Just another one of the moms

Shown above at a recent play date hanging out with Kari and LT are Jamie & Ben with their little guy Dylan. We got onto the subject of skiing and talked about going together this winter and how we might manage that with the little ones. I tried not to show it but I was a little skeptical about this ever happening - mostly because I think it's going to be really difficult to do with new babies in the family. But also because I'm not a huge fan of skiing with people I don't know well. It seems like everyone in Colorado thinks of themselves as a great skier but this isn't Lake Wobegon and someone's got to be below average. In an effort to avoid the unwashed masses and the boring days they entail I've taken to skiing mostly with friends Andy and Gary. Not sure where we stand against the average but together we have been lucky enough to experience things on skis that most front range skiers never have and never will (a bit of a disclaimer: two seasons ago I hit a buried tree stump at Copper and completely tore the PCL in my right knee. I can ski again but the accident has slowed me down considerably).


We've skied the Steamboat backcountry (Andy in blue jumping and Gary and I on one of the sleds) .



As well as the Vail backcountry (me in yellow off the little rock and Gary and Andy unloading all the gear in the morning).


Also near Vail - one night we slept in a hut unaware that just one peak away a search and rescue effort went on all night but was unable to save the lives of two men who drove their rented snowmobiles off of a cliff (the sign pictured above was donated by the "families of the deceased" to warn of the danger).


It's not all snowmobiles - we've hiked and skied Mt. Evans in June and July (Hailie went with us the first time but that's a story for another time).

A few years ago Gary and I went with a group to Silverton Mountain which claims to be lift access backcountry skiing and has been highly reviewed by most of the major ski magazines. I'm sorry to say that it was probably the single most disappointing ski day I've ever had (other than the day I blew out my knee).

I've even tried my hand at a little "new school" style - shown above after being pulled behind a snowmobile to build up speed for the jump. That day actually turned out ok but another incident involving broken goggles and the icy side of a half pipe left me looking like I'd lost a fight and thinking that "new school" is better left for the kids...

Anyway, all that to explain (and because I love some of those pictures) why I'm hesitant to sign up for a ski day with people I don't know very well - because more often than not it ends up being a pretty boring day. And that's exactly what I was thinking when we were talking to Jamie. And that's what I thought until a few days later when Kari told me to check out this web site. Turns out that Jamie, the mom of one of Landon's little friends, is a legit pro. I may like to think of my skiing past as a little beyond the average but this Highland mom is in a whole different league and average isn't something she's ever even been in the same room with.

And to think I was worried about being bored... now I don't want to go with them because I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself. Maybe I can babysit - I seem to be getting better at that.

Another Play Date

Kari forwarded these pictures that Annick took at a recent play date she hosted. In the forwareded email Kari said to me, "Here are pics from the latest playdate. Note your son grabbing arms with BOTH Sofi and Sofia:)" I would have you note that Kari says "your son" in this context. Normally it would be, "our son" or"Landon" or just "LT." I think I can see where this is headed... Way to go little man!


From left to right, Seth, Zack, Sofia, Landon, and Sofi.


Shawn & Zack, Annick & Sofia, Renee & Sofi, Kari & LT, Chi & Seth.

Green Chili Cook Off

LT went to his first green chili cook off last Saturday. Ron Voss, who hosts the event annually, is shown above handing down the rules of the event from his balcony as though he was king of the world.
Ty Voss, shown wearing the sweet Check Norris apron, is the winningest chili cook in the history of the event. He wasn't able to pad his resume this year with another title but personally I thought he had one of his best offerings to date (shows what I know).
It was Steve and Mad's first cook off as well.
From the looks of this picture it won't be long before the little guy is going to want his own bowl of chili. I guess I should just be thankful that he's not eying my beer they way he's looking at that chili.
And of course LT had to take a little mid-party milk break.

Back up the hill

I'm back up in the mountains but this time without the baby or the wife. They are in Mass visiting LT's great grandparents. I transfered two of my days off that I was going to use last week but didn't because of Bowen to this week so I could play a little mountain golf before the season ends (which really could be any day now). The fall is spectacular up here but unfortunately my son and better half took the camera with 'em. This morning I tried to capture the splendor of the changing aspen leaves against the clear blue sky with my cell phone camera but, as you can see from the blurry shots, I didn't exactly get the full grandeur of it all.

We (just barely) made it

We had planned on taking a little vacation in the mountains last week but our trip got sidelined for a few days to deal with Bowen's medical issues. He seemed to recover well so we managed to get out of town for the second half of the week. It's fall in the mountains and the aspens have started to turn - it was a nice time to be up there. And, of course, my parents are always happy to see the little guy.

Packing up the car for the whole crew is a bit of a challenge and we managed to forget Bowen's medication which almost ended our trip early. But thankfully our vet in Denver faxed what we needed to my parent's vet in Dillon and I picked up replacement meds just minutes before they closed for the night.

Vacations take on a whole new dimension as the family gets bigger. Maybe I should buy a station wagon and start planning or next trip to Walley World...







The back seat of the car is pretty crowded with the dogs in makeshift seat belts surrounding LT in his 'bucket.' He seems to like riding with them though.

Little Hiker (again)

Last Saturday, while I played in the end of season tournament of my little golf league, Landon went hiking with Kari and her parents. The little guy sure seems to like being outside (I guess he takes after us). Kari says she also loved to go hiking when she was little. However, she didn't like it so much when she got too big for the pack and had to walk on her own. Ah, the things we have to look forward to...

Little Hiker

These pictures are a few weeks old but I've been meaning to put them up for a while. One of Kari's friends from college got married in Fort Collins two weeks ago and one of the events leading up to the wedding was a hike at Gray Rock. So LT got to go hiking with his mom, which he loves, and he even went to the reception the next day. Usually Landon goes to bed around 8 and can get pretty cranky if we're out past that time. But amazingly we made it through the reception and the drive home from Fort Collins without a baby breakdown!

The big guy

Bowen had surgery today to remove a mast cell tumor on his neck. When I picked him up, the vet tech asked if he was really a pure bred boxer. I told the tech that we rescued Bowen (scroll down a little to see Bo's 'success story') and couldn't be completely sure if he was pure boxer which prompted him to say he thought Bowen must have some mastiff in him because he is such a big guy. Well, in spite of being a big scary mastiff looking boxer, Bowen has been great with Landon. Bo usually sleeps downstairs but most mornings he comes up around 4 or 5 am and the first thing he does is go and check on LT in his crib (sometimes this wakes Landon up which kind of sucks but it's still pretty cute).

Anyway, Bowen's surgery went well and it gives me an excuse to post this picture of him sleeping with his big stuffed pink dog.

Any Given Sunday

Last Sunday was LT's first NFL football Sunday. We went over to Steve and Madeleine's house to watch to Bronco's game (and eat some Nachos!). Landon wore his cool blue sweat suit and even posed for the obligatory "baby with a beer" photo. Steve was all decked out in his Bronco gear. I had on my orange Tremper hat (which isn't exactly Bronco gear but it's close). Kari fell asleep in the fourth quarter and missed the exiting 15-14 finish. Other than being LT's first game, it was pretty typical football watching for this crew.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it but at half time Steve had something very special to share with us. He brought out his autographed Rockie's Autos hat to show off and we were all suitably impressed. Other than on TV I'd never seen such a hat before, much less one signed by Shaggy himself. Funny thing though - I saw my second Rockie's Autos hat just a little bit later that same day. As we were driving though downtown on our way to Z's house we saw a guy wearing exactly the same hat while sitting on the I-25 on- ramp begging for change...

2X Baby

I think Kari has always been destined to be a mom. Even as a little girl she would pretend she was pregnant or take care of her little cousins or neighborhood kids. So it's no surprise that she is such a good mom to LT and that, in this picture, she is doing such a good job with *both* LT and Zack. The picture was taken while Kari and Shawn got their hair cut and traded baby duty. Kar always said she wanted a ton of kids but after being pregnant she's down to only wanting two. But during pregnancy she said she wished she could have twins and "get them both out of the way at the same time." After watching the two little guys together for a while, however, she changed her tune a bit. From the picture it looks like she did a great job and she said she enjoyed it. But she also said it put the idea of *actually* having twins in perspective. Nowadays she's glad we only had one and the ten kids has moved to two kids which has moved to "one or two."

Musical talent (or lack there of)

We all have hopes and dreams for our children about what they'll be good at and what kind of person they'll be (some realistic and others not so much). If Landon's parents are any indication, there's one thing that we probably shouldn't hold out much hope for him having and that is musical talent. I'm completely tone def but, in spite of that, I can hear enough to know that when Kari sings along to the radio in the car it's not exactly a thing of beauty. So it is clear that LT isn't going to get many music skills from us.

It's not completely hopeless, however. There's some musical ability on Kari's side of the family including her father and perhaps most notably her older brother Scott. Pictured at left is Scott performing at our wedding and his son Nicholas even managed to get on the drums for a while at the reception (below). More recently Nicholas has been showing signs of a rock star career in the making. So LT isn't going to get any music talent from his parents but maybe can learn a little something from his uncle and cousin.

Little Ladies Man

Here are some shots that Kari took last week of Landon playing with his little friend Maike. Kari said it went something like this: LT was holding Maike's hand for a while and, as you can see in a few of the pictures, he was even pulling on her shirt! While this was happening Maike was more or less ignoring LT and was very into playing with her toys. After a while LT gave up and turned his attention to the toys on the mat. Only then did Maike show some interest in our little ladies man - she rolled his direction and put her little leg over his.

Already learning to play "hard to get" - nice work little guy!

Mom & Dad

These two pictures were taken only a few minutes apart while LT was having a little fussy episode. They don't really show the difference the way I expected but it's safe to say that one parent has a little more natural ability when it comes to soothing the little guy when he gets sad. I try and I do alright but I'll never be mom.

Play Date Part ?

I figured I should post some pictures from the last after work play date before the next one happens (tomorrow). Kari left a little early to take Z and his parents to the airport so I was left in charge of LT. I was enjoying the company so I decided to stay for a while. Unfortunately I stayed just a little too long and right into LT's grumpy time. And when grumpy time starts, there's no turning back. I fled the somewhat pretentious restaurant with a wailing baby and people staring at me (had it not been for Annick's help I may have not even made it out!). The poor guy continued his crying all the way home and for about half an hour at home until Kari returned from the airport to rescue him (and me). I guess sometimes mom has to fix dad's mistakes. I'm sure it won't be the last time.


Amidst all the chaos I grabbed a pair of sunglasses that appeared to have been left on our side of the table. So if one of the mommies or daddies (although they look like mommy's) is missing some sunglasses, let me or my baby's mama know so we can get them back to you.

Keeping up with the Joneses

LT was at Zack's house not too long ago and was memorized by the toy turtle that Albert had hung by Z's changing table.

It was only a few days later that we had the very same toy turtle hanging in LT's crib. He loves the thing so I'm happy to have it for him. But I can't help but be somewhat troubled by the trend here. LT can't even talk yet to ask for the cool toys his friends have but the arms race of kid stuff has apparently already begun.