2013 in review:
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Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sledding at Wanoga
On Saturday we met up with my old friend Justin and his son Yoshi at Wanoga Sno-Park. It's a great scene with tons of kids (and adults) barreling down the snow-packed hills. Here's some media from that trip:
I think this picture summarizes the day:
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Park FAIL
You wake up on a sunny Saturday, it looks so nice outside. You think it would be a good idea to take your family to the park. Only, when you get there it's 37 degrees outside and windy! You have to FAIL before you can WIN.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Pack Mule
I've grown accustomed to my role of pack mule on our family adventures. Here's some video of a recent trip to Virgina Meissner Sno Park.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Oh Christmas Tree
For all our friends and family out there, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!
That's a crowded tree! See how all that turned out...
Christmas 2010
(Video pulled from a Bloggie)
That's a crowded tree! See how all that turned out...
Christmas 2010
(Video pulled from a Bloggie)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunny San Diego
Wow. Where did August go? We just returned from a week-long trip visiting our relatives in San Diego. It was pretty laid back and relaxing. Base-camp was setup at the Sand Pebbles resort in Solona Beach. From there we made hiked down to the beach, explored the USS Midway, and visited Seaworld. Throw in some visits from oft-seen relatives and friends (and some Frisbee golf) and that pretty much sums it up. Check out my picasa gallery if you're interested in the pictures.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Around Oregon
We just finished up a "tour de Oregon", this summer's family vacation. It all started at Depoe Bay, moved down south to Roseburg, and finished up in beautiful Crater Lake. Some of the trip's highlights:
* Watching wales outside our condo in Depoe Bay.
* Chasing the kids around the Newport Aquarium.
* Sampling the various tasty brews at the Rogue Brewery in Newport.
* Exploring the Sea Lion Caves near Florence.
* Driving through the Wildlife Safari in Winston.
* Sunset vistas on the rim at Crater Lake National Park.
This was the first, real opportunity to put our new Canon T2i DSLR camera to work. All I can say is "wow", but you be the judge.
* Watching wales outside our condo in Depoe Bay.
* Chasing the kids around the Newport Aquarium.
* Sampling the various tasty brews at the Rogue Brewery in Newport.
* Exploring the Sea Lion Caves near Florence.
* Driving through the Wildlife Safari in Winston.
* Sunset vistas on the rim at Crater Lake National Park.
This was the first, real opportunity to put our new Canon T2i DSLR camera to work. All I can say is "wow", but you be the judge.
Monday, August 10, 2009
North Fork Resevoir
Problem: Xander has never been camping.
Goal: Take Rochelle and Xander to a nice, friendly campground just far enough off the beaten path as to avoid the glow from a nearby city. The ideal campsite should include a picnic table, ample tent space, running water, and sanitary restrooms.
Reality: Campground FAIL
Our journey began on a warm Friday afternoon. I left work early so that we would have plenty of time to drive up into the Collegiate Peaks and setup camp. At this point I should mention my secondary goal: to bag a couple of 14ers during the trip (Mt. Princeton and Mt. Yale). We set off and made good time, arriving at the campground around 4PM. Driving up to the gate we notice a traffic cone stating "campground full". We would see this sign again many times before the day was over.
"No biggie" I said to the family as we had passed at least three campgrounds on the way up. We drove back down the road and started looking for a new campsite. As soon as we would enter a campground entrance, a wonderful "Campground FULL" would greet us. We repeated this process at no less than eight different campgrounds, ever so slowly pushing us farther away from the trail-head. Naivety would creep in and I would drive us through the campground convinced a vacancy would appear. It was then I noticed each site had a paper that proclaimed "RESERVED". In nowhere, Colorado - Really?
It was getting dark and we were beset with cranky dispositions. With seemingly all options exhausted, I scoured the map for a "/\" icon. "Here's one" I mentioned to Rochelle, "but it's pretty far out there". It was either going to be the North Fork Reservoir or the Motel 6 in Salida.
The pavement ended about three miles in and morphed into a steep, gnarly "road". Re-checking the map, I reassured everyone that there was only six miles to go. "It probably won't take us more than fifteen minutes to get there" I thought to myself. Roughly an hour later we roll into our dark and sparsely populated destination. As I drove around the campground circle, Rochelle recovered from contractions while Xander watched "Dora the Explorer" for the 10th straight time that evening. It was 11PM when we pulled up to the campspot and began unloading. An hour later we were in bed and trying to comfort with a cold, over-tired boy. It was a long, long night.
We spent the remainder of the weekend hanging out, fishing, and exploring the resevoir. Xander fell down a lot negotiating the rocks, tree limbs, and roots scattered around camp. We soaked up the raw alpine beauty and huddled in the "Hilton" during intense thunderstorms. We laughed and we cried. I think this picture sums up the trip best:
Check out our gallery for more pictures of the trip.
Goal: Take Rochelle and Xander to a nice, friendly campground just far enough off the beaten path as to avoid the glow from a nearby city. The ideal campsite should include a picnic table, ample tent space, running water, and sanitary restrooms.
Reality: Campground FAIL
Our journey began on a warm Friday afternoon. I left work early so that we would have plenty of time to drive up into the Collegiate Peaks and setup camp. At this point I should mention my secondary goal: to bag a couple of 14ers during the trip (Mt. Princeton and Mt. Yale). We set off and made good time, arriving at the campground around 4PM. Driving up to the gate we notice a traffic cone stating "campground full". We would see this sign again many times before the day was over.
"No biggie" I said to the family as we had passed at least three campgrounds on the way up. We drove back down the road and started looking for a new campsite. As soon as we would enter a campground entrance, a wonderful "Campground FULL" would greet us. We repeated this process at no less than eight different campgrounds, ever so slowly pushing us farther away from the trail-head. Naivety would creep in and I would drive us through the campground convinced a vacancy would appear. It was then I noticed each site had a paper that proclaimed "RESERVED". In nowhere, Colorado - Really?
It was getting dark and we were beset with cranky dispositions. With seemingly all options exhausted, I scoured the map for a "/\" icon. "Here's one" I mentioned to Rochelle, "but it's pretty far out there". It was either going to be the North Fork Reservoir or the Motel 6 in Salida.
The pavement ended about three miles in and morphed into a steep, gnarly "road". Re-checking the map, I reassured everyone that there was only six miles to go. "It probably won't take us more than fifteen minutes to get there" I thought to myself. Roughly an hour later we roll into our dark and sparsely populated destination. As I drove around the campground circle, Rochelle recovered from contractions while Xander watched "Dora the Explorer" for the 10th straight time that evening. It was 11PM when we pulled up to the campspot and began unloading. An hour later we were in bed and trying to comfort with a cold, over-tired boy. It was a long, long night.
We spent the remainder of the weekend hanging out, fishing, and exploring the resevoir. Xander fell down a lot negotiating the rocks, tree limbs, and roots scattered around camp. We soaked up the raw alpine beauty and huddled in the "Hilton" during intense thunderstorms. We laughed and we cried. I think this picture sums up the trip best:
Check out our gallery for more pictures of the trip.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
DMNS
A couple weeks ago we took Xander to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The actual museum itself is rather large, taking up three stories and covering everything from space to natural history. I enjoyed all the exhibits, but with a 18 month old you tend to blast through everything. We managed to get Xander to sit through a black hole movie inside their sweet planetarium. I will definitely be going back again for a more thorough walk-through (and IMAX).
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Eldorado Canyon
Yesterday we went hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park, which is practically in our back yard. It's been awhile since I had Xander in the REI pack and was definitely feeling his weight! Anyhow, it was a perfect day and the scenery was amazing - it reminds me a lot of Smith Rock but on a much larger scale.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Xander at the Denver Zoo
It was a beautiful day in February in Colorado so we headed to the Denver Zoo with Bethany and Lincoln. Lincoln is 2 1/2, he knows every animal in the zoo and where they all live. Xander smiled a lot and pointed at every animal he saw, so I think he enjoyed it!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Eldora Classic
Yesterday we drove up to Eldora Mountain for some classic skiing in the nordic area. It was a beautiful day - super sunny with not a cloud in sight. This was my first time towing Xander on snow with the Chariot CTS XC Ski conversion kit. The kit worked great and it was super easy towing him around... on level ground. On inclines/declines, it was a bit tougher. On the way down a rather large hill I felt like a semi-truck that had lost all my brakes. Thankfully nobody was coming up the hill in my path!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Steamboat Springs revisted
After visiting Steamboat Springs last summer, we vowed to get back there in the winter. Chelle, Xander, and I spent last weekend up there snowboarding with our friends. The pow was pretty good and we spent a lot of time in the back-side bowls. I managed to drop off a 20 ft. cliff (didn't see it coming) but landed unscathed. The trip home today was another story - it took us six hours to drive home in a blizzard!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Costa Rica
We just got back from a family vacation to Costa Rica. We had a great time hanging out with PoPa, MoMa, and Josh. Travelogue:
Day 1: We hopped on a flight from Denver to Houston, and then finally landed in San Jose. After a long day of travel we headed over to our hotel and crashed out.
Day 2: We got in our rental car and decided to check out Poas National Park, or more specifically the active volcano therein. Unfortunately, the weather (hucking down rain) and lack of time made us turn back at the entrance. The drive up gave us a taste of what traveling around Costa Rica would be like - bad roads, sketchy drivers, and pedestrians walking nonchelantly down the middle of the road. It's not suprising that Costa Rica has one of the highest vehicle accident rates in the world. Eventually we made it to down to our bungalow in Playa Hermosa and unpacked and settled in.
Day 3: Wanting to check out some local stuff, we drove around the countryside near Jaco. We stopped at a bridge overlooking the Tarcoles River to watch the crocodiles sunbathe. After that drove into the foothills to see a local fauna zoo. Xander wasn't to sure about the snakes and frogs, but everyone loved the monkeys.
Day 4: Josh, Rochelle and I decided to hike into Carara National Park for a few hours. It was really pouring but the jungle was thick with a dense canopy. There were some really cool plants and tress, but not many animals on display. We did a 10km loop, ate some lunch, and headed home pretty soaked.
Day 5: The whole group loaded up and drove south down to Quepos to check out Manuel Antonio National Park. None of had bothered to read up before we left, so of course when we arrived the park was closed - for cleaning. It was like that scene where the Griswalds get to WallyWorld and it was closed. Major bummer! Anyhow, it was a beautiful day so we hit la playa and had a great time. Xander had a great time playing in the surf with PoPa.
Day 6: The zip-lines were calling us (well Josh and I) so we dragged Rochelle up into the mountains to take a canopy tour. It was definately one of the trip's highlights. There were about 13 segments with one that was around 700 meters - all crazy fast and high. After Chelle stopped shaking she actually started to enjoy herself (somewhere around the fourth segment). =)
Day 7: It was back to Quepos to explore Manuel Antonio N.P and let me tell you, it did not dissapoint. We hiked in through the entrance and not a mile in we saw sloths and boas high up in the trees. We didn't stand a chance locating the animals in the dense foilage by ourselves so we poached tour groups. It was simple, if you saw a group of gringos looking up into the canopy with cameras in hand, there was a good chance you were going to see something cool. We spent a few more hours in the park walking around the trail systems that went from thick jungle to pristine beaches.
Day 8: Back to Quepos (yet again) for a catamaran tour. The boat took us around some smaller offshore islands. Eventually we stopped in a small bay to do some snorkeling. The water was your typical Pacific murky but we did spot a few colorful fish. The crew served us an awesome meal and we imbibed tasty rum drinks in the sun. Fun and relaxing indeed.
Day 9: We basically just chilled around the bungalow and played on the beaches. That evening we threw Xander a pre-birthday party. It was a nice way to end the trip.
Day 10: Packed everything up and drove back to San Jose on a different, but definately "entertaining" road. Eventually we got home and crashed hard after a long day of travel.
Pictures
Gallery 1 - Gallery 2 - Gallery 3 - Gallery 4
Video
Tarcoles River Crocs
Playa Quepos
B on a Zip Line
Day 1: We hopped on a flight from Denver to Houston, and then finally landed in San Jose. After a long day of travel we headed over to our hotel and crashed out.
Day 2: We got in our rental car and decided to check out Poas National Park, or more specifically the active volcano therein. Unfortunately, the weather (hucking down rain) and lack of time made us turn back at the entrance. The drive up gave us a taste of what traveling around Costa Rica would be like - bad roads, sketchy drivers, and pedestrians walking nonchelantly down the middle of the road. It's not suprising that Costa Rica has one of the highest vehicle accident rates in the world. Eventually we made it to down to our bungalow in Playa Hermosa and unpacked and settled in.
Day 3: Wanting to check out some local stuff, we drove around the countryside near Jaco. We stopped at a bridge overlooking the Tarcoles River to watch the crocodiles sunbathe. After that drove into the foothills to see a local fauna zoo. Xander wasn't to sure about the snakes and frogs, but everyone loved the monkeys.
Day 4: Josh, Rochelle and I decided to hike into Carara National Park for a few hours. It was really pouring but the jungle was thick with a dense canopy. There were some really cool plants and tress, but not many animals on display. We did a 10km loop, ate some lunch, and headed home pretty soaked.
Day 5: The whole group loaded up and drove south down to Quepos to check out Manuel Antonio National Park. None of had bothered to read up before we left, so of course when we arrived the park was closed - for cleaning. It was like that scene where the Griswalds get to WallyWorld and it was closed. Major bummer! Anyhow, it was a beautiful day so we hit la playa and had a great time. Xander had a great time playing in the surf with PoPa.
Day 6: The zip-lines were calling us (well Josh and I) so we dragged Rochelle up into the mountains to take a canopy tour. It was definately one of the trip's highlights. There were about 13 segments with one that was around 700 meters - all crazy fast and high. After Chelle stopped shaking she actually started to enjoy herself (somewhere around the fourth segment). =)
Day 7: It was back to Quepos to explore Manuel Antonio N.P and let me tell you, it did not dissapoint. We hiked in through the entrance and not a mile in we saw sloths and boas high up in the trees. We didn't stand a chance locating the animals in the dense foilage by ourselves so we poached tour groups. It was simple, if you saw a group of gringos looking up into the canopy with cameras in hand, there was a good chance you were going to see something cool. We spent a few more hours in the park walking around the trail systems that went from thick jungle to pristine beaches.
Day 8: Back to Quepos (yet again) for a catamaran tour. The boat took us around some smaller offshore islands. Eventually we stopped in a small bay to do some snorkeling. The water was your typical Pacific murky but we did spot a few colorful fish. The crew served us an awesome meal and we imbibed tasty rum drinks in the sun. Fun and relaxing indeed.
Day 9: We basically just chilled around the bungalow and played on the beaches. That evening we threw Xander a pre-birthday party. It was a nice way to end the trip.
Day 10: Packed everything up and drove back to San Jose on a different, but definately "entertaining" road. Eventually we got home and crashed hard after a long day of travel.
Pictures
Gallery 1 - Gallery 2 - Gallery 3 - Gallery 4
Video
Tarcoles River Crocs
Playa Quepos
B on a Zip Line
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to a beautiful Grandma and Mom! Hope you are living it up on your Caribbean cruise.
Monday, November 17, 2008
A visit from home
Grama & Poppa LaChance came out and stayed with us last week. It was great having them here and playing catch-up. Among the highlights of their trip was a visit to the Bass Pro Shops store in Denver. The store was h-u-g-e! Aquariums... check. Restuarant... check. Hundreds of thousands of square feet of hunting/camping/fishing stuff... check! Anyhow, Rochelle and I managed to escape without purchasing anything, but my parents on the other hand - let's just say I know what a few of you are getting for Christmas. ;)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Xander's first haircut
Xander's hair was getting shaggy, so we took him down to the local Lollilocks for a haircut. I was all about busting out the clippers but was summarily overruled by Rochelle. Fauxhawk beats the mohawk this time. ;)
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The angry moose at Long Lake
On Saturday we drove up into the Indian Peaks Wilderness to get in a fall day hike. The Aspen trees are now showing their varying autumn colors from bright yellow to deep orange. Rochelle was especially keen to check them out up close. We started at Brainard Lake and ascended via the trail to Long Lake. Xander was game and we made good time. Upon arrival, we pushed around the loop until we found a good access trail that led down to the water.
At the water we walked out onto a point and began scouting for a good fishing spot. After survyeing for a couple minutes Chelle informed me the trail died out and we'd have to back track. Not one for rewinding I decided to check it out myself... and that's when I noticed "it". I say "it" because I could not indentify what the mass of hair in the brush was. The animal's head and hind-quarters were obscured by thick foliage.
I reached for the camera in my backpack and just as I was pulling it out, the animal vanished into the brush. While I silently cursed the missed opportunity, the brush near us rustled and out came a moose... I kid you not (moose in Colorado?). He was young, probably a year or two old sporting a decent 3x4 rack and a mean disposition. He immediatley charged toward us on the shorline. Sadly I did not get this on video as I was too busy trying to get Chelle and Xander out of there! Anyhow, long story short, we vacated his space and watched from a distance. That's when we noticed his "big brother". Wow, this guy was a monster (glad he wasn't the one who bum-rushed us)! Fun times here in Colorado. =)
At the water we walked out onto a point and began scouting for a good fishing spot. After survyeing for a couple minutes Chelle informed me the trail died out and we'd have to back track. Not one for rewinding I decided to check it out myself... and that's when I noticed "it". I say "it" because I could not indentify what the mass of hair in the brush was. The animal's head and hind-quarters were obscured by thick foliage.
I reached for the camera in my backpack and just as I was pulling it out, the animal vanished into the brush. While I silently cursed the missed opportunity, the brush near us rustled and out came a moose... I kid you not (moose in Colorado?). He was young, probably a year or two old sporting a decent 3x4 rack and a mean disposition. He immediatley charged toward us on the shorline. Sadly I did not get this on video as I was too busy trying to get Chelle and Xander out of there! Anyhow, long story short, we vacated his space and watched from a distance. That's when we noticed his "big brother". Wow, this guy was a monster (glad he wasn't the one who bum-rushed us)! Fun times here in Colorado. =)
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