Finally a Tree!

After losing a tree about a month or more ago, and having completed the monumental effort to dig out the hole for a new tree ourselves, we have this beautiful baby Greenspire Linden planted.  It was quite the ordeal to get the tree from the tree farm.  We utilized a literal "bro deal" to get the tree but had to pick it up near Niwot, so we borrowed a neighbors pickup truck and headed over.  It took probably an hour to have it loaded into the back of this truck and then we had to drive it back being as careful as possible to not snap our brand new tree in half with the top of it hanging out of the back of the truck.

Once we got to our house, we were faced with another challenge: how to lift the thing out of the truck as it weighed several hundred pounds with this enormous root ball.  We slowly rolled it out of the pickup and supported its assisted crash to the driveway and then wheeled it over to its new home.  After some careful maneuvering, we dropped it in and piled all the dirt and fertilizer it required up and started to water it.  The tree had some sketchy instructions about not removing the burlap sack around the roots (though ours didn't have a burlap sack but did have some plastic wrapping), so we hope in the end the tree will live.  We will probably have to see what happens next spring to really know if it is thriving or not.  Let's hope so though because I don't think we want to do this part again!

Soccer at Dick's Sporting Good Field

Although it may be hard to tell, this is the view of Gavin's soccer game that Gage and I had out at Dick's Sporting Good Field.  Thanks to COVID, and I would say some fairly over-the-top restrictions at this particular venue, no parents were actually allowed to watch the game.  So we all just sat out in our cars and waited for the gamecast updates to come through the TeamSnap app on our phones.  Gage was with me because Tara had some other commitments, so we layed down the back seats and put out some blankets and just layed out.  It was disappointing to not be able to watch but Gage and I had some good time together as we relaxed.  In the end, Gavin's team started with two 1st half goals from Isaiah to takethe lead into half time.  They scored a third half-way through the second half, but then the Colorado Rapids team got on the board with a goal shortly after.  Late in the second half they traded goals again but we came away with the victory 4-2.

Artwork Everywhere

Gavin is such a great mix of a scientific mind with an artist mind.  He is great at math and science and writing, but seeks out art almost wherever he goes.  This is actually at Gage's soccer game where we were only allowed to have a single parent watch.  So Gavin spent most of the time over near this park but then came to the field over and sat by himself for a while so he could watch at a distant.  After the game was over we came back and found that he had created this while the game was going on.  It's a pretty creative face just made out of picked/dead grass that was laying around.  I am always impressed by his ideas and how he can entertain himself with simple, yet fun things.  So great!

Fort Collins Cup

Gage opened the competitive soccer season with a three day tournament in Fort Collins.  Many of the best teams in the region were all in attendance and it made for some fierce competition.  We arrived at this sports complex that had close to 24 fields all set up.  However, with COVID restrictions, teams with ages U11 and below were allowed a single parent at the field while teams older than U11 were not allowed to have any fans at the field.  These ridiculous pandemic restrictions produced walls of parents all huddled tightly in the parking lots together (much more tightly than if they had been able to be spaced out among the 24 fields of grass) trying to watch their kids from afar.  Sometimes, or most times, I question if the people making these rules understand the unintended consequences of their decisions.

In any case, Gage's team lost the first game on Friday night and then won the morning game on Saturday morning.  We didn't want to drive back to Broomfield just for an hour before the afternoon game so we packed lunches and headed up into the hills above Fort Collins to cool off a bit and kill some time.  We arrived at this wonderful Poudre river park and settled in.

Gage certainly had fun wading out into the river.  There were quite a few tubers going by while we were there, but this part of the river flattened out and many had to walk a bit or scooch their way through.

 It was a great weekend of soccer and some good time to have one on one with Gage.  He surely missed exploring with his brother but we did alright on our own.  Gage's team ended up losing the afternoon game which meant they did not have to play on Sunday in the championship bracket.  While disappointing for the team, we were not that sad to avoid one more trip up the Fort Collins for the weekend.

New Beginnings

After the recent take down of our Aspens, we have been eager to put in another tree in its place.  We received several recommendations for Greenspire Lindens as it fits our style of gardening and care (i.e. hope it can survive on its own).  Zach and Lorna were in town and have an account with a tree farm over in Erie and were actually headed out that way so we had them tag/reserve a tree for us while they were there but then we were quickly informed that we needed to pick it up to plant it within two weeks!

Our second decision point after tagging the tree was if we wanted to pick it up and plant it ourselves or have the tree farm do it.  After considering the extra $750 for the service, Tara quickly suggested we just do it ourselves, so the boys and I got started on digging a 4' x 4' x 18" hole. No sweat!  Just a bit each day...or so we thought.  In the beginning, everyone was all smiles.

Basically, we would spend an hour each day digging a little bit and hauling the dirt and all the junk out.  It still seemed like a good plan in the beginning, but we started to encounter some of the roots that weren't fully ground out by the tree removal service.  Some of these "roots" were like 6-8 inches in diameter and fairly deep underground.

 Here is Gage sitting in the hole after excavating some more. You can see some of the roots we are dealing with there to his right.  In the end, I had to buy a few tools to help us punch through.  I picked up a nice axe and a small chainsaw but the axe got more use due to the awkwardness of the hole size.  Still a ways to go and time is ticking away!  I think I have blisters covering both hands so I am taking a few days off to heal some skin back before continuing with more but we are having fun all taking turns hitting this thing together.

Biking to the Windmills

I have certainly enjoyed the times I can get out with Gavin on the bike.  I would say that he usually is a willing participant, but doesn't quite seek out a long ride on his own yet.  We decided to try a new route this time to the Windmills that overlook Boulder.  It's a decent ride to get over there and takes me by myself probably 40 minutes each way.  Here is Gavin looking sharp as we climb up the hill next to the Omni Golf Course.  A new recent addition is that he is wearing a pair of my old Sidi shoes with the clipless pedals.

We stopped for a picture as we progressed.  You can actually see the orange sun with all of the smoke behind us from the fires that have ravaged Colorado this summer.  It almost matches Gavin's jersey color.

Here is one last picture of him.  I really appreciate these times that we have one on one together.  We get to just relax and talk about whatever comes up and get outside and experience life.  It's hard to beat times like these!  In the end, we did make it to the windmills and turned around and headed home without any issues.  This was probably the longest ride Gavin had ever done and was close to two hours in total.  Great ride buddy!

Marshall Hike

I am not going to lie, this hike was a scorcher!  Super hot day, but I wanted to get the kids out on a hike so I took them to this Marshall Mesa hike that I had always wanted to try.  I have seen the trail from all the riding I have done along Marshall road.  The trail just starts on a side road and heads off across this barren dry grassland.

The kids were not quite sure about it and definitely showing the effects of the sun beating down on us with there delirious comedy routines along the hike.  I think we were some of the lone hikers on the trail but we did get passed by quite a few bikers as we progressed.

The real destination of the hike was supposed the be this lake that is in the background of this picture.  I was unsure exactly where it was or how to get to it or how big it was.  We ended up finding it but unfortunately were locked out just yards from the water.  It was a private lake that we couldn't access!  What a bummer.  We could have used some shade or some water to put our feet in and cool down a bit.  After some snacks, we turned back around and headed to the car for some much needed air conditioning.  Always an adventure with these two though!

Farewell Aspens

These aspen trees have been in our front yard for all 17 years we have lived in this house.  We have literally seen them grow up from skinny little saplings to big giants.  However, these last few years have seen a few branches here and there start to die.  We brought out some tree experts and had them take a look to help us understand what the future looks like for the trees.  They basically said that the tree on the left was about half dead with the tree on the right fairing a bit better.  However, due to their age they would likely both be completely dead within the next one to two years, so we made the decision to have them taken down now before they could come crashing down on a house or our neighbor's car "Billiam".

The tree guys came back a few days later and hauled themselves up the trees to start cutting them down from the top.  We weren't quite that excited that they started with the chainsaws at 7 am but it was good to get them handled.  I think we had to pay roughly $800 dollars to have them removed with Tara asking several times why I couldn't just do it myself and save the money?  I think one look at the picture above should help everyone understand how bad of an idea that would have been.

A few hours later, this was all that remained.  I am not sure how these guys can do this every day, all day.  My back was crying just watching it all go down.

Finally, this is the last picture I have of what was left of our big aspens.  They cut off two big slabs for Gavin to keep and turn into planter pot pedestals.  Shortly after this, they used an enormous grinder to take out the remnants of the stumps down in the ground.  The wood chips were all picked up and they were out by lunch time.  Our yard looked so barren!

Pain Cave Updates

For quite a while, I have wanted a massage table.  I remember as a kid in cross country, one of my teammate's dad was a PT and would always work on us pre and post races.  Tara has frequent massages at some of the local spas around and I am starting to have more muscular issues with the training load I am puting in.  So, in my mind, we needed a table to work it all out.  Amazon brought us plenty of reviews and options and one day I just broke down and ordered this guy.  It's super comfortable and feels very sturdy.  We have started to shift some of the massage appointments to using our own table at home which feels like a better way to afford it over the long run. I also set it up down stairs in the workout room and it seems to fit quite nicely.

LeftHand Canyon Cooloff

August can get fairly hot around Colorado which temperatures sometimes reaching into the low 100s.  There really is only two ways to beat the heat: 1) find some water and 2) head to higher elevation.  In this case, we decided to do both!  This is up Lefthand canyon after a hot long run that I took.  We pulled over at this mountain preserve that has a river running through it and I turned the guys loose to explore.

It didn't take me long to find a nice cozy spot to cool off in.  I figured why not just jump right into the river!  There was this natural "seat" that seemed to be formed out of the rock and you could just chill right in your own little personal waterfall.

Gage decided to try his hand in the same location and was quite thrilled with the experience.  The water was quite cool as it is glacier fed from up the canyon but just a perfect way too beat the heat.

Gavin was a little bit downstream making this nice catch pond out of rocks that he could just lay down and float in.  We are very thankful that no toes were lost in the creation of the lounge pond!

Here is one last picture of Gage up in the waterfall seat.  I am certain that we will make many trips back to this location of the years, as this was quite the hit!