Spring break, no wait. It's another snow day.

Griff was in San Francisco for work. The kids are on Spring Break but had a scheduled day of fun at Mrs Olson's house. Mrs Olson is Sawyer's teacher. Madelyn had her for preschool two years ago. We love her and when a day of fun with Mrs Olson was up for auction at the BENefit Bash last November, we couldn't not jump at the chance. I was looking forward to it as it would give me the opportunity to sneak in my required 5 mile training run.

However, I woke up to this.

I swear this is snow day number 18 of the year. Day of fun at Mrs Olson's was postponed a day and we'd be staying home. Rats...

So, we dyed Easter eggs. I only had a dozen but a dozen sufficed. We'll do more later this weekend after Griff gets home tonight. Oh, wait... Now, the airport's closed. When is he coming home?!

Our eggs are pretty. We only lost one. Sawyer dropped it on the floor.

The snow is pretty too although the magnitude of it isn't done justice by this picture. Every hour or so, I had to tap off the screen on our sliding glass door to let in what little natural light there was. The pergola had become a solid roof with all the wet snow up there.

Our poor pine tree! I shook off the branches in the morning and a second time later in the afternoon. I don't love this tree but I sure don't want to lose it. You can actually see how dark it is as a result of the pergola "roof".

Oh - But I did have a chance to Konmari fold a few drawers during the afternoon while the kids watched a movie in the basement.

Finally, around 300P, we went out front. I wanted to clear the driveway and the kids have never shied away from an opportunity to play in the snow. Never.

This picture doesn't even begin to show how much snow there was. My guess is we had 18" at the end of the driveway. The further down our driveway I shoveled, the deeper the snow became. Our neighbor's snow blower was jamming up the snow was so deep. Thankfully, he and another neighbor helped me finish clearing the driveway. And, the kids played and played.

Of course, we had hot cocoa after coming back inside. I contemplated adding a little Kahlua to mine but decided against it.

This little snow trooper couldn't even finish his snack without falling asleep. He was patiently, so patiently waiting for hot cocoa. Needless to say, by the time I woke him up, his hot cocoa was no longer hot. And...he was grumpy but that nap was needed.

Griff can't get back to Denver until Saturday. BUT, he was able to get routed to San Diego where he'll spend a few days on Coronado with his dad. Hopefully, he can see Uncle Jerky and family as well as a few friends while he's "stuck" but there are much worse places to be stuck than in beautiful San Diego.

I hope you all survived the March blizzard without major incident and are digging out!

I'm on a dam.

Please pardon me while I brag. But, last week's long run took me from our house out to Chatfield State Park and I ran across the dam. Hot diggity-dog!

It's funny because I was in the zone and didn't really notice until I was all the way at the top. Talk about a view! And, I got a lot of sun even after having applied sunscreen.

The last 3-1/2 to 4 miles home from the dam were pretty tough. It was a fairly steep incline BUT I'm ready to take it on again sometime.

Three weeks left until the half marathon!

Just keepin' on

I was helping my dad on his computer over the past weekend and noticed I hadn't posted anything since January 3. (Andersonville is set up as the homepage on his Internet...yeah!) Not sure exactly how that happened but it did. I hadn't meant to neglect posting. It just happened.

Following is a quick snapshot of the last two months -

JANUARY

Mile High Madelyn turned 7!

She celebrated by having donut holes with her class at school. And, she had a gymnastics party at Peak Athletics with her close friends. Great fun was had by all who attended including those of us who stayed to watch the fun.

There are a lot of toothless grins amongst this group but that's just one of the many things that makes this age and these friends so special.

Running.

There's been a lot of running. (1) I like it. It makes me happy. And, (B) On Halloween, I registered for the Platte River Half Marathon on April 10. Three years ago, I ran this race with a friend but I didn't have a great race. Please note that it had nothing to do with my friend! This time, I'm hoping to beat my previous time and have a better overall experience.

I finally have good cold weather gear so I've been able to log most of my miles outside. The medieval contraptions in the picture on the right are called Yaktrax. They're basically chains for your running shoes and they're awesome. With all the unpaved trails around Highlands Ranch and Littleton, now I don't have to wait for everything to be melted to head outside.

Thanks to a pair of crumb-bum running shoes, which have long since been replaced, I developed tendonitis in the posterior ligament on my left foot. Translation: My foot hurt...a lot. However, the second podiatrist I visited identified the problem and seems to have gotten it under control. I've been mostly pain free for the last month plus. For that, I'm thankful.

FEBRUARY

Girls' trip to Grand Lake with Rebecca. 

This was a much-needed and well overdue trip for Rebecca and I. Her family owns a home off of Shadow Lake in Grand Lake, Colorado. She graciously invited me up for a weekend. We had a great time catching up without interruptions, sleeping, relaxing, and being together.

Perfect weather for snowshoeing. Thank you, Rebecca. I look forward to our next trip!

Super Bowl.

Broncos win! Enough said.

The Dude (Sawyer) and I had planned on attending the celebration parade and rally downtown two days following the game. But, when I heard they were anticipating 500K+ people, we decided to stay home and watch it together on the TV. The news reported that almost 1 million people actually attended the parade and rally. Wow! Such an exciting and fun time! And, at home on our couch, we had the best seats in town.

Valentine's Day.

I'm Room Parent for Madelyn's classroom and Valentine's Day is a biggie with first graders. Needless to say, they had a great, simple party and I was relieved when it was over. A room full of 26 amped up 6- and 7-year olds is exhausting!

Boys' Ski Trip to Winter Park.

February was closed out with a boys' ski trip for Griff, Gabe, and Uncle Jerky. Gabe and Kari own a mountain house in Fraser, just outside of Winter Park, Colorado. The three boys went up to Winter Park, skied for two days, and stayed at Gabe and Kari's place. I keep hearing bits and pieces about things that happened and stories that were shared. And, I'm convinced it was a good time.

Gymnastics for both Madelyn and Sawyer wrap up next week. We're taking a break on sports and activities until t-ball (Sawyer) and softball (Madelyn) start in mid-May. Other than, I'll keep on keepin' on...and try to get back to posting more regularly.