Skinamarinky Dinky Dink

Valentine's Day at the Blanchard home is celebrated a little like this:

Heart shaped sugar cookies - enjoyed all week.

Pizza of love on Friday night.

Valentine surprises in the mail for Cal

(sorry no pictures, but you know who you are)

(and THANKS!)

A Saturday in the mountains with thousands of our closest
friends (see more here).

A sunny walk to the park.
Where's all the snow?!

And this silly song sung over and over and over again.

(It's especially cute when sung by a one and half-year-old,

so you'll just have to imagine that, I guess.)

Skinamarinky dinky dink

Skinamarinky doo

I love you!

Skinamarkiny dinky dink

Skinamarinky doo

I love you!

I love you in the morning

and in the afternoon.

I love you in the evening

'neath the silver moon!

Skinamarinky dinky dink

Skinamarinky doo

I LOVE YOU!

(P.S. I tried to find a video on youtube to link but they were all so horrific I just

couldn't bring myself to send you there.  You're welcome!)

Dream it. Live it. Share it.

For the past two weeks, the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships have been held here in our valley at Vail and Beaver Creek Resorts.  Everyone seems to be pretty excited and there's a real athletic and sporty and patriotic vibe grooving in town lately.  Parking lots and buses have been jam-packed heading up to the finish stadium.  Free concerts and awards ceremonies happen every night in Avon and Vail.  The daily paper is chock full of event coverage and photos and stories about the athletes and fans.  Cal and I even saw the Italian ski team roaming the aisles of Wal-Mart one morning.  It's been fun to say the least.

Due to Cal's nap schedule, we weren't able to swing getting up to the Red Tail stadium last week.  We did get out among the crowds in Beaver Creek Village, though.  Callie walked all over the village in those walkin' boots, and she thought the bus ride and free BC chocolate chip cookies were a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.  Bonus points for finding a park to play on, too!

Today we debated about whether or not we dared to brave the crowds again to attempt to actually see a race.  It's the women's slalom today, and that was bound to mean big, big crowds cheering on our hometown local and Sochi Olympic Gold Medalist Mikaela Shiffrin.  We thought about heading to Vail to catch the men's slalom qualifying runs, but we didn't know if Vail would be just as crazy since likely all the skiers would be heading there to avoid long bus lines in BC.  After seeing the start list for the first women's slalom run had Mikaela as the 2nd to go, we opted for seeing her and we made a plan:  We'd leave home early - as soon as we were up and done with breakfast and dressed, hopefully around 8:00.  We'd park somewhere in Avon, catch the bus to the village and then hike up the 2015 Trail to the stands.  We figured it would be packed, so we planned to just hike up the side of the course where they send overflow folks and stake out a spot by the fence.  We'd stay for a handful of racers, which included all the best, and then we'd head back down on an empty shuttle to the village, swap buses there to take us back to our car, and then head home.  All before lunch and nap(s) at noon.  That was the plan.

Amazingly our plan went off without a hitch!  I was so happy with how smoothly everything went!  We pulled out of our garage at 8:11 am and by the time we got to Avon both of the main BC lots were full so we went straight to the rodeo lot behind the grocery store.  The bus was full going up, but we got seats, and Cal was loving it.  The hike up was a good little workout - about a mile and a half up the side of a ski run.   We watched as race shuttles packed to the gills passed by us and were glad to be moving at our own pace in the fresh air.  We made it to the base of the stadium at 9:30 and worked our way up to the side of the course.  It was steep and slick there, but we made some little steps in the ice to give us a more solid foothold with the help of a nearby lady's cowbell.  It was a fun perspective to see the full stands (they were gigantic!) and so many people all around.  And we were so close to the course - the racers just flew by right next to us!  We stayed for just a few runs (including Mikaela, who rocked it, finishing the first run in first place with a 0.40 second cushion over the next racer) and then worked our way further up the hill, trying to get a better view/foothold.  So many people and such loud speakers prompted us to just head back down the giant ice/snow steps that had been carved into the mountain (so helpful!).  Soon we were back down to the bus, which was waiting empty for us, and a few minutes later we were back to the village.  We were greeted by a man playing songs on an alpenhorn - that was pretty impressive! - as we exited that bus to get on the one headed for the parking lots.  Back to our car and home again by 11:30 - in time for lunch!  Total success and such a fun time!  (I have to admit, I was wiped out, so I was glad to have Cal's naptime as an excuse to leave the excitement early.)

One of the first things we saw upon nearing the stadium was this
giant media area - a temporary three story building surrounded by
giant trailers, a big black generator, a satellite dish and miles of
miles of wire and cables (underneath all that plywood).  Pretty
impressive!

There it is!  Red Tail Stadium - waaaay bigger than the usual
stands they have assembled for the Birds of Prey races each Dec.

So big I couldn't fit it in one photo - so you get two.

Our finish line view from the sidelines.

Cal was mostly happy to be there - but I think
she was getting bored waiting.  She did entertain
herself for a few minutes with crushed Valentine's
Day cookies I carried in my bag whilst scooting
down the snow on her bum.  (Luckily Gregg's legs
were there to stop her from sliding all the way down
the hill!)

Family pic.  (We had to pull out the bink - a rare
occurrence these days - to satisfy some crabbiness.)

Looking up the hill at the course.

Weird little alien girl.

One of the forerunners checking out the course.

Quite the view from a little higher up the hill.

Sitting on a snow block.

On the bus back home.  She would not look at me for a pic.

Selfie time with Dad.

Photos from Phones - January 2015 Round Up

January has come and gone.  Here's a look at what we were up to.  (Spoiler alert: it's a lot of walks/hikes and a cute baby (toddler) girl.)

(First up, my fitbit stats for 2014.  4.2 million steps ain't too shabby!
Note the most active day was the day we hiked our 14er and the
least active day was the longest drive home from Utah EVER
(Gregg and I were both so sick!))

1.2.15
(See the moon?)

1.2.15

1.6.15
(See the bald eagle?)

1.6.15
(Maybe it's easier to see the eagle in this one.)

1.6.15

1.7.15
(On a "hike" on the tracks/trail near our complex.)

1.7.15

1.7.15

1.7.15

1.7.15

1.7.15

1.8.15
(First day with pigtails!)

1.8.15
(Not the first day of cheesing it for the camera.)

1.11.15
(Squawk! Callie want a story?)

1.11.15
(In her "new" dress from Grandma Gallagher -
bought for her when she was born, but intentionally
big so she could grow into it.)

1.21.15
(Back at the park after a too long hiatus.)

1.21.15

1.21.15

1.21.15

1.21.15
("Helping" Mom make cookies.  Note the flour
on her nose and cheek and chin.)

1.22.15

1.22.15

1.23.15

1.28.15
(I told her to smile for Dad - this was our "good
luck at your session" text to him while he was
at The Assembly in Denver.)

1.28.15

1.28.15

1.29.15
(Gregg was cold and needed to do a couple things
before he left for work.  Cal wasn't about to
let him "work" all alone!)

1.31.15
(Day-old pizza crust is best held in your mouth
while reading a story with Mom on a Saturday
morning.)

A year and a half of round ups here: 
2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June

State Park Weekend {Part B: Rifle Falls}

After our highly successful state park adventure of Saturday, we decided even more exploring was in the cards for our Monday holiday.  (Callie, incidentally, learned another new "day": "holiday" which is just like "Saturday" in that Dad doesn't go to work and we "play!" and have "fun!")

Our destination for MLK day (January 19th): Rifle Falls State Park, which is about an hour and a half drive from our house.  And what a lovely drive it was.  While the sky wasn't as brilliant blue as Saturday's outing, we did get to traverse new territory through some lovely ranch land near New Castle and beyond.  It really was a pretty drive once we got off I-70 (though the freeway from our house to New Castle is definitely not a bad drive; I certainly am not complaining about it).  We saw lots of horses, sheep and cows, and even a few hawks soaring up above or perched high on a wire.

We pulled into the Rifle Falls parking lot and were the only ones there for a few minutes.  We decided to ditch the backpack and just free-walk this one (which turned out to be a smart move as you'll see later).  Callie loved walking ("walking!") up the wide dirt road trail to the falls in her little barbaloot suit and boots.  Around the falls we met a family who offered to take our picture (they got there after us, but quickly passed us on the trail since we were walking at Callie pace).

Then we headed around on the Coyote Trail, which took us past some fun caves, a few of which were big enough to walk inside a ways.  The trail then meanders past a little stream and up to the top of the falls, where there are a couple of kind of scary (totally secure and fenced, but still scary) overlook points that hang out over the falls.  Up here we learned that the falls used to be used as electricity production for Rifle and other nearby towns when we saw that one of the falls was shooting over the cliff out of a pipe.  Up there are some wooden remnants of the electricity plant buildings.  The trail happens to loop back down to the main trail, but to do so would require some stealthy maneuvers down a few flights of stairs covered in solid ice.  We tried it down one flight, passing Cal along like a sack of potatoes, but decided the next set wasn't worth the risk and turned around to retrace our steps.  A wise decision, I believe, especially seeing as Gregg was hiking in his moccasins.  (Silly boy.)

We made it back down (though it was slick coming the way we had come, too).  We finished off our adventure by eating a picnic lunch of tuna and/or cheese sandwiches, tortilla chips and apple slices.  Lunch of champions!  Callie was a super champ and promptly fell asleep once we were back in the car and slept pretty much the whole way home (you may not realize that this is epic, but it is!).  (Gregg actually was the only one who stayed awake the whole drive home, which was really important since he was the driver!)  Another fun day in the books.  We like holidays and Saturdays!

(Oh, and Cal, if you're ever reading this, your parents owe you $11 for this weekend's excursions.  Ha.  Yeah, we raided your cash savings to fund our outings.  We'll pay you back in diapers.  Wink, wink.)

Rifle Falls - the "only 80-foot triple waterfalls in Colorado"
(as per the website).

Pretty cute fam if I do say so myself.

Another angle.

Really bad focusing skills on some really cute kids.

The meandering trail near the stream.

Cave explorers.

The green growing things really stood out
amid all the white and brown everywhere.

Pretty view from the top.

Falling water (and a view of one of the
scary lookouts across the way).

They're not scared.

Pipe falls.

Over the edge.

Power plant leftovers.

Now looking down from the other side.

It's a long way down.

I can only imagine it would be lovely
in the summer when everything is green
and living.

We made it down those stairs (not really
sure how) and then back up them because
just around the corner they were even
sketchier.

That's the way to be carried on a hike!

Tight squeeze through the cave portion of the trail.

Lots of caves along that wall.

Getting up close and personal with the water.

I liked all the ice formations from the spray.

After we were all done I discovered the information sign.

More remnants of the power plant - now an amphitheater
(which I can't imagine has very good acoustics seeing as it sits
directly opposite the falls - kind of noisy spot!).

"Walking!"

Happy barbaloot.

Lunch was a yummy "nanatch!"

Silly gooses.