This race has been on my "to run" list ever since I saw a flyer for it on my 30th birthday trip to Ouray.
I ran this course several years ago for a training run while we were camping and it quickly became my favorite run.
My family came to cheer me on, this was the first race they were all present for, and it was great to see them along the course.
Anne and I ran a great pace as the course is mostly a gradual down hill... Except for the first two miles, and a humongous hill at mile 11. I was pleased with my time of 2:02:11 (according to my Garmin). My goal was to be as close to two hours as possible.
After the race the family and I enjoyed the town of Ouray - in a rain and thunderstorm. We went on a little hike on our new favorite trail, the baby bathtubs. Though the bathtubs were too full and fast to play in they still were amazingly beautiful. We also got to soak in the hot springs, in the rain.
I absolutely LOVE Ouray, and the rain makes it all the more cozy!!
It was a beautiful morning to run, and the scenery was that which ranks among the most beautiful places in the world... And there was a nice cold beer at the finish! All in all I'd say it was pretty close to perfect!
My Mom and her husband Dan, have started a new tradition in gift giving... giving experiences rather than objects. I have to say that I have come to LOVE these excursions with them. This year they took us on a ski weekend to Copper Mountain, which included two nights in a beautiful ski side condo one a full day of skiing, and another day of snowshoeing and sledding.
We arrived Friday night, to a scrumptious meal, and watched the snow fall. After a long day of work and school none of us made it too late, and headed to bed early-ish.
Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast and got ready at a leisurely pace. Being at the base of the mountain it was nice to not have to walk out the door until 9:00 to ski. Usually ski trips require us to wake up early and start the drive to the mountain. It was an absolutely beautiful day when we began, the sun was so bright, and there was barely a breeze in the air. We skied the far East side of the mountain all morning, and have decided to avoid Kokomo, Lumberjack, Timberline Express, as the first two are slow and the third is incredibly busy. Our favorite runs happened to be off of Union Creek, so we will stick to that area in the future.
After lunch the conditions changed, and we skied our way through big fat flakes the remainder of the day. Super Bee is the lift that was right out side our condo, and even more cool, was that it sat 6, so we could all ride it together!. Our afternoon runs consisted of criss crossing the mountain from the tippy top of Super Bee to Union Creek, and back to the base of Super Bee.
I was so impressed with how well Maddox had done. Earlier in the season I enrolled him in a ski lesson at our local resort, Powderhorn, and he did really well, but I wasn't sure he'd be ready for the blue runs at the bigger mountain. He did exceptionally well playing follow the leader with grandpa. Madison is always fun to ski with, and trying to keep up with her makes my legs burn!
Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)
Me and my munchkin, Madison.
Maddox insisted he wasn't done skiing for the day, (though another full run would have been his ruin) so he skied all the way to the condo.
Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)
Madison waiting for our lift tickets
All 6 of us on the Super Bee!
Maddox entertaining himself while we wait for tickets.
For the past 4 years we have traveled to Vegas during the doldrums of winter... for a soccer tournament.
Though the destination screams "PLAY! PARTY!" it typically turns out to be a well needed relaxation trip. Just enough heat to thaw my frozen Colorado bones, just enough sun to tint my winter white skin, and just enough city (restaurants, shopping) to tide me over till spring soccer season.
This year Madison's team played in the LV Mayors Cup; this tournament draws teams from all of the United States and even internationally! There were teams from all of the western states of NV, AZ, CA, but there were even teams from states as far east as Pennsylvania! Madison's team was placed in a bracket that included a team from NV, the #3 team in CA (#15 in the nation - we are #250), and a team from Vancouver Canada! Though the girls didn't win a game they played some pretty competitive soccer against some great teams.
Nevada: Lost 1-2
California: Lost... by a lot... it was incredible to watch this team play! They had some incredible plays, were incredibly fast, technically sound, and at least one of their players were invited to play on the national team!
Vancouver Canada: Tied
Their record earned them a consolation match, which pitted them against another Canadian team, this time from the province of Alberta.
It was a fun experience to play international teams, one of the customs in international matches is to give the opposing team a token from where you are from. Each of the Canadian teams gave our girls pins (which were quickly attached to their soccer bags) from their province. Our girls gave the other teams post cards from Colorful Colorado!
Overall this tournament was one of the best we had played in, it was pure soccer with very few dirty plays - unlike the Colorado league we play in where it is common place to be assaulted and come away with multiple bruises or injuries from foul play.
We did a bit of shopping at the outlets, I got a summer dress, and Madison got outfitted with a summer wardrobe... B got a hat.
We dined at a fancy steak house called the Golden Calf at the very end of the strip on Sahara. From the outside it looks old and maybe a bit shady, the inside is pure "old skool" mob boss! The a la carte menu and enormous steaks (with prices to match), and a bottle of bubbly, set our bill at almost $500.00. When Madison and Tia looked at the bill I think their jaws hit the floor. But- what the heck- you can only splurge like that once in a great while, so why not do it in Vegas!
This may be our last trip to Vegas with Madison's club soccer team. Right now she is pretty sure she will only play school athletics in high school, and not continue with the local soccer club. Which made this trip all the more nostalgic.
For the second year in a row my mom and her husband planned a fabulous weekend get away for all of their kids and grand kids. This year we went to the Hilltop House in Mesa Colorado. This place was HUGE, comfortable accommodating all 18 of us. 2 grand parents, 4 children and their 4 spouses, 7 grand children, and one friend of Madison's made the trek this year.
My mom and Dan are so creative in finding fun activities for us all to do. The first morning we had a fishing derby, complete with 6 pink Barbi fishing poles, and one yellow-very boyish-pole, power bait, fish eggs, awards for biggest, most, and first fish, and 2 adults for every kiddy fisher... the only thing missing were the fish... not a single bite.
They also hung glow-in-the-dark stars in the bushes around the cabin to provide fun star watching during the Blue Moon weekend. The kids were captivated with a nature scavenger hunt, going on a hike and trying to spot animal poop and prints, flowers, insects, and even some man made items like fence posts and power poles. Dan took the older girls (Madison and her friend Gracey) on a hike up to the flag pole on the summit of Beehive Mountain.
Thanks to Kristen we had a tie dyeing adventure, where all the kids came away with a brightly colored shirt, and us ladies turned our shirts into pretty amazing scarves.
Amazingly all the kids behaved and played really well together for the majority of the weekend, making it a pleasant experience for the rest of us.
Brian had to work so my mom made a cardboard cut out of his head so he could be included in the fun event pictures. We got a lot of good laughs and great entertainment by placing Biran in random photo ops. I was thankful that he made it up after work on Saturday to help me cook dinner, and we managed to get in a family picture as well.
A HUGE thank you to my mom and Dan for putting all this together for us, it is greatly appreciated and completely enjoyed by this Caster Clan!
ME: I RAN: I ran at least 560 miles this year. This included training and running my best ever half marathon, The Rock and Roll Denver, in 2 hours and 56 seconds. I READ: I exceeded my Good Reads goal of 24 books by ONE book. My favorite reads of this year would be Cutting for Stone and The Forgotten Garden. I have a goal to read through the entire bible, as of today I have completed through 2 Samuel. I really thought it would be a whole lot more boring to read the Bible, but I am really enjoying it. It's surprising how helpful having read the first 5 books of the Bible has been when reading some New Testament passages...shedding new light on a lot of questions I have always had. Two books that really challenged me to think and grow were Blue Like Jazz and Heaven is For Real. I (started) GROWING UP: I did a lot of self reflection and resoluting to grow up and get over some of my issues... I have a lot to do still, but it feels good to be opening my eyes to the possibility of embracing change for the better. I BECAME A BIT CREATIVE: I made a jewelry art piece for my room, canned jam, and convinced my husband into letting me have his grandpas antique stove and used it as a entertainment stand. I (almost) DIED: discovered the hard way that I am allergic to peaches and now have to cary an epi pen... this caused me some depression, and several dreams where I indulged in peaches, only to wake by trying to make myself puke them up. I JOINED A GYM: joined Allison and hired a trainer for a few weeks of the summer, who pushed me to do some stuff that is harder than running 13 miles. I TAUGHT: started my 9th year of teaching, taught a class on standard based grading at a district inservice, and embraced a lot of top down change with the best attitude I can muster... in truth my students are great and make it all worth while. I GAVE: Anne and I continued to make our monthly meals for the homeless shelter, and this year we took on making gift bags for the ones that would be spending Christmas Eve at the shelter. (In truth ANNE organized it all). But it was great to be a part of assembling and delivering. I PLAYED TENNIS: Finally Jolene and I signed up and played in the Taco Bell Tennis tournament (we've been talking the talk for a few years). We quickly found out that our 3 weeks of preparation was not enough to hang with the big dogs (old ladies who play every day) and win the whole thing, but we did pull out a few wins and didn't get eliminated immediately.
Madison: Madison finished 6th grade still loving school, and started (and continues) 7th grade the same way. She has a great group of friends and is very into the social thing (as evident by her 1400+ texts a month). She started taking bass guitar lessons and is now playing in the school Jazz Band. Madison also took a hunters safety course and earned her hunters safety card, though not in time to get a license this year. She had a Halloween party complete with a haunted house that I had to chaperone (thankfully for me it was cheesy), and at this party they set a goal of saving money to go to Hawaii for their senior trip. Madison got a new soccer coach, and the change in her attitude, confidence, and play is incredible; in fact the whole team did a 180 going from not winning but 2 games, to no losses. Madison also got her braces off, and WOW her smile is amazing! She turned 13, and continues to be a wonderful daughter, growing into a beautiful young woman.
Maddox: Maddox had a year of milestones... he learned to ride a bike, lost his first tooth, graduated preschool and started Kindergarten. We had our first parent teacher conference, where Maddox sat like a perfect angel, and we were informed he is the model student always tries his best, works hard, is kind, and learning like a sponge. I am a bit embarrassed to say that we were surprise by this, and had been expecting to hear that he can't sit still, is a crazy rambunctious boy. He also started his first season of T-ball, and absolutely loved it. Maddox started his second season of wrestling and in the first tournament he got second place. We celebrated his 5th birthday with an ear infection that delayed our zoo trip by a day, but we still made it and he loved it. Maddox has a strong conscience, and is highly compassionate.
Brian: Brian continues to be an amazing dad and husband. He coached Maddox's T-ball team, and his expertise was evident in our teams superior skill and behavior on the field during practice and games. He is also coaching the Palisade Little Dogs Wrestling. He has been working with the older kids, as we have realized that Maddox receives wrestling instruciton better from someone who is not dad. He took Maddox on his first hunting trip, but Madison continues to be his lucky hunting charm and they got a really nice doe that added 80 lbs of burger, italian sausage, breakfast sausage, and steaks to our freezer. He got sick for Elk season, which bummed him out (and me... I love elk meat).
We Traveled: We went on our first Caster Family vacation, driving 18 hours to Northern Idaho, 30 miles from the Canadian border; arriving in Priest Lake ID. This was a magical trip, while we were there my soul felt at home, and since we left my soul has longed to return. We also spent almost a week in Steamboat for a soccer tournament, since we travel so much for soccer, we try to make the trips mini vacations; and Steamboat was a nice little get away. We opted for camping out in the pop up at a KOA type campground, complete with a pool and games. I think we all had a great "camping" experience. Another soccer mini vacation was the annual trip to Vegas, the focus was strictly soccer... though we managed a drive down the strip for Maddox, and a dinner in Cesar's Palace. Brian and I took a weekend trip to Ouray, this may be my favorite "him and I" get away ever, complete with a beautiful hike. We also had a mini family retreat with my mom and Dan and all 4 of us kids... they rented a beautiful cabin between Ridgeway and Ouray, that was so massive all 17 of us slept and lived very comfortably. Dan had a great dinosaur dig activity for all the grand kids to participate in, and we enjoyed playing on the lake and campfires at night.
Major Random Events: Nik and Megan got married in June, the wedding was beautiful, and my kids were perfect, Maddox got hooked on the mother son dance and couldn't wait to dance it again at Brian's cousin, Patricia's, wedding in July. Brian's grandpa passed away, and we had a beautiful service that surprised me with its huge sentimental impact for me. This spurred a massive house cleaning/estate sale to get their house ready to be sold and Grandma moved into a retirement community. My brother had his third little girl, Teegan. My cousin Christa played tennis for the US team in the Special Olympics in Greece, and she came home with some medals too... like silver and bronze... I am so proud! My aunt Pepper moved to GJ, to live with my grandma. This has been such a blessing for my mom to have her sister close, and between the two of them, my grandma is in good hands!
Last weekend Brian and I had the opportunity to escape, just the two of us. So we thought we would try to get as close to heaven as possible and hike the Bridge of Heaven trail out of Ouray.
I love this small Colorado town, nestled at the base of the San Juan mountains, it has been dubbed "the Switzerland of the West" or "Little Switzerland. If Ouray is the miniature, less grand, version of Switzerland, I MUST travel there some day.
We headed out of town Friday night, stopping at a delicious Tai restaurant along the way. Once we got into Ouray we wound our way up the East side of the town. It wasn't long before the nice dirt road became a 4 wheel drive trail through the thicket of trees. We found a perfect pull off camp spot and set up camp in the back of the Sequoia. (Truthfully this was the part of our trip I was most excited about).
The next morning we headed the rest of the way to the trail head and began our ascent to Bridge of Heaven. It was really, cold; though the sun was coming up we were on the west side of a steep mountain and it was several hours before we finally broke into the sun. This first part of the hike was through a beautiful aspen grove, though all the leaves were on the ground, they were still the most vibrant yellow. A few hours later of switch back hiking we finally reached the summit... of that hill. This was a beautiful place to be, the saddle between peeks overlooking the quaint town of Ouray.
The second part of the hike was a bit more steep and at (obviously) a higher elevation, so our pace was just a bit slower. We found a comfortable spot just off the trail with a great view and had our lunch. The rest of the climb was climbing along a few ridges, but just before the summit we ran into snow.
Though we were prepared for almost everything, we were not equipped to hike through snow pack on face of a mountain. Though it was disappointing to have hiked that far, we thought it wiser to return with no injuries.
That afternoon we arrived in Ouray and treated our selves to our favorite Ouray treat....Key Lime milk shakes from Mouses Chocolates. I was still a little chilled and decided to warm up with an Americano... YUMM! We had some time before check in so we wandered along the main street for a while.
We stayed at the Beaumont Hotel. This hotel had sat vacant for over 30 years and was almost in ruins. The restoration took almost 5 years, and it looks amazing. For dinner that night we went to Bon Ton, an Italian restaurant, and devoured some delicious dishes! Dessert was called Black Nasty, and it was incredible, a thick chocolate moose pie with strawberry garnish and whipped cream.
We took our time getting going the next day, enjoying one last cup of coffee and the breathtaking jagged mountains and headed back to reality.
Learned: I have never been one to find the typical romantic gestures (flowers, chocolates....) all that romantic. For me, this weekend by far surpasses that romantic level.
We took our nice Nikon camera to Steamboat with us, but after two pictures... the battery died. In an effort to prevent a repeat of this in Idaho, I thought I'd better charge it up and see what treasures were stored away in its memory.
First I found some great pictures of a Desert Bighorn Sheep. We came upon this little guy on our way to hike Bangs Canyon early this summer. Our hike was great, and the kids splashed around in the creek that runs through the bottom of the canyon. Of course the camera got forgotten in the car for the hike, but at least they captured this guy.
Second were a few pictures of a bird that landed in our window. Madison was able to catch it and let it go outside. We were all really amazed that the bird didn't freak out or even flutter it's wings while she petted it and took it into her hands.
I also found some more pictures of Maddox's preschool graduation. I especially enjoyed seeing his funny faces, and the wide open mouths of the other kids singing their little hearts out.
Finally there were a few pics of Maddox's 5th birthday. These were of the impromptu cake he had on his birthday, when we were supposed to head to Denver for the zoo but he came down with an ear infection. We just couldn't go with out celebrating since we were home anyway.
When we found out we would be playing in a tournament in Steamboat, I was so happy. I love Steamboat, next to Telluride it is one of the most beautiful cities in Colorado. I could live there, but it is such a huge tourist town I don't think I could handle all the people.
Because it is a tourist town the hotel the team stayed at was almost $200/night... totaling almost $600 for the weekend. With our big family vacation coming up, we opted to take our pop-up and camp in a campground. This was perfect for us because Maddox could run around and play, and the weather was almost perfect... just a tincy bit hot in the afternoon, but the night was cool and crisp. The only downer was the amount of mosquitoes. Maddox and I got eaten alive!
I think if I lived there I would run every day... Anne and I took a morning run along the Yampa, and it was absolutely beautiful. I expected to be gasping for air because of the elevation, but it wasn't so bad...or we were compensating by running really slow! It was also quite communal; there were so many other people out running and biking on the trail, it was energizing to be amongst others of like running minds. The run also passes the botanical gardens which was amazingly luscious and bursting with color, heck I could have run laps through the gardens for an hour and been captivated by it's beauty the whole time.
Enough about my love affair with Steamboat, and on to the real reason for this post... the soccer tournament...
This last soccer season has been, well, trying... to say the least. But we have had new hope with a new coach coming on to the team. The little bit that we have watched at practice and from what Madison has said, that hope has been sustained. He is actually doing conditioning with the girls AND teaching them situational soccer, explaining how a drill they do in practice helps them in a game. I really didn't know what to expect coming into the tournament, and I am happy to say the difference this coach has made in just a few weeks is day and night! The whole team looked amazing! They played with a confidence and fire I haven't seen in over a year.
Madison's friend Tia, is our forward, and in the past year she hasn't scored but 1 or 2 goals; in this tournament she scored at lest 6 or 7 in the 5 games we played. Our middies and wings did an amazing job getting the ball up to her, and their defence was impenetrable (the one goal scored on us was a questionable penalty kick).
Game 1 vs Storm 2-0 WIN Game 2 vs Castle Rock 2-0 WIN Game 3 vs Broomfield U11 2-0 WIN Game 4 Semifinals vs Broomfield U12 2-0 WIN Game 5 Finals vs Rapid City Rage (SD state champs) 3-1 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!
This weekend was also a big weekend for Madison, her confidence had been crushed by the previous coach, and she had gone from being the most aggressive defender and one of the best on the team to not starting. This was super frustrating for Brian and I (being we are both uber competitive) because we knew she was not playing to her potential. Madison, being the resilient young lady she is pulled herself up by the boot straps, got into a new pregame routine, and came out much improved. I am proud of her and am excited to see what this next season holds for her personal growth.
Learned: It's a bit early to be singing the new coach's praise, but I am amazed at the difference a coach can make... both for the team and for the individual.
My teammate and I got accepted to present at the NAGC (National Association of Gifted Children) in Atlanta. See, here we are listed in the convention catalog We presented on the benefits of proficiency based grading for Gifted Students and our implementation process. This resulted in a week long trip to Atlanta, many more weeks preparing for the presentation as well as preparing substitute teacher plans for my classes while I was gone.
The actual time spent in Atlanta was a great experience! I went to a lot of great sessions and have so many ideas bouncing around my brain. But to be completely honest the trip was not all work and no play. I had a great time going to great restaurants, and enjoying local attractions.
Heather and I did an action lab that the conference offered that took us on a tour of the history of the civil rights movement. We went to the very first college for blacks, as well as toured Auburn Av., MLK Jr.'s childhood home, and Ebeneezer Baptist Church.
We also went to the High Art Museum to see the Salvador Dali exhibit. I had not previously know much about Dali except for his over-the-top personality and melting clocks. {bewaretheloquat.files.wordpress.com} But after seeing his artwork, I was truly impressed at his intelligence. He was a man that was very interested in the newest theories, scientific and technological advances at the time. His art work represented the discovery of atoms and particulate matter, that matter is not solid and connected, but rather disconnected. He also dabbled in painting work that was 3-D, Geometric and Fractal inspired, and even pop art influenced him. Though he claims that he left the "surrealist" style moving to classical art, it was evident that he just used the classical art style as a way to further his surrealism. There were so many amazing pieces of art work, and a huge majority of them were not just aesthetic but quite thought provoking.
A fellow GT teacher and I became pretty good friends during the trip, as she and I enjoyed getting out taking advantage of being in the big city. So her and I ended up at a lot of great restaurants and crazy activities... Including a haunted tour of Atlanta. If you know me it the biggest chicken, but it ended up being a lot of fun. For the most part it seemed pretty hokey, there was only one time (ok maybe a few more than that) that I got a bit scared. Our guide gave us meters to use to detect the presence of supernatural beings. It ended up being pretty interesting hearing about a lot of different pieces of the history of Atlanta. And the best parts is I didn't even have trouble sleeping that night.
While I was in Atlanta there was a plethora of sporting events to attend. The Falcons played the Ravens, there were two hockey games, one basketball game, and the Georgia Tec. Florida Sate game. My new friend and I debated about going the the NFL game or the hockey game, the deciding factor was the hockey tickets were 15 bucks compared to the $120 football tickets. It was a lot of fun, I had never been to a hockey game before, and knew nothing about it. We were fortunate to have gotten seats next to a guy who plays in a "beer league", and clued us in.
Atlanta was a beautiful place to be... here are some random images...
Learned: Though it was a great trip I was so happy to be home and with my family, in our QUIET little town...
Ari and I had been looking forward to this moment for almost a year... As soon as we knew the Colts would be playing in Denver we were on the watch for when tickets went on sale.
We scored some amazing tickets..ROW 2 on the visitors side!
Then for months we sat in anticipation awaiting the big day. We both thought of (day dreamed, as well as dreamed) of all the different ways we might actually meet him. If ANYTHING else had cost me so much sleep I would have been a complete b!%@&. But since it was Peyton, I wasn't the least bit grouchy. In the end there was no face to face meeting, or hand shake, (or proposal) BUT there was a wave! At the end of the game as he was giving his hat and other game stuff away before leaving the stadium, Ari and I were waving to him and "calmly" calling his name. He looked and waved to us!!! So I guess that will have to do... until next time.
I took over 200 pictures of the game, these are just a few of my favorites. It has taken me several weeks to look through them all and pick the ones I wanted to share (obviously 200 would be too many to post!)
Learned: The experience was amazing, completely worth every penny! I think I'll start saving now for the next time Peyton comes to Denver (in two years...)
This past weekend the kids went on a spur of the moment trip to Denver. (Brian had to work.) We headed over Saturday morning and stayed with my brother and his wife. My mom and Dan were there too so it was a nice little family gathering.
We pulled into town just in time to watch the last little bit of the USA World Cup game (they lost in overtime 2 to 1). Then we all went separate ways... Mom and Dan took Maddox and Tenley to the Bass Pro Shop (they had a BLAST driving boats and seeing the fish and animals). Nate, Drew, and Madison went golfing, leaving Kristen Tessa, and I to go shopping!!!
Sunday we all got up and went to church, then home for naps, and finally to the best place on Earth (not really be we love going here) REI down town. I love REI, and this site is amazing in an old train ware house right off the Platt river. We got to watch a bunch of people tubing and playing in the river too.
Monday the kids and I headed to Vycci's and then off to the zoo. We were at the zoo from 10:00 till 3:30, and all the kids did great, even Esaias who is now two months old! The kids had their fill of fun including snow conesAfrican drumming...coaxing an elephant into the water... and posing for our special zoo picture.
This Dragon happens to be named Castor... though spelled differently than ours we took a minute to pose for a family picture.
After the zoo we went to Vycci's sisters and the kids swam for an hour then loaded up again and headed to a birthday party at the park. All the kids did incredibly well, at least until 8:30 when it all caught up with Maddox...
It turned out to be a great trip and it was (and always is) great to see my family and Vycci and her family.
Learned:a day of non stop go!go!go! combined with TOO much sugar, makes for one hard crash, rendering a 4 year old unreasonable...
