Saturday. Oy.

...so, Saturday. We were driving on over Berthoud Pass when...BAM! 

There was a rock in the road (that looked like a piece of snow/ice). Like the Titanic, in retrospect, we should have hit it head on...but swerved to try to miss it, whereby it gouged the side of the tire beyond repair. Awesome. Flat, flat tire:

On the plus side, very thankful that we were close enough to the pass (elevation 11,307 feet) to get to the parking lot area there. (Trying to change a tire on the edge of the switchbacks would have been dangerous and icky.) Also thankful that we had the two vehicles so that we could shuffle luggage and such around without having to set it on the snow/slush (yes, it had snowed the day/night before and was quite chilly despite the sunshine). 

Anyhow, we finally got the spare tire out from under the van (having had to unload our fairly packed van in the first place to get to the dealio that loosened said spare tire) only to discover that the spare was also flat (fortunately just low, not damaged...but too low to drive on). Fun times.

So. John & Nathan took both the spare and the flat tires in the rental car and drove down the mountain to find help. Meanwhile, Nancy and I took the boys to the restroom building for a bit over an hour while we waited. Oh, and it was lunch time, so folks were getting hungry. Still...feeling pretty fortunate that the restroom building was there so we could sit in the warmth and play games and eat some of the fruit and the marshmallows that we had in the van. (Lunch/snack of champions, eh? lol)

John & Nathan weren't able to find a replacement tire so just filled up the spare and brought it back...whereupon we put it on, reloaded and drove down the mountain at low speeds. We stopped in Evergreen to find a tire (at the second place we looked) and eat a late lunch before seeing John & Nancy off to the airport (a bit behind schedule). We then killed time at Walmart waiting for our tire before finally getting back on the road. Sigh.

From there, we thankfully remembered that we'd left Nathan's car in Longmont, so headed home by way of Boulder (and the Apple store) and Longmont. We finally made it home about 3-4 hours (and the cost of a tire) later than anticipated. Whew. Still...feeling pretty fortunate for how it went down. :)

Granby

So. We spent last week in Granby. Did you miss us? ;) 

Anyhow, here's a quick run down...

Monday: Took the younger two to Options while Noah and I finished up the packing and loading. We then picked up boys and drove down to Longmont to pick up Nathan from work, eat at Proto's and continue on our way...glad that Nathan was driving the rest of the way to Granby. (We had to go the "long" way around (south to Denver then west and north again over Berthoud Pass) since the road to Estes Park is out due to the flooding. Granby is just on the other (west) side of Rocky Mountain National Park.) We arrived at the WorldMark resort where Nathan's parents had reserved a couple units for us all and settled in. :)

Tuesday: We finished up a Scrabble game that the boys had begun the night before then headed up to Grand Lake for lunch. After that we headed into the park to hike to Cascade Falls (about 7 miles round trip). The weather cooperated beautifully and we thoroughly enjoyed the beginning fall colors. Here we at the falls:

That night, we had dinner at the unit and spent some time in the rec room where the boys enjoyed playing/learning pool and foosball.

Wednesday: Spent the morning at the unit and doing lunch then split up...John & Nancy went for a walk around Grand Lake while Nathan & I took the boys to the rec room to play more pool and foosball (they really liked the rec room, lol) before hitting the pool and hot tub for awhile.

After getting boys bathed and warmed up (it was windy) and becoming a group of seven again, we did a late dinner then played some pinochle, cribbage and such.

Thursday: Up earlier (I used the resort's fitness room) to do brunch before heading to Monarch Lake to hike the 3.9 mile loop. Here are the boys with their grandparents at the start of the hike:

The boys enjoyed skipping a few stones, too. ;) We then headed back to the unit to clean up and snack before Nathan and I got to go out to dinner on our own. Btw, if you're over that way, we HIGHLY recommend the Tabernash Tavern...which you'd miss if you didn't know to go there. Our meals were fabulous and dessert was just plain awesome:

(Banana Fosters Creme Brulee)

Meanwhile, boys played games and ate dinner with their grandparents. Played some more pinochle once we got back, enjoyed more of the ice cream we'd made (yes, we packed the ice cream maker, lol) and then crashed for the night.

Friday: The morning started out with a lovely fire alarm malfunction...which went on and on even after the fire department arrived. (Something about condensation and a faulty system and apologies from the management.) Given the rain/snow falling most of the day, we spent it indoors playing games (mostly the boys and their grandparents while Nathan worked on some personal projects and I worked on school planning for next month). After the board and card games, we hit the rec room again for some physical activity...where Micah and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at foosball. We named all our players. ;) It helps if you yell their names while you play. Honest. ;)

We went back to the unit for dinner and more games and more ice cream and some preliminary packing. 

Saturday: We enjoyed the returned sunshine as we packed up everything and loaded the vehicles. (John & Nancy had rented a car in Denver.) We managed to get on the road at our proposed time and were so enjoying the scenery and the drive back over Berthoud Pass...

Stay tuned for the conclusion of the story... ;)

In search of...

- information on where I can take donations of used (and new) items (especially clothes and blankets) locally to help flood survivors...preferably someplace where I don't have to drive on/around flooded roads to get there (so, in Fort Collins or Loveland would be preferable to Longmont or Boulder, though I'll take any and all information)...

- recommendations on first aid apps for my iPhone, because, ya know, it seems like a good idea to have that information handy ;) (Fyi, I already downloaded the Red Cross free app but am wondering if there are other, more specific/helpful apps out there.)

- also recommendations on an app to remind me how to check for concussions (not to name any names but let's just say that a certain middle son reminded me of this need over the weekend when he smacked his head into a metal bar literally moments after I pointed out that he should watch out for said bar because it was likely he was going to hit it (and he scoffed and assured me this warning was not necessary), lol...he's totally fine, just has a big knot/bruise)...Nathan would also like to know if any apps exist that actually do that eye test thing that paramedics do...

- the means to not look like I'm moving in slow-motion today...let's just say that yesterday morning's boot camp kicked my butt, yet again (190 pushups, 190 squats, 190 burpees, 190 jumping lunges (per leg), 20 flights of stairs (up and down counts as one flight...btw, stairs suck!) and a 90 second plank hover...all in less than an hour!) 

Thanks!

Rainy day thoughts...

Yes, it's still raining. I'm pretty much done with rain, thank you very much. Oy. To take my thoughts off of how much devastation has happened (is happening) all around me, here are some less weighty thoughts for the day...

- If you're local, here's your friendly reminder to check your basement window wells. My brother down in Longmont bailed his out this morning.

- All this crazy Colorado weather of the last few years has definitely opened my eyes to what I'd be looking for in the future in terms of land/home ownership...things like drainage and evacuation routes seem much more important.

- I'm bummed that I can't somehow make this week's rain "count" such that I wouldn't need to run the sprinklers for the rest of the season, lol. 

- I'm minutely concerned that all this rain is going to make the ground soggy enough that I should worry about our trees toppling and am thankful that our soil appears to have decent drainage.

- Though trying not to overreact, I'd be lying if I said that part of me isn't contemplating buying a bunch of plastic tubs to have on hand should we ever need to evacuate quickly...and actually putting together emergency kits/bags...and putting together an emergency binder with pertinent information. Don't laugh. :)

- Poor worms. ;)

It's a bird...it's a plane...

It's Super Koaly!

Koaly has a new cape...courtesy of his "uncle" Noah...who so wanted a particular Pokemon card of Micah's that he creatively came up with this homemade, duct tape creation to trade Micah (who stubbornly wasn't interested in any of Noah's cards). ;)