​Peter has been so good with Madeline and takes her to the playground most afternoons. She just loves the time when she can play on the swings and the slides and just be a kid again. Secretly I know that Peter loves it too.

​I took Abby and Madeline to Flying Horse to swim one sunny afternoon. None of the other kids wanted to go so we headed on over to the club for some fun in the sun.

​For two months we have been waiting for the Ethos Power Rack and Bench to come back in stock so that we could start to do some cross-fit from our home. All during the craziest times of COVID all we wanted to do was to be able to do pull ups and box jumps and lift some weights. Our rack system finally arrived, and we were so happy to finally be able to get back into some strength training.

​Andrew is just so good at cooking and baking and we all convinced him to make us the molten chocolate cake again. His second time baking it was just as good as the first time he made it. We were all in heaven.

​We just love our backyard paradise under the gazebo. It has been so nice to be able to have somewhere to sit outside during the day when the sun is out. It is so peaceful out there.

​I love it when Mike gets the itch to try something new for dinner because I am just not that into cooking anything new these days. He found a great chicken marsala recipe online and it did not disappoint. We all loved it.

​Madeline loves to play in the backyard but on this particular afternoon she was super excited to dunk some baskets with Andrew. We lowered the hoop all the way and she dunked basket after basket as Andrew lifted her up to the rim. It was super cute.

​Every time I browse through Mike’s photos on his phone, I come across countless selfies of him and Madeline. I just love how much he adores her.

​Mike did his first Inspire procedures for sleep apnea and they went so well. He was told by the device reps after the procedures that he was the best they had ever seen just starting out. He was quick, efficient, and just downright amazing.

​It is not uncommon for us to get plenty of hailstorms in June. Lucky for us we haven’t had that much hail this month. So, it was no surprise when a big hailstorm finally hit. Usually we get smaller hail but this time we actually witnessed golf ball size hail. It was loud and pretty crazy.

​We have enjoyed the amazing summer sunsets while sitting underneath our gazebo. It’s hard to imagine life without our little backyard paradise.

For part of Abby’s birthday celebration, I took her and Emma to get our nails and toes done at the salon. Abby picked a fun purple color for both her fingernails and toenails. She was in heaven!

​Since our race at XTERRA Beaver Creek was still a go in June, Mike and I spent a lot of time working hard and putting in the time to bike, swim and run. We often had to double up 2-3 days a week in order to fit it all in but we both enjoyed being able to bike and swim together. Some of our favorite rides this month were biking at Rampart Reservoir and Staunton State Park. We even fit in some Red Rock rides and some road biking on the Cottonwood Creek trail and up into Cordera and Wolf Ranch. We felt blessed to be able to swim at Flying Horse 2-3 days a week and really enjoyed our mornings swimming together. The only thing we didn’t do together was run. I ran mostly with Dionne and Caryn and we followed many of the Striders workouts. I ran at Garden of the Gods, Barr Trail, Bear Creek Park, High Drive, and Black Forest Section 16. I didn’t get in as many runs as I would have liked since my foot was still healing but I got in enough hard runs keep up my endurance. It was a really great month of training!
 

​Since we were traveling on Father’s Day, we decided to celebrate our official Father’s Day the week after. I made Mike a wonderful pancake breakfast with bacon and fruit and all the of the kids each made him a card. We tried to do what we could so he could have a relaxing day. The kids even got ready for church and photos rather quickly and without any whining. We couldn’t be luckier to have the best dad and husband around. He does an incredible amount for our family and deeply cares about each and every one of us. The kids adore his sensitivity and creativity and enjoy his sense of humor.  We are all extremely aware of his hard work attitude and try to support him in his efforts to excel at work. Our family just wouldn’t be the same without him in it!
 

​Today we slept in and then packed up all of our stuff.  Mike made pancakes for everyone even though it was Father’s Day. We are super grateful for him. After the car was all packed up, we headed to Fish Creek Falls which was just a 15 min drive from downtown Steamboat. The trail to the upper falls was mostly paved and it was only a ¼ mile. We headed to the overlook at the top first to see the picturesque views of the upper falls before winding down and meeting up with the dirt path to see the lower falls. It was really quite magnificent. We stayed at the bottom falls for quite a while as we were all mesmerized by the sounds and movement of the water. Once more crowds of people started showing up, we decided to head back up the trail and back to the car. It was just what we needed before the long drive back home.

We spent all day at Steamboat Lake today. Mike and Peter headed up early to find a good spot on the lake and set up the paddle boards and the sunshade. I stopped at the store to grab some more life jackets and then we headed out to meet Mike and Peter. The drive to the lake was a little further than I was expecting, about 45 minutes away, but it was absolutely beautiful. When we got there, I stopped to get a pass for the car and then we drove to where Mike and Peter had set up all of our stuff. It was rather windy by the time we made it down to the shore and so we all kept on our long-sleeved shirts. Since everyone was a bit chilly it took a little bit of time for people to be brave enough to get in the water. Peter The kids each took turns heading out on the paddle boards and then Mike tied the tubes to one of the paddle boards and pulled the kids along. Emma and Abby loved sitting in the double tube, and they headed out with Mike on a little adventure to the other end of the lake. I took Madeline with me on the other paddle board and we went out to find them. Madeline loved being on the paddle board with me and she took plenty of videos with the GoPro on our way out to the other end of the lake to find Mike and the girls. We finally met up in one of the inlets and got out on the sandbank for a little bit to enjoy the views. Steamboat lake is enormous, and all of the motorized boats were required to stay in a specific part of the lake. We were obviously paddling in another part of the lake and it wasn’t crowded at all. We only saw a few people out paddle boarding or kayaking. It was so nice to basically have the lake all to ourselves.

​Our first day at Steamboat Springs was spent on a family bike ride with the kids along the Spring Creek trail. We rented a Burley trailer for Madeline and attached it to Andrew’s bike and headed out on a fun adventure together. We biked along the most beautiful trail that rang along the Yampa River. It wasn’t a very long trail all the way to the end from where we started but no one was complaining about that. After making it to the end we turned around and ate lunch at a park along the trail. Madeline was super happy to get out and play on the playground. We ate lunch and relaxed for a little bit before heading back on our bikes down the trail. On the way back we saw that the Alpine Slides were open, so we stopped and bought tickets. Each of the kids got to do 2 rounds on the slides and Mike and I each took a turn with Madeline on the slide while the other one kept an eye on the bikes. I wasn’t sure if Madeline would like the slide or be afraid of it, so I was pleasantly surprised when she screamed in excitement all the way down. I personally loved it too and enjoyed the beautiful views on the way down.
 
After getting back on the bikes, we rode along the trail but stopped briefly to check out the botanical garden we saw at the beginning of our ride. We parked our bikes and put on our masks and entered the Yampa River Botanic Park. We did a big loop around the park, just enjoying the pretty flowers and beautiful landscape and fun paths in the wooded areas. Then it was back on the bikes to finish out our biking adventure. When we got back to the hotel, we got on our swimsuits and headed to the pool for our reservation pool time. We were a little sad that the hot tubs were closed but the kids still had a blast swimming in the pool and fooling around together. The older kids took turns playing with Madeline which was nice. The pool was a great way to cool off after finishing our ride with the kids.

​Mike and I decided to head up to Staunton State Park for a new adventure ride. We left early in the morning and arrived at the State Park in good spirits. It was a little cool when we left but the initial climbing at the beginning of the course helped warm us up quickly. We rode a big clockwise loop starting with the Staunton Ranch Trail. This steady uphill climb was mostly a rather wide single track. The trail was incredible with amazing views. This trail eventually dumped us onto a service road that took us up a short distance until we met up with the 4-way intersection. We took a left and headed on the Marmot Passage Trail. This was a pretty spectacular section of the loop. It was a steady uphill climb for almost a mile that brought us to the top of a beautiful lookout that overlooks Lion’s Head. The top was mostly a rocky section and I was having so much fun navigating the rocky section that I didn’t even stop at the top to see the views. The rocky descent was super fun and reminded me a little of biking Slick Rock in Moab. Once at the bottom of this little section, we decided against doing the Chimney Rock and West Meadow Trail and instead bypassed this section altogether by riding up the Bulging Elk Trail that looped back around and took us back to the 4-way intersection. This time we headed on the Border Line Trail and put our bodies to the test on the hardest climb in the park. We climbed for about 1.2 miles. It was grueling at times but definitely doable. We made the short trek up to the overlook and took that as a much-needed break. The views were something else! As we continued to descend, we headed onto the Mason Creek trail and just loved biking through the Aspens and other tree sections. We were diverted to the Bear Paw Trail for part of it as a short section of the Mason Creek Trail was closed for rejuvenation. There was another great overlook at the top before the super fun descent all the way to the bottom. This was probably the coolest ride we’ve done in Colorado by far. It was such a beautiful place to bike and only an hour away from our house. We will definitely be coming back here to bike, hike and camp!
 

​The last time we biked Rampart Reservoir was almost 6 years ago. We decided to ride it again, now with more experience on the mountain bike. We decided to go counterclockwise, although part way Mike informed me that this direction was much harder than the clockwise loop. Great. We were already too far into the course to turn around and go the other direction. The first few miles were tough with many impassable sections. It felt like we were off the bike too much. The saving grace on the first section were the incredible view. I guess that is really why people keep coming back to bike this place. The course isn’t always rideable but the parts that are can be really fun and the views on a sunny day are pretty amazing. We finished the 11.57-mile loop in 2 hours and 10 minutes and then headed to Rudy’s for some yummy BBQ.