This morning I got up bright and early (5:30 am!) to run. I met up with four friends to run around Buffalo Mountain. It was a gorgeous morning. Due to construction and wildfire closures we had to start at the top of Wildernest. We ran by Lily Pad Lake and joined the Meadow Creek Trail. We ran up and over Eccles Pass and down and around the back side of Buffalo. Because the Cabin Trail was closed we hopped on the Willowbrook Trail back. Overall, about 15 miles. Lots of fun and laughter. And wildflowers!!!!

Today was a busy day! Sam ran a half marathon this morning from Loveland ski area to Georgetown. He did awesome with a time of 1:30:47. He got 26th place overall! In the afternoon we headed over to Keystone to watch my favorite AC/DC cover band, Hell’s Bells. After the concert we met some friends at the Keystone Lodge for a swim. The hotel opens their pool for a couple hours in the afternoon on Saturday for free for locals. Now we are home….relaxing!

Happy Saturday! Love where you live!

Jennifer

So, while the girls were working, the boys and I went out for a short hike this morning. I really wanted to get some good shots of the wildflowers (which were amazing, by the way) but I mostly got pictures of the boys.  Anyway, it was a gorgeous morning and there was very little complaining, so that is good. Happy Tuesday!

It was a fun afternoon at the mountain bike races.  Everyone (but me) raced and everyone finished.  That is a win in my book, for sure!  Mason, on the 4 mile course, came in 4th in a sprint race to the finish.  Alice and Paige both raced on the 11 mile course and came in 5th and 6th (Paige fell a couple of times and her bike malfunctioned).  Sam and Scott both raced the 17 mile course and Scott finished 4th in his division (single speed) and Sam finished 5th (boys 16-18).  Super proud of my gang.  They are amazing!

 

I got this great idea at the beginning of summer to start Monday Morning Homework Time.  Almost everyone has summer homework and it is hard during vacation to get motivated to do it.  Sooo, we are having an 9 to 11 am homework sess, every Monday.  It was great for me too.  I worked on a professional book study in which I had gotten behind.  Sam read a history book he needs done by fall, Alice did a bit of driver’s ed, Mason is taking an online program to accelerate into a higher math class and Paige (who doesn’t have summer homework) helped get some work done around the house.   I love it!  I don’t think the kids do tho.  Oh well.

Our prayers were answered and we are having a rainy day up here in the high country.  I was getting a bit stir crazy after lunch so I grabbed my camera (and raincoat) and headed out on the trail.  The wildflowers are just beginning to pop and it was beautiful out there.  Everything looked so green and healthy.  Thank you Lord for this rain!!!

 

It’s been an exciting week up here on the mountain!

Mason and I have been volunteering at the Breck Backstage Theater a bit this week, helping out with costumes for Spamalot. Sam has been working hard, staining a deck. Alice and Paige started working this week. Paige is babysitting and Alice is working for a gardener. Scott is hard at work on real estate stuff and found some time to ride the Monarch Crest trail. Alice and I ran a 6k trail race last night. It was long and hot but we finished well. We both got third in our age groups;)

The most “exciting” thing that happened this week was a wildfire in Silverthorne. It started out right above Wildernest and Mesa Cortina (two huge neighborhoods) and came within 250 feet of homes. It quickly grew to about 100 acres due to hot temps, high winds and a lack of rain. Luckily, the firefighters were on it fast with ground fighting, water and slurry drops. Praise the Lord, evacuation were just lifted this afternoon!

Our view from Frisco.

We are loving this warm weather but are praying for some rain!

Happy summer vacation peeps:)

Jen

A few more shots.  Many of my recent shots I have included in past posts so bear with me if you have seen it already :). Now that summer is here and I have some time off, I can definitely focus on the daily shots.

 

Yeehaw!!!!!  We are pretty stoked over here.  It is summer vacation.  After a couple stressful weeks filled with finals and end of year projects, promotion and parties, and so many other things, we are ready to do some relaxing!

The kids and Scott also had their first bike race on Wednesday.  Mason finished third in his race and we were all pretty pumped because it was his first time on the podium! Unfortunately I didn’t get a podium pic because I was out on the course, volunteering and directing bike traffic. Here is Scott as he came by me.  This year, he switched to a new category….single speed.  That means he has no gears on his bike.  Tough to say the least.  He had a great race.

We also found time to check out the wave exhibit in Breckenridge. It was so fun!

If you are looking for me, I am probably out on the lake (on my paddle board). It truly is my happy place!

Happy Summer!

Jennifer

Mason had his Genius Hour presentation yesterday. He presented about the periodic table. It was very informative and so cool to see him learn about something he is so interested in. Genius Hour is a program that encourages students to learn about something new, create a new product, learn about the way something works, etc.

Genius Hour allows the students 20% of their class time to work on anything in which they have interest. Very innovative and definitely breeds creativity and passion.

Paige also had her Design Thinking presentation this week, which is very similar, except at the middle school level is a class. She designed a lesson plan for teachers about bullying. Unfortunately, no pictures:(

SAm and Alice are busy with finals and we are all looking forward to the last day of school (Wednesday!).