HEALTHY LUNCHES
AUGUST 3, 2021​

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QUIET SUNDAY PLAYTIME
AUGUST 29, 2021

In the common room on Peter’s floor was a doll with blonde hair that sat on top of the refrigerator. Everyone kept saying how much it looked like him, so he had to have a picture with his “twin.” 
 

​The month of August found Mike and I very busy trying to get ready for the Double Bypass bike event near the end of the month and my Pikes Peak Hill climb the beginning of the month. I found myself mostly biking this month with the occasional run with the Striders or with Dionne. Mike and I had some fun rides this month. My favorite ride was our anniversary ride where we rode up and back on the Cherry Creek trail and then the South Platte River trail inn Denver. It was a gorgeous day and a fun ride. We stopped along the South Platte River trail for a quick snack and enjoyed resting for a bit before finishing up our almost 63-mile ride. Some of my other rides included Sanctuary Pointe with Emily, the 719 segment with Mike,  and some of our routine Cottonwood Creek trail rides. 

​During one of Madeline’s days off school, I took her to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We scheduled our time right when the zoo opened. First, we went and fed the giraffes. This was the first time that Madeline agreed to feed the giraffes. It was so cute to hear her giggles when the giraffe licked her hand trying to get the lettuce. Then we headed over and saw the lions and elephants. For some reason we never watch the elephants for very long. We spent a good deal of time feeding the budgie birds. Madeline just loved that. It seemed like all the animals were out today. The tiger was the most exciting animal of the day. It was pacing back and forth so quickly and then it got in the water and started playing with the ball. We made sure to stop after the tiger to eat a quick treat. We shared some dipping dots and then headed to ride the carousel. Madeline loved this fast carousel ride and chose the rainbow horse. Then we headed to the penguin exhibit. They were all swimming in the indoor exhibit. The only animal we didn’t see today was the bear, but we did see many other animals. Today we saw the giraffes, lions, elephants, wallabies, budgie birds, alligators, red tree kangaroo, turtles, snakes, lizards, geckos, sloths, tiger, bald eagle, mountain lions, elk, porcupines, peacocks, penguins, orangutangs, and monkeys.

​The girls had a fun time while Mike and I drove the boys to college. They played games, watched movies, baked yummy treats, went for walks, did fun hairdos, ran through the sprinklers,  jumped on the trampoline, talked and laughed a bunch. 

The Double Bypass (part of the Triple Bypass bike event in the Colorado mountains) was such an awesome challenge ride. Mike and I choose to start with the shorter but totally sweet 65-mile ride up 2 mountain passes. We climbed about 6000ft, braved the cold elements throughout the race, took photos on top of the world, tried pickle juice at the aid stations, cheered on other bikers that we passed along the way, and challenged ourselves in an epic endurance ride. I love that we do these things together. We started out together but once we reached the first climb, I went on ahead. In hindsight, I should have waited for him at the top of the first mountain pass. Mike took time at each aid station to enjoy all the perks and enjoy the ride whereas I rode it for time. I finished the ride in 4:53:52 and Mike finished in 5:24:51. The next big bike event we do we will ride together because it will be more fun that way. Go team Wilhelm!

​Driving the boys to college at the University of Utah was exciting, surreal, and a little bit sad.  We moved Peter into the dorms first. We made it to SLC right in time for him to check in and get his ID and COVID test done. Then it was off to the dorms where it was pouring rain. Luckily the U dorms do it right. The kids check out a cart and take their stuff to their rooms that way. That is genius! The dorm rooms are so spacious. We unpacked everything in record time. It helped to have 4 people helping. There are so many cool things about being a student at the University of Utah. One of those perks is that every student gets all the Adobe products for free since the founder of Adobe is a U of U alum. 
 
The next morning, we got up and moved Andrew into his studio apartment at Avia in downtown SLC. Luckily, he is right on the TRAX line so he can hop on for free with his student card and ride up to campus. It is only a 10-minute commute for him! It was fun helping him get set up in his apartment. His apartment complex has some nice perks like free rides on the green scooters and bikes downtown, discounts at some restaurants, a movie room and lounge area with kitchen plus weight room and super cool patio areas with lots of grilling opportunities. I hope he has fun living it up in such a cool place while the GI Bill helps to pay for it!

Later that night, we all went out to dinner at the Copper Onion and had the most delicious beef stroganoff. It was only a short walk from Andrew's apartment. It was a nice way to celebrate two successful days of unpacking the boys for college. The next day we toured campus with the boys and then said our goodbyes. We said goodbye to Peter first who left to participate in freshman orientation for the engineering students. Then Andrew took us around the rest of campus and showed us the buildings he would be having class in plus Peter's engineering building. We ended up running back into Peter after we finished up at the bookstore and then said goodbye to both boys. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye.

Madeline started kindergarten this year. She was so excited at Back-to-School night on Friday where we got to see her classroom and meet her teacher, Mrs. Boeding. She found her seat and beamed at her pink pencil box. She loved the dollhouse and told me how excited she was to play with that. On Monday Madeline had her first day of school while the older girls started the next day. However, Emma and Abby agreed to get dressed up in their first day of school outfits to take some photos with Madeline before we drove her to school. Mike, Peter, Abby, Myisha and I all drove Madeline to school and walked her to meet her new class. She was a little nervous but also excited. There were no tears when we said goodbye and only smiles as she followed her teacher to her new classroom. Emma and Andrew would have been there, but Emma had to be at the high school to help with the new freshman and Andrew had to be at work. 
 
Abby and Emma had good first days as well, although they told me later that their first day of school wasn’t as exciting as Madeline’s first day. The middle school and high school teachers don’t waste any time and they came home with homework and many syllabuses to sign.   

​I always dread family photo time because it is a lot of work to coordinate outfits and take the photos. I tried to make it easier this year and used clothes we already had in our closets. I had planned on taking the photos nearby in a section that looked like the Painted Mines. However, when we got there, we realized we couldn’t quite get to that place due to a barbed wire fence I had not seen. So, we wandered along the trail until we found a suitable place. The sun was already going down fast, so I had to be quick. These photos were not my favorite at first but after a few tweaking I really love them. The reality is not every photo can be perfect and there are always a bunch of eye rolls from the kids and lots of silliness. I love that even though no one likes taking family photos each year, they do it willingly anyways. Each family photo marks another year of being together and for that I am grateful. 

​I’m so happy with how I did on my first ever bike only race. Today was the Pikes Peak Hill Climb race which is 12.14 miles and 4721 ft of climbing. It was a different feeling racing up this mountain rather than just riding up it. The competitive women’s categories all started together except for the 2 professional women who started after us (10 women in my heat). I placed 2nd in my age division and 5th overall woman for the competitive category. The first 2 professional women came in 30 min ahead of the rest of us. It was so amazing to watch them as they passed us. I didn’t break 2 hours which was my goal, but I got pretty darn close. I crossed the finish line in 2:00.30 which was a new PR. Now I just need to come back next year even stronger so I can destroy that 2-hour time!! It was fun to meet a new friend at the race. She and I were in the same age division!! She just moved from Yokosuka, Japan which is where I lived 8 years ago. We had so much fun talking about Japan the entire way down! 

This was the heat for the competitive women ages 20-60 
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This is the leaderboard for people I follow on Strava for the Pikes Peak Cycling race. Wow, my dad rode this race fast back in 2017!