100 years of Indy 500's, Riley's 1st

It's hard to imagine that the very first Indianapolis 500 was 100 years ago, expecially when you are 4 years old, and going to your very first Indianapolis 500.  Yesterday we took Riley to THE Race, his first, and hopefully not his last!  He Loved It!!  I was pleasantly surprised how well he did.  90 degrees, lots of walking, and lots of sitting in loud cramped bleachers.  But he did great!  Daddy had to carry him the majority of the way in and out of the track (which we expected), and we started hearing the "I wanna go home" around lap 80, but we upped the number of times to get up and walk around and let him play on the stairs (thank goodness we bought aisle seats) and he made it through the rest ofthe race fairly complaint-free!  Not bad for a 4 year old who naps for appx. 2 hours a day during that time frame!  And we couldn't have picked a better race to take him too!  With all the 100th anniversary hoopla, old race cars and history, but also what an exciting race!  3 of the 7 crashes right in front of us, seats to see the very first double wide restarts and a finish that will go down in history as "the one Hildebrand Lost!"  I'm so happy that we decided to do this, and I'm looking forward to taking him again on his birthday in 5 years, for his 9th, and the 100th running of the 500!  What a weekend!

Another post and more pictures to come of our entire trip in Indiana . . . Too much for right now!

A week without Daddy

Daddy is back home!  And boy are we happy to see him (maybe Mommy most of all!!!)  ;)  This time I will say we very nearly thrived, instead of just "surviving"!!  As rough as it was, the boys and I had a blast this week!  Monday and Tuesday were the only nice weather days, so we spent most of the time around the house hanging outside.  Monday Jayce took a long nap (about 3 hours - nearly unheard of for him!) so Riley and I got some flowers planted outside. 

And I got a nice sunburn to go with it!  I was wearing a tank top, and my last three years of working outside in t-shirts has me out of practice.  I had sunscreen on my arms and shoulders, but not my back.  I'll remember that next time!  Tuesday was another play outside day.  Riley spent hours on end riding his bike!  He's getting really good at it.  He's getting more confident, and also figured out how to brake and make "lines" on the sidewalk.  So most of the time is spent getting up to speed and braking fast to make black marks up and down in front of the house.  That's my little daredevil for ya! 

Wednesday was another Super Fun Day!!  We were planning a trip to the Denver Zoo with our wonderful friends the Felkers . . . But the weather had other plans in mind.  (it has been raining nearly nonstop here since Tuesday evening.)  So instead we took a trip to an Indoor Pool in Greeley.  It's called the Family Funplex.  And It Was Fun!!  Jayce had his first time 'swimming', and seemed to enjoy it!  They had a little play feature for toddlers with water spouts and sprays to play with.  And a perfectly sized Water Slide!!!  Greg and Riley spent at least 95% of their time on this water slide!  Everyone was exhausted at the end of the 3 hours, definitely money well spent! 

Thursday was another quiet day at home.  After a Skype date with Grandma Wilson I spent most of the day cleaning up (for the first time all week!) for the babysitter that came later.  Yes, I said babysitter!  I help plan a Girl's Night Out on the Third Thursday of every month, and this month it fell on the week Cam was gone.  I considered cancelling it, or at least not going . . . but then thought better to get a babysitter and take advantage!  We were planning a Hike to the waterfall at Horsetooth, but again the rain had other plans!  (in fact they ended up closing the trails that day because of the muddy conditions).  So we did the typical dinner and a movie.  It was well worth it!  I was ready for some time to myself, and really enjoyed the night out!  I'll have to remember that for the next time Cameron's gone! 

Yesterday was another day spent with the Felkers.  They can over for the usual Friday Playdate.  Again it was raining.  Gabe, one of Greg's friends, came over too, so we had 5 boys under the age of 5 in the house at once!  And surprisingly no major mishaps!!!  One incident involving Mack (the truck and trailer from Cars) and some stamp ink that ended up all over Riley and his bedroom walls, but it washed off easy enough. 

And then Daddy came home!!!  Boy were we all glad to see him!  I hope he was glad to see us.  At the very least he was happy to have a home cooked meal!  (sorry it's not Ruth's Chris!)  He said he had a good week and learned a lot, so that's good.  It was well worth it. 

 Jayce started eating bananas this week too!  He hasn't been eating the rice cereal very well, so the Dr. said he was old enough to start mixing in some fruits with it, and see if that helps.  Well, it does!!!  The first day was a total success, and by the second he had figured out that he liked eating 'dinner' and wanted more!  Boy, does he like those bananas!!  Guess it's time to get out the Ninja and make some babyfood!!  I've been looking forward to this for a while.

Coming up next: Trip to INDIANA, and the INDY 500!!!  Riley has been talking about going to see everyone for a while, he's so excited, and now he's starting to talk about going to see the racecars!  I can't wait to take him, this is going to be so much fun!!  We are also getting some family pictures taken while we're there.  One of my friends from highschool has started her own photography business.  So I can't wait to get some beautiful pictures of our family of four!  I just hope Riley's black eye is healed by then!  Yep, we went to get the mail this week and he tripped walking up our concrete steps out front.  Poor thing Cried horribly - I know it had to hurt.  Scraped up his left eye pretty bad, and there's a hint of blue black color to it too.  I'm just hoping it doesn't get any worse and that it starts to heal soon!  Can't wait to see all our Indiana Friends soon! 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

 Hey everyone!  How are you doing!  We're doing great!  Have I got a lot to tell you!!  Guess what!  I can ride my bike now!!  I ride it really good, I pedal and everything!  Greg has a bike too, and we love riding our bikes up and down the sidewalk.  Today we even rode them all the way to the playground!!  It was so much fun!

 Jayce is taking a bottle like a big boy now.  Mommy is happy that he will take a bottle.  He won't take the ones with Formula in them yet though, so Mommy and Daddy are trying to mix it in so that he'll take it.  Mommy is taking Jayce to the Doctor tomorrow to check his weight to see if he's gaining any faster.  He's been eating Rice Cereal, but there are even days that he doesn't like to eat that.  So Mommy's not sure if he's gaining enough weight. 

 Heres a picture of me and Jayce.  Aunt Anna got us these outfits last summer when she and Grandma Wilson were visiting.  Mine is a Jr. Park Ranger Uniform (just like Mommy used to wear!!) and Jayce's says "I'm the One the Park Ranger Warned You About!"  Isn't that funny!!  I LOVE wearing my Park Ranger Vest, and I LOVE putting candy in all the pockets.  But I can't anymore, because Mommy took away all my Easter Candy and hid it.  That's because one morning I got up before she did and climbed up on top of the cabinets (above the refrigerator) to get it and hid it all in my vest pockets.  Well, I didn't hide all of it, just about half, the other half I ate before Mommy woke up.  She wasn't very happy, and I had to sit in time-out for that one.  :( 

 I hope all the Mommies and Grandmas had a happy Mother's Day!  Daddy and I tried really hard to make it nice for Mommy.  She organized a Flower sale at Church for MOPS, so she took Jayce and I to church in the morning (all morning - all 3 services . . . whew, that's a long time!!) and Daddy stayed home to clean up the house.  He picked up everything, did dishes, vacuumed, and made lunch!! (oh and he made breakfast for us in the morning too!)  The we played together so that Mommy could take a nap.  Silly Mommy, I don't think Mommy's need naps!!  But she took one anyways!  Then we went on a walk around the neighborhood.  Mommy said it was a nice relaxing day, exactly what she needed.  I hope she liked it!

 Speaking of Flowers, Mommy wants me to show you all her Tulips.  They have bloomed finally and are so pretty!!  She loves them!

Yesterday was our last day of MOPS.  Well, kinda!!  We still have park playdates over the summer, and we go back in the fall, but for now, no more regular MOPS.  They had a Spa Day (whatever that is!)  Mommy said she got a foot soak and massage and did paraffin hand dips.  All I know is that she came to pick me up smiling!  But I think her favorite part was when we came to sing!  All us kids went down and sang songs to the Mommies.  Mommy took a Video of it.  You can watch it by clicking on videos up above by the monthly albums.  Then the video is at the end of the list.  Well, that's about it for now.  Daddy leaves next week for some training in St. Louis.  He's gonna be gone all week again!  I'm gonna miss him!  But then he comes back and we get to go to Indiana to see Grandma & Grandpa Louie, Grandma Wilson, and Aunt Anna.  Mommy said we even get to go and stay with Unkie Rodgie for a little while!!  I Can't Wait!!  See you all Later!!

Daddy's Marathon

CONGRATS TO CAMERON!!!  He finished his Marathon!!!  We are so proud of him!!!

He started this morning by leaving the house at 4 am!  Wow, That's Early!  But the last shuttle to the top of the course left at 4:45.  He then spent forever waiting in the cold pre-dawn Mountains because the race didn't actually start until 6:15.  Then they were off!  Down the Canyon they went. 

We met him at Ted's Place, just outside the canyon.  He was looking good and passed off some spare layers of clothes!  Going Strong!!

Then we went a little further down the road and stopped at 287 where they turned off.  I got some better pictures here, (no collecting things from the middle of the road!) and he even stopped to give us some High Fives!!  Yay Daddy!

Then we headed to old town to wait for him to Finish!!  And Finish He DID!!!  His official time was 4 hours, 48 minutes and 12 seconds.  His goal was to finish in under 5 hours, and he did!!  We are so proud of him!!  He said his quads were getting really tired around mile 23, but other than that no real problems like last time.  He did so Excellent!!

26.2 miles . . . I don't think I could even run the .2!!  There were many couples that ran and finished together . . . I told Cam not to expect that from me . . . it's NOT happening!!  Now he just has to make it through his shutdown day (very long workday) on Tuesday without collapsing!!  Day 2 is usually when things catch up to him, so it's going to be a rough day at work with all the extra stuff going on! 

We are so proud of you Cameron!  Good Luck at your next one - I think the trails will be a little easier now!!