.

Xterra Lory Triathlon

Last week I competed in my first triathlon. Dave Koenig, Jon VanNoy and I went up to Fort Collins for the Xterra Lory off road triathlon.

Jon and I waiting for the swim start.

It started off with a half mile swim in beautiful Horsetooth reservoir. I finished the swim in 21:13, slightly off my goal of sub 20 minutes.




After the swim there was a 12.2 mile mountain bike course. It was two laps of single track riding and by that time the sun was beating down. I finished in 1 hour 22 minutes and was pretty wiped out by that time.




The last stage was a 4.8 mile trail run. When I say trail run what I really mean is straight up a mountain run. The first half was switch backs with some major elevation gain, and that wiped me out completely. I ended up walking a fair amount of the up but was able to run the second half. It was extremely hot by that time and I was completely exhausted - notice the fatigue/anguish on my face. The run/walk took 1 hour 7 minutes.




The finish line was the fun portion, with a giant slip-n-slide that ended up in a pool of water. I garnered up some energy and sprinted to the finish, cruising across the water and splashing down in the pool.



I ended up soaking wet, but it felt good after being beat down by the sun. My finish time was 3 hours 6 minutes - not quite what I was aiming for, but it was my first triathlon and a good starting point. The overall experience was a blast and there was a nice sense of accomplishment. I think I'll make this a yearly goal and maybe even add a few more in.