Palisade Orchards

Jenna took us to one of her favourite peach orchards in Palisade.  We got to walk among the trees - many of which were still bearing fruit.  This was one of the few organic peach orchards in Palisade.  We also went to another that was slightly less professional, but it had more character.  The guy there said that we arrived right in the height of peach season this year, particularly as the peaches are late this year.

Funny Fun

I stood there in amazing amazement as I took notifying notice of this shampooing shampoo.  Evidently the good folks that work along Madison Ave wanted to really drive home the point that Pantene Pro V Shampoo is a great "Fortifying Fortifier".  I hope someday soon those inventive marketing people come out with nailing nails or screwing screws - because then I am sure to buy some. (and if not, can you please just title everything in French, and then I might just buy it because it sounds fancy)

A time to laugh

Conrad has become more and more fun to play with.  He is making new sounds and today we got him to laugh so much.  Times like these are priceless.

Palisade

We took a hike up to see the local petroglyphs.  We got started a bit too late and it was starting to get hot.  This was the spot where we turned around and headed back into the cool of the valley.  The valley behind me is Palisade and Grand Junction.

Smurfing around at the Warrior Dash 2011

 My cousin Jenna came up with a great idea for the Warrior Dash: we should all dress up as Smurfs.  The theme for the Warrior Dash is for sure macho - and we were going to run in the opposite direction and take on the persona of the least macho members of pop culture.  (if you look, you can notice Hulk Hogan behind me)

Of course, Christian beat me by a long shot,  but I did ok.  The course took me 34 minutes. I was 162nd (of  587) in my age group and 996th overall (of 7,000).  At 9,712 feet above sea level (2,960 m), oxygen was getting a little rare.  That is almost exactly the same altitude as the highest peak in Germany (The Zugspitze)-  I was a little less blue after the mud pit - and more brown.  At the end of the race we had to jump over fire on our way to the finish line.  As a group we earned lots of attention - particularly baby smurf who stole the show.

Candy Melts go Country

Carola was busy up at the cabin, making extraordinary cupcakes for Jenna's baby shower.  She took brown, green and yellow candy melts and made each individual tractor by hand.  Hours and hours of work were happily consumed in an hour.  Not only did the cupcakes look good - they tasted great too!

Oh Deer

We were eating dinner at the cabin when we had a mother and two fawns come visit.

Conrad Under the Tree

 We noticed how Conrad loves to watch the Aspen leaves blow in the wind, so Carola put him under the tree for his afternoon nap.  He was very content to just watch the light sparkle as it filtered through the leaves.

Landromat Fun

We had to make a stop at the Laundromat the other day because the cabin does not have a washer.  Conrad met his new friend Mr. Dryer.  They had a great time playing together.

Rabbit Ears Mountain

We went for a hike the a few days ago up Rabbit Ears Peak.  It is named Rabbit Ears because the two twin peaks poke up like a pair of rabbit's ears.  We saw lots of wildflowers in bloom.  It was interesting to see that at the beginning of the hike the flowers were about done blooming while at the summit they were still budding out.  The blue flowers are the Colorado state flower the Columbine.

Carola made it to the summit with Conrad and we put him in his wool sack to keep him warm.

The Manduca carrier worked well and Conrad loves to sleep in it.

Carola took this great pick of one of the many meadows we hiked through.

Cabin Tummy Time

Just because we are at 7,700 ft (2,346m) above sea level does not mean that tummy time takes a break.  Conrad took a big breath and like a champion continued doing his push-ups.

Pro Rodeo Series

After the Moffat Co. Fair, we headed back to Steamboat.  Not content to sit and relax at the cabin, we headed to the rodeo.

In order to get the kids involved, they had an event where the first kid to grab the ribbon off the calf's tail won a prize.  As you can see there were a lot of kids, but the calf gave them their exercise, running all around the arena evading capture.

Of course what would a rodeo be without bull riding.  This young guy came from neighbouring Hayden and rode really well for only being in the junior division.

Carola and I enjoyed watching the bareback riding.

Also, the steer wrestling was very entertaining - although this was one of the few attempts that was actually successful.

Moffat County Fair

After looking over the Steamboat farmers' market and getting some peaches and corn, we headed toward Craig for the Moffat County Fair.  We got there in time to see the tractor pull, but unfortunately we missed the baby cowboy dress-up contest.

This John Deere 820 was pulling a sled that increases the weight as it moves forward.  The 820  (from 1959 I think) won the competition.

We were really excited to see the riding lawnmower races.  This photo is from the junior division.  The girl on the right with the American flags was all set to win the race, but had engine trouble on the last lap.

We did not have to pay admission to the Moffat County Fair, even though it was alot of fun.  Carola noticed that the ticket stand (behind me) was no longer in the best of shape.

We missed the tractor pull for the older tractors, but they were still parked there so I took Conrad around and introduced him to the tractors, particularly the John Deere model As.

Auf der Hütte

We had a relaxing day just hanging out at the cabin today.  It was really good for Conrad, who got in a couple of good naps.  And it will be even better as tomorrow is a big day - Farmer's Market AND the 93rd Annual Moffat County Fair.

Lake Steamboat

Yesterday we decided to head up to Lake Steamboat.  All the guides (and Unlce George) said that it was a good lake to visit.  We unfortunately got a bit of a late start, but nevertheless had a relaxing time fishing for a bit.  The scenery was unbeatable.  Supposedly the fishing is really good, but I only caught two crayfish.

At the Cabin

Hello from Steamboat Springs.  We have made it up to Ann & Bill's and we are enjoying every moment of it.  I go running most mornings and I have for sure been feeling the altitude!  Nevertheless, it is really good training for the Warrior Dash (more on that later).  The flowers are blooming up here and it has been incredibly sunny.  Tomorrow we plan to have a quiet day just here at the cabin and on Saturday we plan to visit the farmers' market in Steamboat and then head to the county fair in Craig.  Hopefully we will find some blog-worthy stuff there to share.

Hotel Schwarzer Bock, Wiesbaden

Unfortunately, there was alot of glare on the picture, however, you should still be able to make out that this is the logo of the Hotel Schwarzer Bock, Wiesbaden.  This poster is located in the Old Chicago pizzeria in downtown Colorado Springs.  If I am not mistaken, the Schwarzer Bock is where Carola's great grandfather used to go quite often for coffee.

Grandma's tummy time

Grandma also decided to get in on tummy time.

American political discourse

 

Saw this in the parking lot the other day.  Of course, this is not exactly true. 9 out of every 10 Terrorist[s] vote Democrat and the remaining vote for the Green Party.

Sit back, relax & catch some rays

After getting our feet on the ground in Colorado Springs, we were off and running - heading out to Julesburg to do some finishing touches on Grandma Jean's house.  Anyone out there interested in a newly painted house in Julesburg, CO?  While we were out there the thermometer was pushing 100 (37 C).  So while it was fine in the shade, it was a bit warm in the sun.  We were glad to get back to Colorado Springs.

I was ready to drink a beer and take a break after a couple of days in the sun.

one day overlap

The day after we arrived in Colorado, we enjoyed a visit by Jeff, Winter and Nick.  In addition to figuring out his new skateboard, Nick took some time to get to know Conrad.  It was great that our schedules overlapped and we were able to see them.

A hop, skip and a jump

Last week, we headed for Colorado, taking the direct flight from Frankfurt to Denver.  Conrad slept really well and everything went very well (except for not arriving with our stroller).  We think Conrad likes to fly, but doesn't prefer cars.

Conrad wakes up

Some of the most fun we have with Conrad coincides with waking up right after a nap.  He is usually refreshed and ready to have some fun (unless he is really hungry or needs a new diaper of course).

Harper comes for a visit.

Harper came over to visit us before we left for Colorado.   She practiced her baby-sitting skills, taking care of Conrad.