Super Audobaun

Some of my former co-workers had this crazy idea to bike up to the base of Mount Audobaun and then hike up to the peak (~13,000 ft) from the base.  It sounded like quite an adventure, so I said sure.  What is worth noting is that at this point, I had just finished up probably the best racing season of my life and happened to be in good shape.  This probably wasn't the case for my two compatriots, but they were eager nonetheless.  We decided to meet at around 7 am, and here they are all excited to start from my former boss' house in North Boulder.

The first leg was a ride from Boulder up to Brainard lake.  This alone was probably a 2-3 hour ascent, and while it was fairly nice and warm in Boulder it had become fairly cold up top.  Here is Chris coming into the watering hole up at Ward.  He is joined by some of the locals filling up water jugs for their houses.

Here comes Shawn, bringing up the rear as a Clydesdale...though he took it to us skinny guys on the way back down.  Anyways, once we got to Brainard we ate some quick lunch and changed into hiking gear, knowing we had about a 3-4 hour hike ahead of us.  It was quite enjoyable, but about half way up it became clear that the route was still covered in a mix of snow/ice in the top half.  Having already been out for almost 4-5 hours, knowing we had a good hour hike back to the bike and another 1.5 hours back to Boulder on the bike descent, we put our egos aside and decided to turn around short of our goal.  I have to say, though my legs still felt strong by the time we got back to Boulder, I was quite happy to return after a solid 6-7 hour journey.  Maybe next year we can actually make the full trip.

Gavin's First CU Football Game

Here is Gavin at his first CU Football game.  I (Brent) have very vivid memories of going to CU games and being a little Ralphie Stampeder from probably about Gavin's age.  My family had season tickets for almost my entire childhood, so it is quite fun to be able to give Gavin a similar experience.  We arrived early and were able to make it down to the field to watch warm-ups.

Obviously, one of the main highlights is seeing Ralphie.  We were able to get fairly close (~10-15 yards away) to him, but we couldn't get close enough to touch him.  Gavin really enjoyed watching Ralphie run around the field as the players ran out.

This is the view from our seats.  We were actually in the top row at this angle.  It turned out to be perfect that nobody was behind us, as Gavin had trouble deciding if he wanted to sit or stand or go to the bathroom or walk around.  We also ended up leaving in the 3rd quarter because it was actually a night game, and I wanted to get him home before too late.  I think he had a great time, and I am looking forward to taking him to some more games in the future.

A heli-of-a-gift!

"You know what I could use?" Brent said to me, in all seriousness, just before his 35th birthday.  "What?"  I said, in eager anticipation, nearly reaching for pen and paper I was so excited to consider that he had a good idea that I hadn't thought of--which was nothing so far.  "A helicopter," he continued.  Hmmm, not exactly what I had in mind, but it was a fun gift to shop for with two little boys.

Can you tell how close the chopper is to chopping off Gavin's nose in this picture?  (I don't think it actually was that close, but it was fun to make reference to the chopper twice.)

Can you tell how much the biggest boy in our family enjoys his new toy?  It was a fun, frivolous gift.  (Is that the correct use of that word?)  You know that you're fresh out of ideas when you ask for a remote controlled helicopter for your 35th birthday.  And you know that you have a pretty awesome wife when you actually get one.  (Can we tell who the author of this post is, by chance?)

Fishin' at the Bay...

One of the coolest things they do in Broomfield is to stock the water park with fish after the Bay closes for the season and invite families to bring their kids fishing. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!

 

 Gavin was just given a tackle box and fishing pole for his birthday from his Aunt Jackie and Uncle Karl, so he and Daddy put those to good use that day.  And caught nothing, of course, which was the fate of most people there, though Gavin and I still went into it thinking--and believing, in our heart of hearts--that Gavin would catch a fish....and even be featured on the front page of the Broomfield Enterprise with his adorable
smile and almost-as-adorable orange tackle box.

Can you believe these three from behind?!  Yep, they're all mine!

Are you proud yet, Uncle Ron?

Gage at soccer...

Gage has graduated:  He's now in the Koala soccer class.  This means that kids play on the field by themselves--no parents--which Gage was a little unsure about at the beginning but is getting much more used to lately. 

The kids and coaches start and end their class on the parachute.  It's so much fun to watch.  I'm glad that both of our boys like soccer. 

New Lego creations...

Gavin's fifth birthday brought many fun, new Lego sets to explore and construct.  He did this fire house 99% on his own, diligently following the instructions in the manual.  We were both impressed!  And what's funny about Gavin is that once he's built something, he likes to add it to his dresser museum, where he displays it with pride for all to see, having no plans in the foreseeable future to build it again.  (Unless Mama were to take a hammer to some/all of his creations, just to give him something to do during his "quiet" times in the afternoons...did I just say that out loud?) 

Peyton Manning in our house!

Uncle Mike got this awesome Bronco's jersey for Gavin as a birthday gift.  Well played, Mike.  Gavin looks terrific in it, and it fits him like a glove.  Brent's excited that both of the boys are taking more interest in football lately.  My personal favorite is when I hear Gage cheering, "Go, football, go!"  It's in that moment that I think that he and I--for what might only be a short moment in time, I realize--are on the same page as far as our limited knowledge of the game...and anything that has to do with it, for that matter. 

Gavin's birthday party--5 years old!

We were back at a park this year to celebrate Gavin's fifth birthday.  I loved the simplicity of the event, to be honest--friends, playing, pizza and cake pops...that I didn't even make!  (We had a gift certificate that we bid on at the MOPS auction, and the baker suggested cake pops for a kids' party.  What a great idea!  You can see Gage's excitement about his Spider Man cake pop before he proceeded to devour it.) 

Dad, you're right:  I should NOT hunch down in pictures.  I do realize that people can fit me in the picture if I sit up with decent posture, and it looks a whole lot better when I do, as well.  Funny the stuff you notice on the other side of the lens, right?

Gavin had a great time celebrating with his friends and family, and we did, too.  We got lucky that this local park wasn't being occupied when we arrived because it wasn't one that could be reserved.  Moms, thanks for the salads, and thank you to everyone who came to the party.  And if you haven't received a "thank you" note yet, they're a very slow work in progress, but they will eventually arrive...hopefully sometime before Christmas. 

School starts at Appletree...

These pictures were taken to mark Gage's first day in school.  He goes just on Fridays this year, and his teacher (see below) is Mrs. Zadrozny ("Miss Z").  He comes right in and takes off his backpack and usually gets right down to "work" (play dough, puzzles, blocks, cars, etc.), though he's still asking me from time to time if I'll stay and play with him.  While the boys are in school on Fridays, I'm trying to jam as much as possible into three hours of freedom--appointments, exercise, errands--before I'm back to pick them up and hear about each of their fun school experiences.  They're both quiet for a minute until one decides to start telling me a story, at which point the other one decides that it's the opportune time to do the same, and then inevitably we get Gage saying, "But, Gav, I'm trying to tell a story" even if he wasn't yet.  I really want to teach them to be good audiences for each other, and that's a work in progress.  Any suggestions?

Koel Family Photos - Part 3 of 3

Here are Brent's mom and step-dad with all four grandkids.  Madison (standing) and Sarah (in Bob's arms) are Jackie's two girls.  The photographer we used that day was the same one that took Jackie and Karl's wedding photos.

This full family shot turned out pretty well, and I have to take a small amount of credit :) since I suggested this spot on our way out.  It's easier to see enlarged, but the color of the rock is dazzling here and makes for a great backdrop. 

Koel family photos--part 2 of 3...

This is one of our best family shots.  As you can only imagine, it's hard to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.  It's not the best shot of Gavin, and now that I see me in the picture I'm wondering if you can tell that my hair is back...or if you're asking yourself if I got an unattractively short hair cut right before the pictures.  Don't hesitate to vote (and be honest) because we'll soon be in the process of ordering prints and buying Christmas presents, if you catch my drift.

I like this picture, though Gavin's straight-as-a-soldier pose sort of cracks me up.  We chose the blue/green motif for the photo shoot, and of course that means green for Gavin and blue for Gage.  So funny how those became their favorite colors so early on and how we totally drive it home by our purchases and selections for them.  I was shocked to read Gage's answer in a school survey recently, in which he stated that green was his favorite color.  As if he couldn't change his mind or waver or even share the opinion of his brother, I thought to myself, "Wait!  That's Gavin's favorite color, and when did you change your mind?" 

Koel family photos--part 1 of 3...

We recently had family photos taken at Red Rocks as a gift to Brent's mom.  Are these two handsome dogs, or what?!  God is so good to us, to have given us two healthy, strong, fun-loving, smart boys like these.  We are very blessed, indeed.

Apples, apples, apples...

We have some friends who own a farm just outside of Boulder, and these pictures were taken during our second encounter with them since...oh, about college.  I went to high school and college with Andre and his siblings, and I may have had an inkling about how bright Andre was but never fully understood his genius.  The man is brilliant.  Below he is standing next to his apple press, and in the picture above Gavin is peeking out from the middle of it.  Where does one acquire a thing like that?  How does he have the faintest idea what to do with it when it breaks?  

We were invited to his second or third annual apple bash (my name for it, certainly not his), and we're so glad that we went.  Kids and adults were picking apples, cutting apples, coring apples, eating apples (especially Gavin, which caught up with him later, unfortunately) and pressing apples to make the most amazing apple cider you've ever tasted.  We passed around a community cup to sample the goods, and Andre bottled up lots of the yummy juice.  They'll sell some and keep some for their family.

You can imagine how much my boys loved participating in the fun with apples.  This cool gadget made apple rings, and then there was a crew of people putting those rings on screens where the apples would dry.  What a memorable and an eye-opening experience for my kids (and for me).  They talk about Mr. Andre with surprising frequency considering that they've only seen his face three times in their lives.  Neat to think about influence in this regard...

Labor Day parade...

My mom told me about the wonderful parade that they have in Louisville on Labor Day weekend, and it did not disappoint, especially in the minds of my boys.  They were all about collecting the candy, the flags and Gage was even given a brand new soccer ball.   I'm glad we went.

Redemptive day at the Bay...

Pam and I took the boys to the Bay when Brent was out of town for a bike race one weekend.  (I think it was Labor Day weekend.)  It was a nice, redemptive visit after the previous one, which included a trip to the emergency room with Gage via ambulance.  We think (not even sure to this day) that the hummus he ate may have caused the allergic reaction he experienced.  It was really scary, but I had a peace about it that I can't explain apart from God.  Get this:  A good friend's husband (a firefighter) was supposed to be at work that day, but he had called in sick to take a personal day with his family.  As he sat at the Bay and noticed my concern for Gage, he asked if I needed help.  I thought he might have been choking, so Chuck gave Gage the heimlich maneuver, but that didn't resolve his issues and visible struggle for air.  Gage seemed suddenly exhausted, nearly passing out on my shoulder and then on Chuck's.  I was in disbelief when Chuck told me to call 911, but I'm so glad that he did and so thankful that he was there that day.  He carried Gage outside, where Gage proceeded to throw up on the sidewalk.  And, again, I thought that maybe he'd be OK after that.  When he was still so wheezy, though, everyone thought it best to put him on the ambulance.  I was holding my clothes and wearing world's oldest and most faded swimming suit when the emergency worker (Mr. Joe) started asking me questions about Gage.  My dear friends offered to take Gavin home, and everything happened so quickly that I didn't even have extra clothes for Gage when we took off toward the hospital.  In the ambulance Mr. Joe gave Gage albuterol and hooked him up to an IV to give him Benadryl.  Even at the hospital they decided not to give him Epi--probably because his issues were resolving by then--and the little guy was so tired that he slept for nearly two hours.  He was so friendly and cooperative with everyone, and Mr. Joe declared that he was by far the best two-year-old patient he had ever met or worked with, which made Mommy very proud.  All the nurses pointed at him and smiled, saying how adorable he was when he came in on the stretcher in his swimming trunks and nothing else.  Maybe it was the sesame seeds or the chick peas in the hummus, but whatever it was God protected him and put all of the right people in our path that day.  We'll go back to Gage's allergist in January for more follow-up.  God is good...all the time. 

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo...

I decided to take the boys to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs over Labor Day weekend when Brent was biking in Steamboat Springs.  We all LOVED it!  It was worth the drive.

We fed the giraffes and were even able to pet them.  It actually looks like Gavin got a hold of the giraffe's ear in this shot.  Oops!  These animals have the longest, darkest tongues, and Gage wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing at the beginning.  He warmed up to 'em pretty quickly, though, as he does with most things, especially after he sees Big Bro's positive opinion of something.

There's this really cool exhibit where the wallabies roam freely, and I thought it was so neat that my boys got to see them up close.  They're sort of distant at the Denver Zoo, so I don't expect that they've ever gotten a real sense of the animals before we visited this zoo.

The kids were given some tokens for this totally tiny, rinky-dink train that went in a circle, and my boys acted like it was as cool as taking a real train ride.  I love that about them!  They remind me to keep my eye on the simple pleasures.  To offset the free train ride I splurged and bought us all some cotton candy.  It's always amazing to me that places can charge nearly illegal-seeming prices for stuff like that.  And if even this thrifty mom is giving in, they're making a fortune!

I love this picture!  They wanted to sit on this deer as we were getting ready to leave, right after having seen a wild one walking around the zoo.  I'm glad for our adventure that day.  They've talked about it many times since.