New Jersey

We had a great time visiting family in Jersey. I am having trouble moving the pictures around tonight but I wanted to get them posted, so here you go.

Lily and Daddy

Mikayla and Lily LOVED the beach. Lily just wanted to keep wanting to run into the water. Mikayla loved "jumping" the waves. At one point she started to head out with a wave but we grabbed her in time.

Our friend, BJ relaxing on the beach.

The moms relaxing!

Mikayla loved playing in the sand.

The reason we went to New Jersey in the first place is that Joe's family is Catholic and our niece and nephew were baptised. Joe is Alexa's godfather.

The parents, god parents and babies.

The babies slept through the ceremony until they got their heads dunked in the water.

Mikayla always wants her picture taken when the cameras come out.

Lily having fun.

Grandma with Alexa.

Mikayla with Alexa.

Kyle, Alexa, Lily and Me

Uncle Chris with Kyle.

Lily let Aunt Sue hold her.

We had a wonderful busy time. We went to Chucky Cheese. This was a first for Mikayla. This one only had pizza and games and Mikayla loved the games. She kept going back to a computer where she could color a picture. The had a slide that was perfect for Lily and she kept going back.

We went to Sesame Place and as I mentioned in this post it was too much money. They wanted $51.00 per person for everyone over age 2! For what they had it was not worth the money. I did notice on their website that after 2pm it was half price. I mentioned waiting until 2pm but I was out voted. We left at 10:30 in the morning on a Saturday and everyone else was headed to the beach. It took us 3.5 hours to drive 73 miles!! By the time we got there it was 2:15, perfect for half price. They also wanted to charge us $15.00 for parking but since every lot was full we ended up parking less than a 1/2 mile away at a mall. It was perfect, free parking and the walk was much more pleasant than walking through an asphalt parking lot. Once we got to the front gate their information had the half price or twilight pricing starting at 3pm instead of 2pm. So we waited for 30 minutes and we saved $100. My overall impression of Sesame Place was ok. If we had paid $51 I would have been upset that they did not have more and it was WAY too crowded. There were people EVERYWHERE. Since we paid half price (which should have been the regular price) I was not too upset. Mikayla and Lily had a blast playing in the pools, sand, everywhere. We stayed about 2 hours, which for a 4 year old and a 1 1/2 year old was perfect.

The next day we headed to the beach and you can tell from the pictures above how much fun we head. The girls loved the water.

Overall we had a fantastic trip with lots of fun memories.

Sesame Place

We are in New Jersey and having fun. I will blog more about our trip when I get back. One thing I do want to complain about is Sesame Place.

We had planned on taking Mikayla to Sesame Place but for some reason no one bothered to see how much it was. We found out last night that it is $51.00 for everyone but Lily. $51.00!! I really don't think it is worth $51.00. Mikayla is excite so I have a feeling we will end up going but you can be sure that I will blog about it afterwards and let you know if it is was worth $51.00 or not. Now I am going to search the internet for a discount.

They Said What??

I saw this article on msn and I thought you might enjoy it. Take a minute to click on the link and then stop back and let me know what you thought!

Job interviews are hard enough but I cannot believe there are people out there who said say these things during an interview!

Weekly Re-Cap – Really Late

Last week I set some workout goals and needless to say that I did not achieve them.

My workout goals for last week were to run 3 to 4 times, strength train three times and do at least one bike ride. In the end I ended up doing two strength training workouts and doing 1 four mile run. I normally do not count my commuting miles on my bike but one day last week I did. Instead of my normal 3.6 mile round trip commute I had hooked up the bike trailer and picked the girls up from daycare. So I had a 5 mile round trip commute one day with the bike trailer and around 60 pounds of kids in the back so I counted that as a bike workout.

This week I had wanted to do 3 or 4, 4 miles runs but I am having so much trouble getting up early it is hard. So far this week I have done 2 – 4 mile runs and they went slow but good. No issues with my foot either so hopefully I won’t need surgery.

Another thing to note is that I sat down and looked at my weight loss over the past few months. In the last 4 months I have lost 7 pounds or almost 2 pounds per month. This is a perfect weight loss, slow and easy. That is the kind of weight that will stay off. So now I am at 133, I just wish I had some extra money to buy new clothes since now they are all too big!!

We are off to New Jersey this evening to spend a few days with Joe's parents, brother, aunts, uncles, friends and who knows who else. I will post pictures when we get back next week!!

Emerald Lake, Crested Butte, Colorado

On Sunday we wanted to drive up to the punch bowls up by Schofield Pass. The punch bowls are a "4-Wheel" Drive road but I would that if you value your life do not drive up there, hike instead! It is beautiful and we wanted to hike around. We headed up that way but Lily was awful all weekend and no fun in the car so we ended our trip about 20 minutes early. Instead we stopped at Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake is a very high mountain lake.

In order to get there you take Hwy 135 North from Gunnison, through Crested Butte (where it turns into Gothic Road), up through Mt. Crested Butte, where it eventually turns into dirt, through the town of Gothic up and up and up and eventually you will see a beautiful green lake on your left. That is Emerald Lake. It is about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours from Gunnison.

We stopped at Emerald Lake, hiked around, took pictures, played and relaxed.

I can't believe Mikayla waded in as much as she did because it was cold.

Lily set up camp right next to the lake piling rocks up and then throwing them into the lake. It is a good thing I had another change of clothes for her.

The dogs has fun on their day out.

Some of the wildflowers were taller than Lily.

This is the view from the lake.

My hubby.

This is a picture of Mikayla I took at our house. The stream in our back yard forms a pond when it is high in the spring and early summer. Now it is a mud pit and Mikayla has so much fun getting dirty.

Trying To Get Back in the Groove

This past month or so I have been really struggling with getting my workouts in. Since I am not training for anything I feel very unmotivated. Also in order to make some extra money I have been cleaning some of Joe's rental units and quite a few times I find myself using my lunch hour to clean them instead of working out. I have also been trying to get up early (5:00 am or 5:30am) to get a work out in but many times I find myself sitting on the couch enjoying a good book and a cup of coffee instead of working out. (Such as the case this morning.)

Last week I did get it together more than I have been in quite awhile. I did my strength training routine twice, I ran at least 2 times and I rode my bike twice. I really need to start posting my weekly goes here and then checking in at the end of the week to see if I accomplished them. I am also really bad at setting huge goals and not accomplishing them because they were too big.

Here is my workout plan for the week.

Today - Strength train (maybe a run tonight after the girls are in bed)
Tuesday - Run
Wednesday - Strength train and bike ride
Thursday - Run
Friday - Strength train and run

Last week I was able to do (I think) two - three miles runs (I can't remember if it was two or three) with minimal pain. This week I would like to do at least two - three mile runs and hopefully a four mile run.

My weight has been stuck around 134 - 136 this week. I was super excited when it hit 133 one day last week since that is has been my goal since I had Lily. 133 was my pre-baby weight. It is nice to start seeing it on the scale once in awhile because hopefully that means it will start showing up more often. I know most people would be excited to weigh 135 and I know I should be but I would love to be in the 120's. I would also be happy at 135 if all I had on my body was muscle instead of flab. That is the biggest reason I am trying to add lots of strength training into my workouts.

So please leave me some comments to get me motivated. What do you do when you are stuck in a rut and trying to get back to working out?

Alpine Tunnel

On Sunday we headed up to the Alpine Tunnel with our babysitter and two of her kids. It was a long and rough ride but worth it. The Alpine Tunnel lies above Pitkin, Colorado. It is an old train tunnel built back in the mining days. It has since caved in but the drive was fun and a bit scary. Joe has never been to the tunnel but he has always wanted to go. A very long time ago I had visted the tunnel with my family when we were on vacation out here (I was in elementary school is how long ago it was!). We had a great time and most of these pictures are for my dad. He will be very excited to see these.

This is a picture of how narrow the road was. I am glad that I was not driving.

These are pictures of the view from the car to the valley floor below. It was a long way down.

Lily just hanging out. She was a tropper.

Mikayla enjoying the ride.

We made it.

Isn't this high alpine valley beautiful. We were at 11,500 feet and the mountains around us had to be at least 13,000.

There is not much to see anymore.

A friendly marmot. I love these guys and they drive the dogs nuts with their high pitched squeaks.



This is on the way down from the tunnel. The rock outcropping was where we were at one point in the drive.

This is a rock wall built by hand.

4th of July Crested Butte, Colorado

For all of my Colorado blogger buddies, if you have never experienced a 4th of July in Crested Butte than you must get away next year. It is full of family fun activities and a blast. The day starts with the 1/3 Marathon (8.75 miles) Run, Walk or Crawl from the town of Gothic down into Crested Butte. I have run this race 2 times and cannot to wait to run it again. If you don't feel like running you can help raise money for our local fire fighters by buying some of there yummy pancakes at their pancake breakfast from 8am to 10am.

The parade is the most fun and starts at 11am. This parade features very untypical floats. You have the students from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic parading down the street in "Skunk Cabbage" instead of clothes just to give you an idea. At the end block of Elk Avenue the parade turns into a huge water fight.

We really did not want to get wet but we did enjoy some of the water.

Who would not want to watch a parade with this in the background?

After the parade Elk Avenue stays closed and people can enjoy music, street games and great food. We had a blast and a super fun 4th of July.

Where Oh Where Have I Been

I am sorry that I have not blogged in sooo long or read your blogs in so long. On Sunday night I got hit with the world's worst cold. I had no idea a cold could put me in bed and make me call in sick to work 3 days in a row. I have never in my whole life called in sick 3 days in a row.

Monday I spent the day in bed, Tuesday I made it to the couch, Wednesday I tried to go into work but came home after 2 hours and Thursday and I was finally able to go to work. Even child birth was easier than this because it was over in 24 hours. Thank heavens for daycare and being a working mom. There is no way I could have taken care of the girls if I was a stay at home mom.

Yesterday, I had the day off for July 4th and I arrange for Joe to have the day off as well for a late birthday present. The plan was to go to Crested Butte, enjoy a wonderful heart pumping hike, have lunch and then pick up the girls from daycare. We did all that but down played the hike since I am still recovering from being sick. We headed up to Crested Butte and origianlly wanted to hike Yule Pass where we went on our first date almost 12 years ago. We had heard some people saying that you cannot get up to Yule Pass yet due to too much snow. So instead we did Daisy Pass.

We drove north from Crested Butte and turned left onto Slate River Road, then we continued on Slate River Road for about 6 miles into the townsite of Pittsburgh. At this point we parked the car and got our feet really wet as we walked through Slate River (more of a large creek at this point). We headed up a beautiful jeep road with wildflowers everywhere. The dogs had a blast. It is was a nice, easy road with only a little incline. We also came across 2 beautiful, huge water falls. Check out this link to read about some guys kyaking the falls. From Daisy Pass Road we could look way up above us and see the Yule Pass trail. There really was a lot of snow still up there. We also saw a huge waterfall come down from the snow. I love being able to go up into the mountains and see where the creeks, streams and rivers start. We hiked about 45 minutes and then turned around and headed back. I wanted to keep going but I was worried that I would get too tired on the way back.

After the hike we headed back to Crested Butte and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Maxwell's. It was wonderful and relaxing. I feel like it was my birthday present as well as Joe's. I am sorry I don't have any picture to post because the hike was gogorus, but we forgot the camera, like always.

Learner's Bib Giveaway Winner

I really apologize for being so late in getting the winner posted. I was so sick this week - I have never been this sick in my life. I never knew a cold would throw me into bed for 3 days straight.

The winner is Bitsy of Mommy Tried It.

Free National Park Day

In order to promote our National Parks the Park Service is hosting one free weekend per month between now and the end of August. We live about 1 1/2 hours from the Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park and Joe decided that for Father's Day he wanted to go to the Black Canyon. We loaded up the car about 9:30 and had a nice car ride down. Lily was excellent (normally she is a handful in the car!). Because of Green Style Mom I learned about the Junior Ranger program. Mikayla picked up a packet of activities and they completely age appropriate. She was able to do some of them on her own and a few with my help, a couple of the activities were too old for her but the program is designed for ages 3 to 5 so it made sense, and she only had to complete 4 activities. She had tons of fun with the booklet and she earned her junior ranger badge. I do have to say though she was so tired at the end of the day she really did not want to talk to the ranger too much but that is ok because I knew she had learned a lot.

Joe is already talking about the next free weekend in July 18 and 19th about going down to Mesa Verde. I will have to remind his though how hot southern Colorado gets in July!

Overall we had a great Father's Day.

***Don't forget to check out my Learner's Bib Giveaway below***

Baggino Diaper Bag - Learner's Bib - GIVEAWAY

Root and Sprout is a parenting network/blog that I belong to. Grow Together is an off shoot of Root and Sprout. Both sites are excellent resources and the best part about both sites is that they are driven by the people who participate. You can participate as much or as little as you want. You can become a featured writer and make money, you can particiapte in giveaways, you can meet parents from all over the country. It is a wonderful site with tons of features. I have been involved with this site from the beginning and I really wish I was a more active member of it.

In March I signed up to review this diaper bag from Baggino:
This diaper bag is pretty cool because it takes the hassle out of finding what you need and the outside of the diaper bag turns into the changing pad. I can never find my changing pad in my diaper bag.

They also sent me this awesome bib (which every mom and dad in the world needs):

Giveaway - Win one Learner's Bib from Baggino.com. Please take a minute to check out my review, the Baggino Website and Root and Sprout. In order to enter this giveaway please leave a comment related to the product, my review or root and sprout. Also don't leave a comment like "Enter Me" Love the bib," please add some depth.

You will receive extra votes by 1 - blogging about this giveaway on your site with a link back to my and also leave me a comment that you did so and/or 2 - becoming a follower of Colorado Mama.

This contest closes on June 26th and I will draw a name that weekend.

Frustrated

A week ago I went for a two mile run and my foot felt pretty good. So two days later I did 3 miles and then two days later I a 4 mile run. I was feeling some pressure sometimes but not all of the time and I was not in pain. On Sunday I was feeling my foot a bit but I was really wanting a nice long run. I headed out to Hartman Rocks and did 5 miles. It was a slow 5 miles because I was not ready for all of those hills but it was great. I felt great all the way from my head down to my ankle. Yup, not my foot my ankle. After about a mile it started acting up again but since I really wanted that run I kept at it. Sunday and Monday it was super sore. I even wore my tennis shoes to work on Monday for extra support. I am so frustrated that after a month it is still not better. I called the doctor and she is out of town for 2 1/2 weeks. I made an appointment for when she gets back to talk but I have also decided until then I am going to keep running, since not running is not helping it get better. Today I did 3.2 miles and it felt great.

Why I Live in Gunnison, Colorado

Joe and I think about living this small town all of the time. Usually because we could make a lot more money if we were to move to Denver. I have done the math and I could easily be making $10,000 to $15,000 more than I am making currently and trust me that would help a TON financially. Even as I am writing this I am thinking about moving to Denver.

While we have thought about moving we always end up staying. We like the idea of living in a small town where everyone knows everyone. This will be helpful when the girls get older because that means that many more people who know what they are doing! We love living so close to hiking, mountain biking and skiing. Joe cannot wait for the day when Mikayla is in school and the teacher asks "So, Mikayla what did you do this weekend?" Her answer is suppose to be "Dad and I did some sick downhill."

While living here is financially a strain it is also hard to be away from family. I just have to remember this is one of the reasons we live here:

Sorry this is not in better focus but I took this picture from inside. I was scared that is I opened the door to get a better picture I would scare them away. Also, one of our creeks is right below the deer and our two ducks who we like to call Fred and Ethel were hanging out in the stream.

Colorado Mama's Food Blog

I have created a new blog in order to keep all of my recipes and restaurant reviews in one place. I will not posting my Sunday recipes on this site but I will be posting everything on my food blog. I will let you know whenever I post a new recipe on my food blog.

Please take a minute to check it out: http://colorado-mama-foodblog.blogspot.com/

National Donut Day

I really did not need to wake up, turn on the computer to find out that it is National Donut Day. Maybe they are trying to compete with National Running Day that was on June 3rd. Did you go for a run? I did 3 miles and my foot felt great the whole time!

Back to Running - Neuroma still there??

It has been a month since my last run so it is now time to test it out. Yesterday, I went for an easy 2 mile run. It felt great. I really do love running. I am not confident that once I am back to running a normal week with normal mileage that my foot will be pain free. This is because after my two mile run I had pressure, no pain just pressure. That pressure was still there this morning.

I did decided not to run today and I went swimming at our new rec center. The pool is brand new and I had fun swimming laps. I am going to try another 2 miles tomorrow and see how it goes.