Lazy Weekend

We had a relaxing fall weekend this week. Cam was acting like he was a bit under the weather Saturday so we mostly just stayed around the house and watched some movies. Friday night we went out to Barnes and Nobles to get him some more books and then Old Navy for some pants for the little guy. It seems like he grows out of his clothes every two weeks. Amy was reading him "The Little Engine That Could" while in B&N and you could here his little "Choo-Choo" throughout the entire store. The picture below is one I took of him with my phone as he was jumping off of a platform at Old Navy into my arms. Thank you Keith for the great coat he is wearing in this picture. It was a gift from when Cam was first born that he has grown into at just the right time. (Nice thinking Bakker's!)

Since Cam was not feeling too well Saturday, and the weather man was saying that the weather was finally going to take a turn toward winter on Sunday, Amy agreed to stay in with Cam and let me take off for a 2 1/2 hr mountain bike ride in corner canyon. This fall has had incredible weather (not good for the ski resorts) and Saturday was sunny and a cool 65-70 degrees. Mountain biking usually ends mid-October here but this year has been a pleasant exception.

Sunday Camden was feeling much better but the weather definitely took a turn for the worse with colder temps and rain in the valley. We decided to take advantage of the bad weather and paint the home office. We have new furniture arriving for this room next week so I dismantled the existing desk and moved everything to the center of the room. Amy and I took turns painting and watching Cam. While Amy was cutting in all of the edges, Camden and I went to the indoor playground at Burger King to run off some energy. The picture below is of him on the play equipment, jumping up and down on this particular piece because it makes a really loud noise. When ever we go somewhere like this it never fails - Camden manages to pick up some cute girl. Today a cute little 5 yr old girl took him all over the jungle gym to play and he cried when she had to go home.

Below are a couple other pictures I had in my phone of the little guy:

This is the "Lustra Bear" I brought back from a tradeshow in Vegas.

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The little guy sound asleep in his crib! Cutest Kid in the world!!!!!

Halloween!!

Halloween was so much fun this year. Cam and I dressed up as Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat - although nobody could figure out what we were. People would ask if he was a bear and then look at me and ask what I was supposed to be. I thought it was pretty obvious but maybe people in UT don't read to their kids! Amy dressed up as a hippy chick and looks pretty cute as a blond (although I don't prefer it - I like her just the way she is!) I think Cam had a hard time with our costumes at first. He wasn't sure what to think, especially when we got outside and there were all sorts of masked kids running around.

It didn't take long for him to figure it out though! He and his buddy, Brit went to the first couple doors together and he soon realized what was going on. It was like something clicked "I just have to knock on these doors and look cute, and these people come out and give me free candy!?!?" By the last house of the night he had it down with a complete "Tick or Teat" and signing "Thank you"

When we finally got home all he wanted to do was lay out all his candy and sort it. He loves lollipops so they would get sorted out first. I think my sister Laura put it in the best perspective: "Candy is like money to them - even more important" It's definitely true, we watched our neighbor's kids wallow in a pile of candy and even use it to barter with.

Cam was fascinated with his cauldron of Candy and could have sat playing with it for hours. He kept emptying it out on to the floor one piece at a time, separating the lollipops, and then back in the pot - one at a time.

He loves lollipops and probably would have eaten every one of them right on the spot if we let him.

If you've never seen a child "drunk" on candy - check out this picture!After this, we can't wait for Christmas. Everything is so much more fun with Camden - especially now that he grasps things better. It's amazing to see his eyes lighten up and watch how excited he gets over life's smallest adventures!

We've also discovered something else new with Camden this week. Amy and I LOVE sushi and probably go out for it more than we should. This weekend we were at the Happy Sumo and discovered that Camden loves tempura fried vegetable - but only if he can dip them in the special sauce! Check out the pic from dinner the other night. He was being such a little man. He even tried a california roll.

Beautiful Fall Weekend

We had a very relaxing weekend this weekend after our little boy took this week to stay home and recover from the croup. We had high hopes of going to the zoo for "Zoo Boo" where Cam could go Trick-or-Treating at the zoo, so we got him dressed up in his monkey outfit (I'm going to be the "Man in the Yellow Hat") and headed out Saturday around 11. We pulled up and saw thousands of people and a huge line/wait to get it. With Camden just getting over his cough and with me fully into my own cough/congestion - we decided we didn't want to be in such a huge crowd. I guess the sunny and almost 70 degree weather had everyone out with the same idea.





We decided to redirect and go to Wheeler Farm, which is an historic farm now owned and operated by SLC Parks. It was an awesome day and Cam got to see all the farm animals much closer than the animals at the zoo! Being in the Monkey outfit just helped with the fun!

It was a beautiful day that was perfect for picture taking.

Most of the leaves have already fallen in the mountains but down here in the valley they are now very vibrant. I love this picture of Amy and Cam playing in the leaves.

Cam wasn't to sure he wanted to pet a horse - it is a bit bigger than he is! It actually tried to eat the fake banana in his pocket

But boy did his eyes light up when he saw all of the ducks and geese!!

He could have stayed to watch and chase the ducks for hours. He thought it was funny to throw leaves and watch them react, or just chase them back to the water (Note to PETA - no wild fowl was injured in the making of the below photo)

We spent most of Saturday at the farm and got everyone home in time for dinner and to bed early. It was a full day for the little guy just getting over his cough. His little nose is still running but he is definitely acting like the fun little guy we love.

Sunday was pretty un-eventful as we stayed home most of the day to work around the house. We got the yard mowed and trimmed (hopefully for the last time this year) and our deck stained/sealed before the winter weather hits again. We were able to get all of this done and still have a little time to go the park for some fun.

Camden likes to climb the rock wall for the exciting......

SLIDE!!!!!

HE IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!

October Snow (Oct 20-21)

"If you don't like the weather in Utah - wait 5 mins and it will change" That was sure the case this weekend. Friday evening I went for a ride with my friend Eric on the mtn bikes up corner canyon in Draper and it was beautiful. It was so warm we were in shorts and short-sleeves. We got to the top just as the sun was setting. From here you can see into the Salt Lake Valley and into Utah County with Utah Lake in the distance. It's a fun ride and right out my back door.

We woke Saturday to rain mixed with snow on the benches. Camden had a birthday party to go to at his friend Jacob's house (Actually our friends Katherine and Bret) He was not acting his usual playful self and we soon realized why. At the party he got to play Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and other games. He was having fun but was a little grouchy. We thought maybe he was uncomfortable due to some diaper rash - but it was much worse than that.

Saturday night Camden started to sound really congested and was running a fever of 103. We called his Dr. who told us to give him some ibuprofen and make sure he stayed hydrated - which was not a problem as he was drinking everything in site. By the time we got him in bed that night he sounded really bad. He woke up at midnight and sounded like he could barely breathe. He was wheezing and struggling to catch his breath. We got up and decided to not chance anything and took him to the emergency room. By now the weather had changed again. Now all the roads are covered with snow and it is dumping in buckets! They checked his oxygen levels in his blood and wanted to x-ray him for pneumonia. I don't know if you've ever seen a 22 month old get a chest x-ray - but it was the most horrifying thing I've seen. They strap him into this torture chamber device and then tell you to leave the room while he screams for his life (OK - that sounds a little extreme, but that is how it felt at the time!)

The x-ray looked good and he was diagnosed with a viral lung infection and maybe the croup. (It has taken him a full week to get over this and he is still stuffy)

We woke up Sunday morning (after getting home from the ER at about 2:30) to a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Really we didn't get much sleep at all as Cam was in bed with us. We stayed in today and watched movies. Camden loves Curious George and can watch it over and over. The first time he watched it he cried when the bad men threw a net over George to take him away - it was sooo cute.

Finally getting some sleep.

Amy stayed home with Cam the first part of the week and I did the last. He is doing much better now, but his Dad now has a sore throat and bad congestion! The snow has melted and the rest of the week was really nice - in the upper 60's and 70 without a cloud in the sky!

24 Hours of Moab 2007 (#3)

Here are a few pictures of the team out on the course:

Keith concentrating on his next move

And now wondering what the hell he's gotten himself into!

John looking very intense

I think he believes he is taking the lead here

Erika getting ready for the pass

Making it look easy (and fast!)

Smooth sailing

Whoa - I look like I know what I'm doing!

I couldn't be happier!!!

24 Hours of Moab 2007 (#2)

Here is a link to some more great pics that sum up the weekend pretty good.
These were taken by my teammate John:

http://cid-41e148179c3f5675.spaces.live.com/

Thanks John - we're racing DUO next year - so keep training!!

24 Hours of Moab 2007 (#1)

Another 24 Hours of Moab is completed. We actually got to race for the full 24 hours this year - last year the race was stopped due to a 100 year record rain fall that flooded the course.

This year we raced the "Just for Fun" category as we knew we were in no shape to be competitive this year (with the exception of Erika who is turning pro next year - she kicked all of our asses!!)

The team consisted of only four this year. Me (in the light blue), Keith (my brother on the left), John (in the helmet), and Erika (in front)


The new grocery getter was broken in on this trip as it was able to haul John and I to the middle of the desert with both of our bikes and all of our gear, food, camp, etc.


We set up camp as soon as we got their Friday which was around 2 in the afternoon.

Keith arrived around 3 and we all headed out for a practice loop on the course. As this was only the 3rd time Keith has ridden this course (and the fact that he has only been mountain biking for about a year) I could tell he was pretty hesitant on a lot of the technical aspects of the course. For those of you who do not know - this course is a mixture of rock, sand, roots, cliffs, steep climbs, rocky descents, etc., etc. - it's pretty technical and parts can be pretty scary, especially at night!

We all got to do three laps (each lap is about 15 miles and over 1500 ft of elevation gain) and we were even able to sneak Erika's husband in for one lap. Actually - Keith just didn't want to get out of his sleeping bag at five in the morning as I was just getting done with my 3rd lap, so he begged Dusty to ride it for him and use his name. This makes our results screwy on the official website as it looks like Keith had a really fast 3rd lap, but it is actually Dusty, We made Keith go out after Dusty under John's name, so on the website John's 4th lap is actually Keith's 3rd (confused yet?) We figured it was a "Just for Fun" race - so who cares? Erika was the only one with 4 laps and her 4th would have been really fast if it was not for the flat she got that consumed 15 minutes to get back going. I was really hoping to beat 1:20 on my first lap and actually rode it very well - riding all of the technical sections and only getting off my bike at the big sandy hill and the cliff they call "nose dive" (which is a 10 ft rock wall that you can barely hike) but ended up with a 1:26. My second and third laps were in the dark and my third had a little mechanical as I choked my chain between my rear cassette and wheel spokes. It took forever to get it unlodged and I had a terrible time on that lap - I think my worst in 6 years!

The official times were:
John: 1:40, 1:50, 2:01
Erika: 1:22, 1:35, 1:36, 1:38
Eric: 1:26, 1:39, 1:52
Keith: 1:46, 2:16, 2:07
Dusty: 1:27

This race seems to get bigger and bigger every year. This year there were over 400 teams entered and it is believed that more than 5000 people call this desert field home for the weekend.

The start of the race is a "LeMans Style Start" where they make everyone run out into the desert around a bush and then back to their bikes. This thins out the over 400 cyclists for when they hit the trail with their bikes. John got to do the start this year> I figured I did it for 4 years so I have served my duty.

Lining up at the start:

There's John getting ready to run:

It turns into a dusty mess in the dry desert. It's a challenging run and you breath in a bunch of dust. Your heartrate goes sky high from the adrenaline and run and excitement!



Here is a shot of Keith coming in on his 3rd lap on sunday morning. Although you wouldn't have known it with the way he complained all weekend - he did say he had fun!!

We ended up finishing in 12th place out of 51 in our category. It was a great time and we'll be back next year!!

This is a great shot of John on our way home Sunday afternoon. I think it sums up exactly how one feels after competing in a 24 hour race!