Mara & I had an awesome X-Mas break. Mara has been studying hard since her break, so she needed to get up and be active, and I had a 4 day break from late nights at work so we definitely took advantage of the time off and did a TON of activities, and even learned some new ones. To sum it up we had a run-climb-run-drink-hike-drink-run-climb 4 day break.
We started off Wednesday evening by making one of our favorite dishes (scallops, shrimp, spinach, & tortellini), and had a good wine and relaxed for a night. Thursday we started the day off by running 3 miles to AZR, climbing for a couple of hours, then running 3 miles back. Then we headed over to Greg's cousin Tony's new house to spend X-Mas eve with the Caldwells. It was a lot of fun, and their family is a lot of fun to be around. Rohan was passed around for about 2 hours, getting a ton of attention, and giving Mara and I a little break to mingle.
Friday (X-Mas morning) all Rohan wanted to do was climb a mountain. He said so, we swear. We packed everything up and hiked up Camelback Mountain in central Phoenix. The Echo Canyon Summit Trail is about 1.2 miles, with an elevation change of about 1300 feet. It was one strenuous climb, but the view was absolutely worth it at the top. There were about 30 people or so, and even Santa made an appearance. On guy even said it was his 31st consecutive X-Mas making the hike! Rohan did great up and down, and EVERYONE was giving Mara compliments on hiking with Rohan on her back. Most people can barely get up with out adding an extra 20 lbs. We headed back home where Rohan opened his gifts (thanks for being practical!). We've already used most of them, and Rohan had fun eating paper, playing with box lids, and eventually realizing there was something else in the box. We capped off X-Mas with having a martini X-Mas at Greg & Nico's house. Rohan loved the hat, scarf & blanket Nico made. We decorated some cookies, which turned out to be misfit cookies we probably shouldn't broadcast. If I can clean them up a little I'll post some...:) Rohan did surprise us and started walking even more, taking 12-15 steps at some points. He also REALLY liked the stairs at the Caldwell's.
Saturday we had a relaxing day. We had breakfast with Greg & Nico, then headed home to catch up on 6 loads of laundry, and also give Rohan a break. He has a TON of snot & drool and a little cough so we wanted him to get some sleep (since he slept horribly at Greg & Nico's). He had intermittent naps, and usually ended up crashing on a pillow in the living room instead of his crib. Eventually we went and ran our 11.5 mi run around 7:00, which he slept on the whole time, so he got a good nap in then. Rohan did get a balloon from the clerk at Trader Joe's. He has now become infatuated with them. It's hilarious to see him smacking himself in the head with it.
Sunday Rohan was feeling a little better. Our friend, Eric from AZR, had invited us out to do some outdoor climbing. We headed to Lookout Mountain, which is close to our house, and climbed for 5-6 hours. It was a TON of fun, and there were a lot of climbers so we got to see some great climbs. Mara and I did some of the easier ones (5.7 & 5.8) but the best part was learning to lead climb. Most climbing is top rope where the rope is looped above you to the belayer (person securing the rope if you fall). Lead climbing is where you clip in along the way up. There are longer falls, but still not too bad, especially on easier walls like this. It was really exciting to learn a new technique and we are already looking forward to climbing out doors again!
We wish we could have been with more family this year, especially with Josh, Debora & Thomas back from Germany, Sally & Scott having their new baby, and Larry's 60th (oops, I mean 59th...:P) birthday! We hope everyone had a safe break, and didn't get stuck too bad due to weather.
Being such a busy break, we had TONS of pictures & videos (and even more we didn't post). Hope you enjoy them!
Rohan Discovers The Joy Of Balloons:
Greg Teaches Rohan To Mix A Martini:
Rohan Taking More Steps:
Rohan Conquers The Stairs:
Our Climbing Area At Lookout Mountain:
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Rohan First Ocean & Good Deeds
Our weekend started early this week. Since Mara finished up her Peds rotation and SHELF exam and I had a floating holiday to use before we took advantage and headed out of town on Friday. We first had to say goodbye to most of our friends, who were going other places to spend their break and holiday with family. We meet up with 15 of our friends at a great restaurant called Oregano's in Tempe. We all had some good laughs and good drinks. Our friend Jake even tried to put away a 4# calzone. This thing was huge, and he only made it through 40% of it. Rohan, as usual, made his rounds to everyone and cheesed & charmed until he finally crashed in Sasha's arms (she has that effect on people).
We headed home pretty early because we got up at 4:30am Friday and headed to San Diego. We've been wanting to see the Pacific coast since we've been here, but just haven't found the time for a 6 hour road trip. Mara found a super cheap hotel that accepts dogs. It was pretty much on the off ramp for Interstate 8, and a little seedy, but we didn't hear much noise and in the end we were only there 8 hours total. The trip to CA was much more moutainous than we thought. There was very little flat desert, so we had plenty to look at. We stopped in Yuma, AZ to get out and stretch. Unfortunately Yuma sucks. The only parks we could find were an historic prison park, and what appeared to be a former landfill park. Rohan had fun on the "rides" as you can see in the pics & video.
We ended up getting lunch to go from an AMAZING Italian Deli called Poma's Italian Deli. If you are EVER in Ocean Beach, you need to go to this place. It is the $h!t! We headed to Mission Beach to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and Pacific Ocean. We walked around and hit some shops and the boardwalk to step off some of the HUGE sub & salad we shared. Mara took Rohan down to the water, and found out an interesting tid-bit about Rohan. Turns out the kid had a ferocious appetite for sand. She set him down to get a few pictures, and he just shoveled it in. What a weirdo!
Since it was still before checkin, we decided to head to Mission Trails Regional Park (since Torrey Pines doesn't allow dogs). We only went on a short hike since we didn't have any water along (although we had a stream if we were desperate). We found a really nice place to relax, and did just that for about an hour. Rohan explored and practiced walking, while Linus & Schroeder explored the new smells & sights.
We checking into our hotel and soon after headed back downtown to explore Little Italy. We walked up and down India St. and finally found a nice place called the Spaghetteria. The cool part is they had a live accordion player who was pretty good, even though he looked like a 70's porno extra. Rohan got a kick out of him and we got video of him dancing and pointing at him, it was pretty funny. We ended up searching for some good desserts and came across a place that had crème brûlée, fruit tart, and coffee gelato. We walked for a while the rest of the night just to work off those desserts! The dogs waited patiently in the car and enjoyed walking around the very dog friendly San Diego.
Rohan woke us up nice and early (around 5am). We headed back downtown to grab some coffee (Starbucks of course) and wandered around San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. We also hit up Little Italy's Mercato. The food was outstanding, but one Indian booth gave us an idea for lunch and we headed out to Miramar, CA to a restaurant called India Princess. Before we left we took the dogs to Mission Beach Dog Beach. It thouroughly wore out the dogs and Rohan got one more taste of the Ocean. It was a nice cap to an awesome trip to San Diego.
On the way back we stopped outside Mohake, AZ. There is little to no light pollution, and the stars were AMAZING. We played around with our camera and got some good pics of the stars. The Milky Way was really bright, but didn't show up on film very well. It was well worth the stop.
Sunday we had a really rewarding experience with Heather & John. First in the morning we caught up on our half marathon training and ran 11.5 miles. We weren't sure how it would feel since we just spent 12 hours in a car and walked probably 15-20 miles around San Diego in the last 48 hours. It ended up feeling great and we were really glad we got up to do it. Afterward we headed over to Heather & John's where we helped them get ready for thier christmas toy drive. They had collected toys all year, and John's Mom, Dorothy, crocheted stocking hats. We drove around on the back of one of John's flatbed trucks and handed them out to kids in some nearby neighborhoods. It was really great to see them light up, especially when they saw John dressed as Santa Clause. One little girl flagged Mara down and told her the puppy she got was "exactly what she wanted". It was a lot of fun.
Hope you enjoy all the pictures & videos. There are a TON from this weekend. Maybe this next week we'll get some of Rohan walking...:)
Rohan Rides The Worst Ride Ever!:
Rohan See The Ocean For The First Time:
Dad & Rohan Hanging Out In The Ocean:
Rohan Is Great At Sharing:
Rohan Jams To The Accordion:
Rohan's New Truck From The Schmit's:
We headed home pretty early because we got up at 4:30am Friday and headed to San Diego. We've been wanting to see the Pacific coast since we've been here, but just haven't found the time for a 6 hour road trip. Mara found a super cheap hotel that accepts dogs. It was pretty much on the off ramp for Interstate 8, and a little seedy, but we didn't hear much noise and in the end we were only there 8 hours total. The trip to CA was much more moutainous than we thought. There was very little flat desert, so we had plenty to look at. We stopped in Yuma, AZ to get out and stretch. Unfortunately Yuma sucks. The only parks we could find were an historic prison park, and what appeared to be a former landfill park. Rohan had fun on the "rides" as you can see in the pics & video.
We ended up getting lunch to go from an AMAZING Italian Deli called Poma's Italian Deli. If you are EVER in Ocean Beach, you need to go to this place. It is the $h!t! We headed to Mission Beach to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and Pacific Ocean. We walked around and hit some shops and the boardwalk to step off some of the HUGE sub & salad we shared. Mara took Rohan down to the water, and found out an interesting tid-bit about Rohan. Turns out the kid had a ferocious appetite for sand. She set him down to get a few pictures, and he just shoveled it in. What a weirdo!
Since it was still before checkin, we decided to head to Mission Trails Regional Park (since Torrey Pines doesn't allow dogs). We only went on a short hike since we didn't have any water along (although we had a stream if we were desperate). We found a really nice place to relax, and did just that for about an hour. Rohan explored and practiced walking, while Linus & Schroeder explored the new smells & sights.
We checking into our hotel and soon after headed back downtown to explore Little Italy. We walked up and down India St. and finally found a nice place called the Spaghetteria. The cool part is they had a live accordion player who was pretty good, even though he looked like a 70's porno extra. Rohan got a kick out of him and we got video of him dancing and pointing at him, it was pretty funny. We ended up searching for some good desserts and came across a place that had crème brûlée, fruit tart, and coffee gelato. We walked for a while the rest of the night just to work off those desserts! The dogs waited patiently in the car and enjoyed walking around the very dog friendly San Diego.
Rohan woke us up nice and early (around 5am). We headed back downtown to grab some coffee (Starbucks of course) and wandered around San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. We also hit up Little Italy's Mercato. The food was outstanding, but one Indian booth gave us an idea for lunch and we headed out to Miramar, CA to a restaurant called India Princess. Before we left we took the dogs to Mission Beach Dog Beach. It thouroughly wore out the dogs and Rohan got one more taste of the Ocean. It was a nice cap to an awesome trip to San Diego.
On the way back we stopped outside Mohake, AZ. There is little to no light pollution, and the stars were AMAZING. We played around with our camera and got some good pics of the stars. The Milky Way was really bright, but didn't show up on film very well. It was well worth the stop.
Sunday we had a really rewarding experience with Heather & John. First in the morning we caught up on our half marathon training and ran 11.5 miles. We weren't sure how it would feel since we just spent 12 hours in a car and walked probably 15-20 miles around San Diego in the last 48 hours. It ended up feeling great and we were really glad we got up to do it. Afterward we headed over to Heather & John's where we helped them get ready for thier christmas toy drive. They had collected toys all year, and John's Mom, Dorothy, crocheted stocking hats. We drove around on the back of one of John's flatbed trucks and handed them out to kids in some nearby neighborhoods. It was really great to see them light up, especially when they saw John dressed as Santa Clause. One little girl flagged Mara down and told her the puppy she got was "exactly what she wanted". It was a lot of fun.
Hope you enjoy all the pictures & videos. There are a TON from this weekend. Maybe this next week we'll get some of Rohan walking...:)
Rohan Rides The Worst Ride Ever!:
Rohan See The Ocean For The First Time:
Dad & Rohan Hanging Out In The Ocean:
Rohan Is Great At Sharing:
Rohan Jams To The Accordion:
Rohan's New Truck From The Schmit's:
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Leftover Cake = Hyperglycemic Rohan
Nico brought over some cakes the other night and we made it through about 2% of them. We tried to get her to take them home, but she left them at our place.
We has some for desert tonight and decided to share some with Rohan. Turns out the kid LOVES sugar, flour and eggs. He was actually shoving the spoon with his food on it, in favor of the cake we were eating. We may have created a monster...
If you have 5 minutes, we thought these pictures & videos would be entertaining:
Rohan Chooses Cake Over Veggies:
Rohan Likes Cake:
We has some for desert tonight and decided to share some with Rohan. Turns out the kid LOVES sugar, flour and eggs. He was actually shoving the spoon with his food on it, in favor of the cake we were eating. We may have created a monster...
If you have 5 minutes, we thought these pictures & videos would be entertaining:
Rohan Chooses Cake Over Veggies:
Rohan Likes Cake:
Monday, December 14, 2009
One More Week Before Break
Not a whole lot to report from this last week. Mara was on call twice last week so Rohan and I got some good one-on-one time. We did find time to run quite a bit this week. We were scheduled for 21 miles this week but we overachieved and ran almost 27, which is the most I've ever run in one week. If you count last week as well we've done over 50 miles so far in the month of December! We are pretty proud of that, especially give the limited amount of time we had to do it. We could never have run this much in the snow & ice, although Holly is proving us wrong by running 9 miles through the slush yesterday! I finally passed the 500 mile mark (Mara passed it around Thanksgiving) on our run on Thursday. The week culminated with a 10 mile run that turned into an 11+ mile run. It felt awesome, and the views from the base of McDowell Mountain, looking back towards our place, is well worth the 200+ incline. Rohan, of course, has weathered 99% of the miles with us. He was even awake for the last half of the 11+ mile run, just looking around and playing with his rattle.
We did do other stuff than just run! Wednesday we headed to AZR and climbed a bit. Then on Saturday we climbed again with Sasha. Sasha was nice enough to watch Rohan for the evening while Mara and I went to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game with new friends we meet through Heather & John. Ron & Tina are from Milwaukee and love Alterra, so we had plenty to talk about...:) Ron got box seats through work so we had free food and drink, as well as a kick ass view of the game (which the Coyotes won 2-1). What I think is funny is the ONLY 2 hockey games we've been to have been in the luxury box seats. The first was a trip to Marquette, MI with Chris & Michelle and we went to a Northern Michigan game with some some consultants Michelle worked with. We actually learned a TON about hockey this last time since Ron grew up in Canada (and recently became a US citizen). He was really good at explaining the game to us, and it made the game MUCH more interesting once we knew what was going on. Now if we can only get someone to explain soccer to us...
Sunday we had a little dinner party with Sasha, Greg, & Nico. We made pesto chicken tortellini and a spicy curry shrimp appetizer. Nico brought an assortment of cakes (red velvet, orange, German chocolate, and chocolate chocolate chocolate cake). I don't think anyone left hungry, and we have enough food for the rest of the week! It was great to see Greg & Nico again too. We wish we lived closer to them! Nico has been working like crazy at her new sewing machine and made Rohan a hat & scarf. It will be perfect for him to wear on our runs. Thanks Nico!
Mara is just about to finish her rotation in Pediatrics and then she has an awesome (and much deserved) 2 week break. A break for her isn't like normal though. She'll be studying and getting ahead for step 2 boards. She will get more snuggle time with Rohan, so that will make it worth it. Mara has really enjoyed Peds and the people she's worked with have been great. She's pretty excited to set up more Peds rotations for next year, unless something else piques her interest.
Hope everyone had a good (warm) weekend!
Rohan Practices His Spoon Skills:
We did do other stuff than just run! Wednesday we headed to AZR and climbed a bit. Then on Saturday we climbed again with Sasha. Sasha was nice enough to watch Rohan for the evening while Mara and I went to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game with new friends we meet through Heather & John. Ron & Tina are from Milwaukee and love Alterra, so we had plenty to talk about...:) Ron got box seats through work so we had free food and drink, as well as a kick ass view of the game (which the Coyotes won 2-1). What I think is funny is the ONLY 2 hockey games we've been to have been in the luxury box seats. The first was a trip to Marquette, MI with Chris & Michelle and we went to a Northern Michigan game with some some consultants Michelle worked with. We actually learned a TON about hockey this last time since Ron grew up in Canada (and recently became a US citizen). He was really good at explaining the game to us, and it made the game MUCH more interesting once we knew what was going on. Now if we can only get someone to explain soccer to us...
Sunday we had a little dinner party with Sasha, Greg, & Nico. We made pesto chicken tortellini and a spicy curry shrimp appetizer. Nico brought an assortment of cakes (red velvet, orange, German chocolate, and chocolate chocolate chocolate cake). I don't think anyone left hungry, and we have enough food for the rest of the week! It was great to see Greg & Nico again too. We wish we lived closer to them! Nico has been working like crazy at her new sewing machine and made Rohan a hat & scarf. It will be perfect for him to wear on our runs. Thanks Nico!
Mara is just about to finish her rotation in Pediatrics and then she has an awesome (and much deserved) 2 week break. A break for her isn't like normal though. She'll be studying and getting ahead for step 2 boards. She will get more snuggle time with Rohan, so that will make it worth it. Mara has really enjoyed Peds and the people she's worked with have been great. She's pretty excited to set up more Peds rotations for next year, unless something else piques her interest.
Hope everyone had a good (warm) weekend!
Rohan Practices His Spoon Skills:
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Super Busy (Again)
It's probably not a surprise, but we crammed a $h!tload of stuff into another weekend. Our half marathon training had us running 2 miles on Saturday, and 10.2 on Sunday, so we did them one better and ran 3.2 & 10.5, which together add up to a half marathon plus! We were a little weary of the 10 mile run, but it ended up feeling GREAT and we even had a little left in the tank to go climbing with Sasha for 2 hours. We were pretty amazed we felt so good, but it's also a releif that we can run that much and climb after a long weekend, and still feel good.
Friday we also met up with Sasha for some climbing. She hadn't been in a while (since she's in her surgery rotation and has to be at the hospital at 4:30am!) so she really wanted to get back on the wall. We climbed for about 2.5 hours before they closed at 10pm.
Saturday we hit up a farmers market in Mesa, and also came across the Mesa Contemporty Art Museum which has some awesome architecture outside with fountains and sculptures. We found a spot to take a nice family picture as well next to a well designed stream. We also stumbled upon Christkindlmarkt (German X-mas fest). It was pretty entertaining, and where else could you get a Warsteiner beer at 9:30 in the morning? :)
Saturday afternoon we headed over to John & Heather's for awesome food (the peanut butter balls were spectacular!). After a slow, steady gorging process we headed out to catch the Electric Light Parade. Rohan was not disappointed. He loved it so much he fell asleep about halfway through. It could have also been all the practice walking he's been doing as well. Mara & Rohan probably walked 500 yards up and down the street before the parade. We finally fit in our 3mi run at 10:00. It was a frigid 48°F, but it felt really good. Since we had a 10.2mi run scheduled for Sunday we cut the run short at 3.
Sunday morning I had to finish up an aCGH at work, then we grabbed a Starbucks before our 10+mi run. We ran up to McDowell Mountain and then hit a few hills before turning around. We were both really happy with our times and how good we felt. Maybe all that carb loading at Heather's helped us out...:) It was a nice way to burn 1400 calories though! Rohan slept almost the whole way. We had his rainfly on his stroller to keep the cool wind off him. He stays nice an warm under it, and usually gets a nice nap in.
Rohan has been trying even more ethnic foods. Tongiht we had Coconut Chicken Curry with Mint Chutney. When we weren't looking he grabbed a handful out of my bowl and went to town. He ate some and pained the couch and carpet with the rest. Hopefully tumeric comes out of microfiber... Rohan also got introduced to everyones favorite cheese bread, Pao de Queijo. He, like his Mom & Dad, LOVED it! We'll have to make it again and get more than just a picture. A video of him smashing it into his face would be awesome.
Hope everyone had a good week/weekend!
Rohan Playing In The Sidewalk Fountain:
Rohan Plays With The Dog Kennel (AKA Baby Prison):
Friday we also met up with Sasha for some climbing. She hadn't been in a while (since she's in her surgery rotation and has to be at the hospital at 4:30am!) so she really wanted to get back on the wall. We climbed for about 2.5 hours before they closed at 10pm.
Saturday we hit up a farmers market in Mesa, and also came across the Mesa Contemporty Art Museum which has some awesome architecture outside with fountains and sculptures. We found a spot to take a nice family picture as well next to a well designed stream. We also stumbled upon Christkindlmarkt (German X-mas fest). It was pretty entertaining, and where else could you get a Warsteiner beer at 9:30 in the morning? :)
Saturday afternoon we headed over to John & Heather's for awesome food (the peanut butter balls were spectacular!). After a slow, steady gorging process we headed out to catch the Electric Light Parade. Rohan was not disappointed. He loved it so much he fell asleep about halfway through. It could have also been all the practice walking he's been doing as well. Mara & Rohan probably walked 500 yards up and down the street before the parade. We finally fit in our 3mi run at 10:00. It was a frigid 48°F, but it felt really good. Since we had a 10.2mi run scheduled for Sunday we cut the run short at 3.
Sunday morning I had to finish up an aCGH at work, then we grabbed a Starbucks before our 10+mi run. We ran up to McDowell Mountain and then hit a few hills before turning around. We were both really happy with our times and how good we felt. Maybe all that carb loading at Heather's helped us out...:) It was a nice way to burn 1400 calories though! Rohan slept almost the whole way. We had his rainfly on his stroller to keep the cool wind off him. He stays nice an warm under it, and usually gets a nice nap in.
Rohan has been trying even more ethnic foods. Tongiht we had Coconut Chicken Curry with Mint Chutney. When we weren't looking he grabbed a handful out of my bowl and went to town. He ate some and pained the couch and carpet with the rest. Hopefully tumeric comes out of microfiber... Rohan also got introduced to everyones favorite cheese bread, Pao de Queijo. He, like his Mom & Dad, LOVED it! We'll have to make it again and get more than just a picture. A video of him smashing it into his face would be awesome.
Hope everyone had a good week/weekend!
Rohan Playing In The Sidewalk Fountain:
Rohan Plays With The Dog Kennel (AKA Baby Prison):
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
4 Day Weekend!
This last holiday weekend was Mara and I's first 4 day weekend since we could remember. It was at least the first one since we've been in AZ. We definitely took advantage of the time, even with Mara and Rohan fighting off god knows what. With Mara rotating through Pediatrics and Rohan in daycare, it could be a number of things.
For Thanksgiving we started off with a 10K on a beautiful AZ morning. Then we headed to Greg & Nico's for Thanksgiving with the Caldwell Clan followed by a cornhole tourney and several adult beverages. Rohan really took to the crowd and was an awesome trooper having only napped a couple hours all day!
Friday we hit up the dog park to wear the dogs out. In addition to our monsters we also watched Sasha's dog, Abbey. They wore themselves out nicely and were pretty calm the rest of the day. We hit up a couple of late sales and ended up with a new car seat for Rohan since the little guy's legs are dangling off the end of his infant seat. We also hit up RA for some relaxing sushi and even sat outside in the patio (it's usually too busy to get a seat there) and enjoyed more of the gorgeous weather. Rohan entered the age old question of "Lemon or Lime?"; see the video for a nice show. We ended the night off with a few hours of bouldering at AZR and then watching the new movie "Up".
Saturday we hit up a ton of farmers markets in an around Phoenix. We usually hit the downtown one but we wanted to check out some of the others. They were similar in most ways, but a few were unique. One at Roadrunner Park was very dog friendly, and the one in downtown Scottsdale had pygmy goats that Rohan seemed to like quite a bit. We did find a few of our favorite booths and we got some multigrain bread as well as a sourdough we really like. We took the bread and picked up some more picnic items and had a really nice picnic at the base of Piestewa Peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Rohan got to play in the dirt (which he LOVES) and we all got to see, and feed, a roadrunner...Meep Meep! We eneded up getting some nice cheeses and a bottle of wine and capped the night playing War. I wone 3 out of 7, and was crowned Super Samurai Master Grand Champion...:)
Sunday was pretty low key. We fit in a nice 7+ mile run as well as some football and outside time. We hit one more Farmers market that's only open on Sundays, and browsed IKEA for a bit.
Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day Weekend!
Lemon or Lime?:
New Box To PLay With:
For Thanksgiving we started off with a 10K on a beautiful AZ morning. Then we headed to Greg & Nico's for Thanksgiving with the Caldwell Clan followed by a cornhole tourney and several adult beverages. Rohan really took to the crowd and was an awesome trooper having only napped a couple hours all day!
Friday we hit up the dog park to wear the dogs out. In addition to our monsters we also watched Sasha's dog, Abbey. They wore themselves out nicely and were pretty calm the rest of the day. We hit up a couple of late sales and ended up with a new car seat for Rohan since the little guy's legs are dangling off the end of his infant seat. We also hit up RA for some relaxing sushi and even sat outside in the patio (it's usually too busy to get a seat there) and enjoyed more of the gorgeous weather. Rohan entered the age old question of "Lemon or Lime?"; see the video for a nice show. We ended the night off with a few hours of bouldering at AZR and then watching the new movie "Up".
Saturday we hit up a ton of farmers markets in an around Phoenix. We usually hit the downtown one but we wanted to check out some of the others. They were similar in most ways, but a few were unique. One at Roadrunner Park was very dog friendly, and the one in downtown Scottsdale had pygmy goats that Rohan seemed to like quite a bit. We did find a few of our favorite booths and we got some multigrain bread as well as a sourdough we really like. We took the bread and picked up some more picnic items and had a really nice picnic at the base of Piestewa Peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Rohan got to play in the dirt (which he LOVES) and we all got to see, and feed, a roadrunner...Meep Meep! We eneded up getting some nice cheeses and a bottle of wine and capped the night playing War. I wone 3 out of 7, and was crowned Super Samurai Master Grand Champion...:)
Sunday was pretty low key. We fit in a nice 7+ mile run as well as some football and outside time. We hit one more Farmers market that's only open on Sundays, and browsed IKEA for a bit.
Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day Weekend!
Lemon or Lime?:
New Box To PLay With:
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Turkey Day 10K+
Mara, Rohan and I kicked off Thanksgiving morning with a nice little 10K up to McDowell Mountain. Hope everyone rememebers to take a nice walk after dinner!
Also, A HUGE congrats to Mara for passing 500 Miles!
Michael's Run:
Mara's Run:
Also, A HUGE congrats to Mara for passing 500 Miles!
Michael's Run:
Mara's Run:
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Devil's Bridge
Well Rohan is getting VERY close to walking. We took a page from Tim & Allison's baby guide and gave Rohan a "leash" to hold on to while he walks. He tugs on it occasionally for balance, but he motors around no problem. It's only a matter of time and he'll be tearing around the place. Check out the video below.
Thurday Mara took her SHELF exam for Internal Medicine and finished out her rotation on Friday. This week she starts on Peds, which she's been looking forward to. To celebrate her exam being done we went rock climbing on Thursday, then to celebrate her rotation being done we met Sasha out for sushi and then ran 5 miles and climbed. Rohan was a champ and slept the whole time in his jogging stroller so we both got a lot of climbing in. We both had some shredded hands, but it was a lot of fun.
Saturday was by far our busiest day of the week. We got up bright & early and went on an eight mile run into McDowell Mountain. After a shower we met Sasha at the Farmer's Market downtown and picked up another loaf of our favorite sourdough bread. We were going to an Indian Festival (middle eastern, not native american) but I read my calendar wrong and it was on Sunday, not Saturday...:( We made up for it by going to an oriental grocery store and finding a TON of ingredients we've been looking for, including my favorite mint chutney. After supper we had a friend (Heidi from AZR) watch Rohan and Mara and I went on a little date. We hit up a couple of wine bars (Uncorked & Pano E Vino) and had some excellent deserts. The crème brûlée and berries & ice cream were spectacular!
Sunday we headed up to Coconino National Forest in Sedona, AZ with Sasha to hike Devil's Bridge. We had heard about it because Greg & Nico got engaged there. It was a LOT of fun to hike in such beautiful weather, although it got a little chilly in the shade. The views were amazing, and we even got to climb a little. One scary part was when Sasha & I were on the bridge two dogs got into a fight and one (a GIANT St. Bernard) almost pulled the owner over the edge. They started fighting about 3 feet from the edge of a 100 foot drop. I really thought we were going to see someone fall. But they separated the dogs and everything was fine. We came back and made some pasta from the farmer's market and made pesto chicken. A nice cap to a full week!
Rohan's Walking Leash:
Linus, The Most Bravest Dog In The World:
Thurday Mara took her SHELF exam for Internal Medicine and finished out her rotation on Friday. This week she starts on Peds, which she's been looking forward to. To celebrate her exam being done we went rock climbing on Thursday, then to celebrate her rotation being done we met Sasha out for sushi and then ran 5 miles and climbed. Rohan was a champ and slept the whole time in his jogging stroller so we both got a lot of climbing in. We both had some shredded hands, but it was a lot of fun.
Saturday was by far our busiest day of the week. We got up bright & early and went on an eight mile run into McDowell Mountain. After a shower we met Sasha at the Farmer's Market downtown and picked up another loaf of our favorite sourdough bread. We were going to an Indian Festival (middle eastern, not native american) but I read my calendar wrong and it was on Sunday, not Saturday...:( We made up for it by going to an oriental grocery store and finding a TON of ingredients we've been looking for, including my favorite mint chutney. After supper we had a friend (Heidi from AZR) watch Rohan and Mara and I went on a little date. We hit up a couple of wine bars (Uncorked & Pano E Vino) and had some excellent deserts. The crème brûlée and berries & ice cream were spectacular!
Sunday we headed up to Coconino National Forest in Sedona, AZ with Sasha to hike Devil's Bridge. We had heard about it because Greg & Nico got engaged there. It was a LOT of fun to hike in such beautiful weather, although it got a little chilly in the shade. The views were amazing, and we even got to climb a little. One scary part was when Sasha & I were on the bridge two dogs got into a fight and one (a GIANT St. Bernard) almost pulled the owner over the edge. They started fighting about 3 feet from the edge of a 100 foot drop. I really thought we were going to see someone fall. But they separated the dogs and everything was fine. We came back and made some pasta from the farmer's market and made pesto chicken. A nice cap to a full week!
Rohan's Walking Leash:
Linus, The Most Bravest Dog In The World:
Monday, November 16, 2009
T.O.P Comes To Visit & Rohan's Early X-Mas Present
Another busy week, followed by a busier weekend. It amazes me how we find the energy! Especially after a Tim Peet visit! My friend from college stopped by on his annual "hang out with friends and drink tour". It's getting harder since we are spreading out more and more across the country. His stops this time included Phoenix (to visit Greg & I) and Austin, TX (to visit Christian). Tuesday Sasha & I picked him up and grabbed some supper at Tilted Kilt, a wonderful family restaurant...:) Rohan seemed to really enjoy all the attention from the waitresses. Then Wednesday we met up with John & Jordan and golfed Papago Park. The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. It was a REALLY tight fairway, but we all golfed pretty good. I shot 43 on the front then imploded on the back. Tim was using his old set of irons and eventually came around. His drives were, as always, long and straight (unlike Tim..:P). Wednesday night we met up with Greg for some food and bags at the Temple Bar near our place, then back to Tilted Kilt for more beers and Greg's 12:30 knockout shots of Patron...thanks Greg...:) Needless to say, work was rough on Thursday. Tim left and headed to TX to punish his liver a little further into submission.
Friday we met up with the Schmit Clan and had dinner before Grandma Hansen left for WI. Rohan got some hugs & snugs in before he started getting fussy due to lack of naps.
Saturday I ran into work while Mara and Rohan hung out and studied for a bit at Starbucks. Then we met us with Sasha at Fox Sports Grill to watch her Alma Mater (Florida) play. I was running back and forth to the other room to catch Iowa updates, and saw the last bits of OT. Sad story...:( We headed back to our place and had crock pot chili waiting for us. It's been a little cooler (60°'s) so chili really hit the spot. Good thing too since we made a TON of it.
Sunday was pretty low key. We had a nice little picnic by a pond with the dogs & Rohan. Then we took them to the Dog Park to completely wear them out. We ended up rock climbing in the afternoon and ran in the evening. Even with all the go-go-go of this weekend we still managed to fit in about 16 miles of running this weekend, and about 23 for the week.
To even cram MORE stuff into this weekend, Friday we stopped by REI and saw they had climbing hold on clearance. We decided Rohan needed his own climbing wall for an early X-Mas present. We picked up $2.04 worth of scrap lumber and came up with an original design. All in all about $15, and Rohan freakin' loved it! I think we are going to have to expand it soon! We got a bunch of video of him & that wall.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the pics & vids from this weekend!
Sippy Cup Fun:
Rohan Wants To Swim:
Tim Taught Rohan That It's Funny To Hit Things:
First Time Trying Out The Wall:
Mom Teaches Rohan To Climb:
Drool Climbing:
Rohan's Climb Dancing Moves:
Friday we met up with the Schmit Clan and had dinner before Grandma Hansen left for WI. Rohan got some hugs & snugs in before he started getting fussy due to lack of naps.
Saturday I ran into work while Mara and Rohan hung out and studied for a bit at Starbucks. Then we met us with Sasha at Fox Sports Grill to watch her Alma Mater (Florida) play. I was running back and forth to the other room to catch Iowa updates, and saw the last bits of OT. Sad story...:( We headed back to our place and had crock pot chili waiting for us. It's been a little cooler (60°'s) so chili really hit the spot. Good thing too since we made a TON of it.
Sunday was pretty low key. We had a nice little picnic by a pond with the dogs & Rohan. Then we took them to the Dog Park to completely wear them out. We ended up rock climbing in the afternoon and ran in the evening. Even with all the go-go-go of this weekend we still managed to fit in about 16 miles of running this weekend, and about 23 for the week.
To even cram MORE stuff into this weekend, Friday we stopped by REI and saw they had climbing hold on clearance. We decided Rohan needed his own climbing wall for an early X-Mas present. We picked up $2.04 worth of scrap lumber and came up with an original design. All in all about $15, and Rohan freakin' loved it! I think we are going to have to expand it soon! We got a bunch of video of him & that wall.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the pics & vids from this weekend!
Sippy Cup Fun:
Rohan Wants To Swim:
Tim Taught Rohan That It's Funny To Hit Things:
First Time Trying Out The Wall:
Mom Teaches Rohan To Climb:
Drool Climbing:
Rohan's Climb Dancing Moves:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Another Full Week/Weekend
This last week has pretty much been the same 'ol for us. Mara was crazy busy at the hospital while I am getting along great at work, and Rohan has been charming the masses. We've fit in several runs this week, and even tacked on a few more miles than we had scheduled, so our half marathon training is going good. So good, we've even talked about doing the full next year...crazy, I know. Tuesday night we ran 4 miles and ended up at AZR an climbed for 2 hours or so. Sasha ran there later and hung out for a bit before running back to our place. Mara and I ran back (totaling a little over a 10K) and hung out with Sasha a bit. She was crashing at our place to cut her commute from Tempe to Sun City West in half (about 45 minutes). She'll probably do that a few times the next few weeks just to get to sleep in a tad, especially on call nights.
Rohan is feeling MUCH better these days. He's more active and more playful than when he was sick, and we are pretty sure he's growing and inch every day. There are a couple videos of him goofing around on the couch below. He's been working on getting off things feet first, and usually practices on AZR's mats, but now he's working on that off the couches and beds.
We capped a long work week by hitting our favorite Sushi place, RA, then relaxed on our porch and enjoyed a few drinks and the gorgeous weather we're having.
Saturday we met up with Heather, John & Grandma Hansen for a picinc at Cesar Chavez Park. The park was awesome! The lakes and buildings were really nice, and we had lunch on a little island by the water. Rohan loved the attention from family. Rohan also got to feed the ducks and swans and John just about gave Heather a heart attack (see the video below). There was a little scary moment with another group at the park. Someone started screaming across the lake that someone had fallen down (and we were guessing unresponsive). Mara is usually the one that runs over and takes control of the situation (like on I-80 and in St. Louis), but we were on the island and it was about a mile run over to their picnic area. From what we could see the person did come to, and eventually everyone calmed down and the resuce squad came. Still it was pretty scary. We took a nice walk around the lake and then ended back at Heather & John's. They went to see The Phantom of the Opera and Mara and I headed to my work so I could take care of a few things. Mara got Rohan to sleep and got a little studying done in the meantime. Later, Rohan got some quality time with Heather, John & Grandma while Mara and I had a nice dinner out at a nice Indian restaurant called Delhi Palace. The restaurant was right across the street from ASU's Sun Devil Stadium and USC just happened to be in town so it was crazy around there. We tried to meet Sasha & Chris on Mill St. (ASU's bar scene area) but she couldn't get down there due to street closures before we had to go pick up Rohan.
Sunday we came back downtown so I could swing by work again, then headed back and grilled out with Sasha &a Chris. We found a great deal on 4/6 shrimp that were the size of Linus! They tasted AWESOME on the grill. After lunch we headed to AZR and climbed for a couple hours. Rohan was SUPER active that night since he had a nap before we went. He even took a couple more steps on his own, so he's not too far behind his "cousin" Cameron...:) Even after all that, Mara and I somehow found the energy to go for a 7 mile run that night. We were pooped!
Mara, Rohan & I also wanted to wish Steph a VERY HAPPY 30th birthday today! I've missed just about every one of her birthdays, but Mara made sure I didn't forget this one! Hope you have a great B-Day Steph!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Rohan Cough Flipping:
Rohan LOVES Pillows:
Heather Gets "Goosed":
Rohan is feeling MUCH better these days. He's more active and more playful than when he was sick, and we are pretty sure he's growing and inch every day. There are a couple videos of him goofing around on the couch below. He's been working on getting off things feet first, and usually practices on AZR's mats, but now he's working on that off the couches and beds.
We capped a long work week by hitting our favorite Sushi place, RA, then relaxed on our porch and enjoyed a few drinks and the gorgeous weather we're having.
Saturday we met up with Heather, John & Grandma Hansen for a picinc at Cesar Chavez Park. The park was awesome! The lakes and buildings were really nice, and we had lunch on a little island by the water. Rohan loved the attention from family. Rohan also got to feed the ducks and swans and John just about gave Heather a heart attack (see the video below). There was a little scary moment with another group at the park. Someone started screaming across the lake that someone had fallen down (and we were guessing unresponsive). Mara is usually the one that runs over and takes control of the situation (like on I-80 and in St. Louis), but we were on the island and it was about a mile run over to their picnic area. From what we could see the person did come to, and eventually everyone calmed down and the resuce squad came. Still it was pretty scary. We took a nice walk around the lake and then ended back at Heather & John's. They went to see The Phantom of the Opera and Mara and I headed to my work so I could take care of a few things. Mara got Rohan to sleep and got a little studying done in the meantime. Later, Rohan got some quality time with Heather, John & Grandma while Mara and I had a nice dinner out at a nice Indian restaurant called Delhi Palace. The restaurant was right across the street from ASU's Sun Devil Stadium and USC just happened to be in town so it was crazy around there. We tried to meet Sasha & Chris on Mill St. (ASU's bar scene area) but she couldn't get down there due to street closures before we had to go pick up Rohan.
Sunday we came back downtown so I could swing by work again, then headed back and grilled out with Sasha &a Chris. We found a great deal on 4/6 shrimp that were the size of Linus! They tasted AWESOME on the grill. After lunch we headed to AZR and climbed for a couple hours. Rohan was SUPER active that night since he had a nap before we went. He even took a couple more steps on his own, so he's not too far behind his "cousin" Cameron...:) Even after all that, Mara and I somehow found the energy to go for a 7 mile run that night. We were pooped!
Mara, Rohan & I also wanted to wish Steph a VERY HAPPY 30th birthday today! I've missed just about every one of her birthdays, but Mara made sure I didn't forget this one! Hope you have a great B-Day Steph!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Rohan Cough Flipping:
Rohan LOVES Pillows:
Heather Gets "Goosed":
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween Weekend Climb, Run, Hike, & Trick-or-Treat!
We managed to stay pretty busy for yet another week, dispite combating whatever viruses were thrown at us. Rohan had been fighting off something the whole month of October and finally got through the worst of it. However, since he did have a full head for so long his Dr. wanted to put him on antibiotics. Since they take out his natural stomach flora, Rohan has had a penchant for blowing out diapers. It's been a rough week, and our Dreft supply is almost exhausted! Mara and I have been fighting off some of it as well, and probably some hybrid strain from daycare/VA hospital.
Friday we hooked up with Sasha at AZR when they had a Halloween Night Climb. The lights were off and we got to climb in headlamps, while trick-or-treating along the way up the wall. It was a lot harder than we thought it was, but still fun as always. Sasha's name got called to do the zip line; an 80' zip line through the gym and rock arch. She wussed out and said I could go in her place since I was pretty geeked up to go. It was a BLAST! I was the oldest "kid" to do it by about 15 years, but if you know me, it's not far off. Rohan surprised us by taking 5 steps pretty much on his own. He was holding glow ropes he thought were connected to someone and walked over to Mara. It will be no time and he'll be walking everywhere.
Saturday we got up bright and early and caught a 10K to McDowell Mountain and back, then came back and watched the Hawks come back in an ugly game, and go 9-0. GO HAWKS!!! Later we headed over to Greg & Nico's to trick-or-treat. We had some daylight left and played a couple of rounds of Cornhole to pass the time. Greg (AKA: Shit Storm) and I easily beat up on Mara & Nico, then Nico & her Mom Lynn. Rohan got into his lion outfit (courtesy of Jackson) and headed out on the town for an epic night of treat busting! Well...Rohan only made it to 2 houses before he passed out. It was cute to see him walk up the driveways to get candy (with out help of course). We did find out that he has Coulrophobia...AKA Fear of Clowns. One neighbor had a scary clown outfit on and Rohan wouldn't walk up his driveway. It was pretty hilarious.
Sunday we did a family outing to IKEA, met Sasha & Ali for lunch, then picked up the dogs and headed to McDowell Mountain Preserve for a family fun hike. We eneded up hiking for almost 4 hours and ended up back at the car just after dusk (good thing it was a full moon!). We hiked to a climbing area called Tom's Thumb and caught an amazing sunset, as well as panoramas of the area on the way up. It was one of the better hikes we've had here, and can't wait to bring others on it. Rohan did great too! We are so glad he's over his clingy/whiney phase when he wasn't feeling good. The dogs loved the outdoors and are now exhausted!
We had a lot of fun this weekend, but wish we could have been back with our families. While the Syring family laid Grandma to rest, Sally, Scott, & Sam Aho welcomed little Ryan James! Keep up on Sally's blog for pics of Ryan. We miss everyone, especially at times like these, and we can't wait to see everyone again.
Enjoy the pics & vids; there are a TON!:
Watch Your Step:
Mike's Zip Line:
The Scariest Lion EVER!:
Linus, Schroeder & Abby Play:
Like Painting With Bob Ross, But With Fingers & Poo (WARNING: Gross):
Friday we hooked up with Sasha at AZR when they had a Halloween Night Climb. The lights were off and we got to climb in headlamps, while trick-or-treating along the way up the wall. It was a lot harder than we thought it was, but still fun as always. Sasha's name got called to do the zip line; an 80' zip line through the gym and rock arch. She wussed out and said I could go in her place since I was pretty geeked up to go. It was a BLAST! I was the oldest "kid" to do it by about 15 years, but if you know me, it's not far off. Rohan surprised us by taking 5 steps pretty much on his own. He was holding glow ropes he thought were connected to someone and walked over to Mara. It will be no time and he'll be walking everywhere.
Saturday we got up bright and early and caught a 10K to McDowell Mountain and back, then came back and watched the Hawks come back in an ugly game, and go 9-0. GO HAWKS!!! Later we headed over to Greg & Nico's to trick-or-treat. We had some daylight left and played a couple of rounds of Cornhole to pass the time. Greg (AKA: Shit Storm) and I easily beat up on Mara & Nico, then Nico & her Mom Lynn. Rohan got into his lion outfit (courtesy of Jackson) and headed out on the town for an epic night of treat busting! Well...Rohan only made it to 2 houses before he passed out. It was cute to see him walk up the driveways to get candy (with out help of course). We did find out that he has Coulrophobia...AKA Fear of Clowns. One neighbor had a scary clown outfit on and Rohan wouldn't walk up his driveway. It was pretty hilarious.
Sunday we did a family outing to IKEA, met Sasha & Ali for lunch, then picked up the dogs and headed to McDowell Mountain Preserve for a family fun hike. We eneded up hiking for almost 4 hours and ended up back at the car just after dusk (good thing it was a full moon!). We hiked to a climbing area called Tom's Thumb and caught an amazing sunset, as well as panoramas of the area on the way up. It was one of the better hikes we've had here, and can't wait to bring others on it. Rohan did great too! We are so glad he's over his clingy/whiney phase when he wasn't feeling good. The dogs loved the outdoors and are now exhausted!
We had a lot of fun this weekend, but wish we could have been back with our families. While the Syring family laid Grandma to rest, Sally, Scott, & Sam Aho welcomed little Ryan James! Keep up on Sally's blog for pics of Ryan. We miss everyone, especially at times like these, and we can't wait to see everyone again.
Enjoy the pics & vids; there are a TON!:
Watch Your Step:
Mike's Zip Line:
The Scariest Lion EVER!:
Linus, Schroeder & Abby Play:
Like Painting With Bob Ross, But With Fingers & Poo (WARNING: Gross):
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Bethany Syring 1928-2009
For those who don't know, Grandma Syring passed away Monday. She was an amazing person to put it mildly. We'll miss her always. Here are a few memories we have of her. It's not complete, but there isn't enough space on the web for all the people she's touched.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Getting Over Being Sick, New Job, & Sasha's 70.3
Rohan has been getting over whatever he caught in WI when we were back there a couple of weeks ago. He's never run much of a fever, but he's been draining snot & crud out of every hole in his face. A couple of mornings it was so bad his eyes were "glued" shut by gunk. The pressure in his sinuses gave him little black eyes called allergic shiners. He looks like he's been ultimate fighting at daycare (we're pretty sure he won). Speaking of daycare, Rohan is moving to another daycare since our last one was having issues following our directions on feeding him. We had several days where he only took in 6 ounces of liquids all day. Normally he needs 30-35 ounces, and even more when he's sick. We asked them to change his schedule and they said they would, but then never did so we pulled him out. Mara found a really good daycare we visited on Friday that we both REALLY liked. I'm sure Rohan will like it too, and he's already been charming them.
Saturday Mara and I went with Sasha to a farmers market in downtown Phoenix and then headed to Tempe to set up her bike for her half ironman on Sunday. Afterward Mara and Sasha wrapped up some homework and Rohan and I walked around an outdoor mall at Tempe Marketplace. Later Mara, Rohan and I caught the last half of the Hawkeye game which was probably one of the better games of the year, suspense-wise. The Hawks pulled it off on the last play of the game to go 8-0 for the first time in the ~120 years of the school. I smell roses...:) After the game we got back home and completed our 10K (6.2 miles) for the Nike Human Race. We've been training for it in preparation for training for the PF Chang's Half Marathon in January, which we start training for this week. The timing worked out great! All over the world people logged races and all in all we ran 786,067 miles in one day! Pretty crazy and fun to be a part of that.
Sunday we caught the tail end of Sasha's 70.3 miles of swimming (1.2 miles), biking (56 miles), and running (13.1 miles) in the SOMA Half Ironman Triathlon. She did the whole thing in about 6.5 hours! Rohan was rooting her on with his 70.3 tattoo Sasha gave him. Afterward Mara, Rohan and I went rock climbing and then capped off our weekend with a 5K run. It was 77°F and gorgeous!
This week also marked the first week of work for me since I started TGEN. It's been an absolute blast to get into the Integrated Cancer Genomics lab and get introduced to some cutting edge experimental science. I can't wait to learn more about Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (or aCGH for short). Essentially it's looking at chromosome numbers in cancer patient biopsies and comparing it to normal to try and figure out the molecular progression of cancer. Right now there is a lot to learn, but as interesting as it all sounds, I'm looking forward to it!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Bathtime!
Saturday Mara and I went with Sasha to a farmers market in downtown Phoenix and then headed to Tempe to set up her bike for her half ironman on Sunday. Afterward Mara and Sasha wrapped up some homework and Rohan and I walked around an outdoor mall at Tempe Marketplace. Later Mara, Rohan and I caught the last half of the Hawkeye game which was probably one of the better games of the year, suspense-wise. The Hawks pulled it off on the last play of the game to go 8-0 for the first time in the ~120 years of the school. I smell roses...:) After the game we got back home and completed our 10K (6.2 miles) for the Nike Human Race. We've been training for it in preparation for training for the PF Chang's Half Marathon in January, which we start training for this week. The timing worked out great! All over the world people logged races and all in all we ran 786,067 miles in one day! Pretty crazy and fun to be a part of that.
Sunday we caught the tail end of Sasha's 70.3 miles of swimming (1.2 miles), biking (56 miles), and running (13.1 miles) in the SOMA Half Ironman Triathlon. She did the whole thing in about 6.5 hours! Rohan was rooting her on with his 70.3 tattoo Sasha gave him. Afterward Mara, Rohan and I went rock climbing and then capped off our weekend with a 5K run. It was 77°F and gorgeous!
This week also marked the first week of work for me since I started TGEN. It's been an absolute blast to get into the Integrated Cancer Genomics lab and get introduced to some cutting edge experimental science. I can't wait to learn more about Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (or aCGH for short). Essentially it's looking at chromosome numbers in cancer patient biopsies and comparing it to normal to try and figure out the molecular progression of cancer. Right now there is a lot to learn, but as interesting as it all sounds, I'm looking forward to it!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Bathtime!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Getting Back To Normal
Since Rohan and I got back from WI some things have changed. First Rohan started daycare again. So far his daily reports have one theme in common...Happy & Active. That's what each report has checked at the bottom. We're also told he's playing with all the kids great, which after the way he played and watch Jackson, Sam, Eric, & Elyse, it's no wonder he's so social. We thought that by staying home with me all the time, Rohan was really missing out on socialization with other kids, and I sure as hell wasn't going to join a play date group...:)
Another reason Rohan was joining daycare is I FINALLY got a job. The funny part is that I hadn't gotten many bites for all the positions I've applied for, but the week before I went to WI, I had 3 interviews. While I was in WI playing racquetball with Chris I got a call from TGEN. This was the company that had flown me down in March to interview. The internal candidate they had hired instead was moving back to the East Coast so they called their #1 external candidate. It's somewhat fortuitous that I was available since TGEN was far and away my first choice. While it was a little frustrating looking for a job I am VERY thankful for the time I had with Rohan. I feel I really got to connect with him more than I had.
Other than that we've been doing the norm, running, climbing, and exploring Phoenix. Friday Mara got off early since her preceptor was heading to Vegas so we decided to go for a jog earlier rather than later. The temp topped out around 100°F and it took it's toll on us. We were beat after a 6 mile run which included a stop at a gas station for protein bars and Gatorade's. We recovered in time to climb with Sasha later that night, after we hit up our favorite sushi restaurant, RA. We've also gotten massages from one of our friends we meet climbing, Jeanette. She is certified in massage and also teaches yoga at AZR, in addition to being an amazing climber. If your in the area, check her out for a massage (HIGHLY recommended)
Saturday Sasha and Greg came over and carved pumpkins and watch The Hangover. It was nice to relax for an evening and enjoy a few drinks. Earlier that day we watched the Hawks continue to make their case for a serious bowl game and also watch the exciting Gator game (Sasha's alma mater). Sunday we relaxed a little more by bouldering and catching some more football ans a little playoff baseball to boot.
Another fun week in the sun! The temps are coming back down after a few days in the 100's and now topping out around 90°F and abosilutely gorgeous! We don't have a ton of pics, but enjoy them anyway!
Another reason Rohan was joining daycare is I FINALLY got a job. The funny part is that I hadn't gotten many bites for all the positions I've applied for, but the week before I went to WI, I had 3 interviews. While I was in WI playing racquetball with Chris I got a call from TGEN. This was the company that had flown me down in March to interview. The internal candidate they had hired instead was moving back to the East Coast so they called their #1 external candidate. It's somewhat fortuitous that I was available since TGEN was far and away my first choice. While it was a little frustrating looking for a job I am VERY thankful for the time I had with Rohan. I feel I really got to connect with him more than I had.
Other than that we've been doing the norm, running, climbing, and exploring Phoenix. Friday Mara got off early since her preceptor was heading to Vegas so we decided to go for a jog earlier rather than later. The temp topped out around 100°F and it took it's toll on us. We were beat after a 6 mile run which included a stop at a gas station for protein bars and Gatorade's. We recovered in time to climb with Sasha later that night, after we hit up our favorite sushi restaurant, RA. We've also gotten massages from one of our friends we meet climbing, Jeanette. She is certified in massage and also teaches yoga at AZR, in addition to being an amazing climber. If your in the area, check her out for a massage (HIGHLY recommended)
Saturday Sasha and Greg came over and carved pumpkins and watch The Hangover. It was nice to relax for an evening and enjoy a few drinks. Earlier that day we watched the Hawks continue to make their case for a serious bowl game and also watch the exciting Gator game (Sasha's alma mater). Sunday we relaxed a little more by bouldering and catching some more football ans a little playoff baseball to boot.
Another fun week in the sun! The temps are coming back down after a few days in the 100's and now topping out around 90°F and abosilutely gorgeous! We don't have a ton of pics, but enjoy them anyway!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Before The Vacation, In The Long Long Time Ago
Here are the pictures & video that go along with Mara's post from 10/04/09:
Rohan LOVES That Dog Water!:
Rohan LOVES That Dog Water!:
Monday, October 12, 2009
Week Long Whirlwind
How can a week seem like a whirlwind? This last week I took Rohan on a tour of WI. Mara was without her boys for a whole week, but she kept herself busy and made it through. Climbing, running, studying, and hanging out with Sasha helped her cope. Plus I sent random pictures to keep her in the loop of what we were doing so she wasn't completely cut off. I think she's glad to have him back, and me too I think...:)
First off, Rohan was awesome on the plane. As soon as we took off he fell asleep and woke up smiling about 30 minutes before Milwaukee. Chris, Shell, & Jackson welcomed us to the almost frozen tundra of WI. There was a shock of about 40°F temp difference, cloudy skies, and the threat of snow and frost. We met up with Pete and Beth before we headed to Green Bay. Their new house is awesome with a GIANT backyard for the dogs. We watched a little football, had some pizza and caught up a little. Way too short of a visit.
Michelle and I found several mornings to hit the YMCA. Jackson went to daycare and Rohan got put in the Y's daycare while we worked out. I had some running to do so I ran outside. There was a HUGE difference between AZ and WI (duh), but I wasn't ready for the stark change. One morning there was a wind chill below freezing, which was of course when I had to run 8 miles. My hands were blue when I got back!
Monday we took Rohan and Jackson to Appleton to see Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa Syring. No one had really seen Rohan since May so there was a lot of catching up to do. Great Grandma was really good the first day, but the other days, the Alzheimer's kind of took over and you could tell she was in a "fog" as Mom puts it. She did perk up with she saw the Great Grandkids though. Rohan & Jackson got a bath from Michelle and Jackson was even helping rinse Rohan off with the pitcher.
Tuesday Michelle and I took Rohan & Jackson to see Grandma and Grandpa Bacon at the farm in Amherst. They introduced Rohan to the cows, which he really seemed to like once the shock of such a large animal wore off. Jackson was all about them, wasting no time to stick his hand in to pet them. Jackson even fell in some "mud" while we were there.
Wednesday Grandma Syring came up to Green Bay while Hospice was visiting Great Grandma, and she watched Rohan while Michelle and I tooled around and, of course, make a Starbuck's run. Thursday Michelle had a meeting in Milwaukee so Rohan & I tagged along so I could go see some friends I didn't have a chance to catch on Sunday. I stopped by the BRI and saw Hope & Corbett and then had lunch with Rebecca, Sabrina, Christy, and PJ from MCW. It was great to see everyone and I was really glad they made the time to meet up with Rohan and I
Friday, Jen, Taylor, & Kaylee came to WI from IA so we met up with them at Grandma & Grandpa's in Appleton. Needless to say, they were all geeked up to see Rohan and Jackson. We had a nice chili dinner (which I NEEDED to warm myself up with) and caught up. Saturday Jen, Taylor and I went to Amherst to walk in the Lettie's River Run 5K. WOW, was that chilly. Race temp was 37°F, and Rohan was sleepy & cold. He wouldn't stop screaming in the stroller, so I ended up carrying him the whole time which may have actually kept me a little warmer! Holly and Cari ran the 5K while Sally watched the kids. Everyone met back up at The Bacon's for a nice lunch and more cow time. There were kids everywhere! It was a lot of fun to see all the kids interact and act like they've been best friends their whole lives. Its good to see such socialized kids.
Sunday we had breakfast back in Appleton and said the rest of our goodbyes. The Stokes' drove us down to Milwaukee and we met up with Nikki, Crawford, and Tina at the bestest coffee house on the planet...Alterra. After lunch Rohan and I got dropped off at the airport and said bye to the Stokes'. Chris recommended finding the kids play area if we had time. Rohan absoultely LOVED it. He crawled in and around everything for almost an hour before we boarded. He smiled at everyone on the plane and just before we took off, he fell asleep again and slept the whole flight for almost 4 hours. He woke up when we landed and smiled again. He was so excited to see Mara waiting for us! After a quick dinner we got home and started upacking and decompressing from such a long week. I did have one casualty. My iPod got washed with my clothes and I'm pretty sure it's a gonner...:(
Rohan wanted to thank EVERYONE for their hospitality and for making time for us. It was a whirlwind to say the least, but worth every second. There are close to 100 pictures (over 600 total from everyone's camera) and several videos. Enjoy!
Rohan Fish Hooks Michelle In HD:
There Is Something Wrong With Maggee:
Rohan Wearing Himself Out At The Airport Play Area:
First off, Rohan was awesome on the plane. As soon as we took off he fell asleep and woke up smiling about 30 minutes before Milwaukee. Chris, Shell, & Jackson welcomed us to the almost frozen tundra of WI. There was a shock of about 40°F temp difference, cloudy skies, and the threat of snow and frost. We met up with Pete and Beth before we headed to Green Bay. Their new house is awesome with a GIANT backyard for the dogs. We watched a little football, had some pizza and caught up a little. Way too short of a visit.
Michelle and I found several mornings to hit the YMCA. Jackson went to daycare and Rohan got put in the Y's daycare while we worked out. I had some running to do so I ran outside. There was a HUGE difference between AZ and WI (duh), but I wasn't ready for the stark change. One morning there was a wind chill below freezing, which was of course when I had to run 8 miles. My hands were blue when I got back!
Monday we took Rohan and Jackson to Appleton to see Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa Syring. No one had really seen Rohan since May so there was a lot of catching up to do. Great Grandma was really good the first day, but the other days, the Alzheimer's kind of took over and you could tell she was in a "fog" as Mom puts it. She did perk up with she saw the Great Grandkids though. Rohan & Jackson got a bath from Michelle and Jackson was even helping rinse Rohan off with the pitcher.
Tuesday Michelle and I took Rohan & Jackson to see Grandma and Grandpa Bacon at the farm in Amherst. They introduced Rohan to the cows, which he really seemed to like once the shock of such a large animal wore off. Jackson was all about them, wasting no time to stick his hand in to pet them. Jackson even fell in some "mud" while we were there.
Wednesday Grandma Syring came up to Green Bay while Hospice was visiting Great Grandma, and she watched Rohan while Michelle and I tooled around and, of course, make a Starbuck's run. Thursday Michelle had a meeting in Milwaukee so Rohan & I tagged along so I could go see some friends I didn't have a chance to catch on Sunday. I stopped by the BRI and saw Hope & Corbett and then had lunch with Rebecca, Sabrina, Christy, and PJ from MCW. It was great to see everyone and I was really glad they made the time to meet up with Rohan and I
Friday, Jen, Taylor, & Kaylee came to WI from IA so we met up with them at Grandma & Grandpa's in Appleton. Needless to say, they were all geeked up to see Rohan and Jackson. We had a nice chili dinner (which I NEEDED to warm myself up with) and caught up. Saturday Jen, Taylor and I went to Amherst to walk in the Lettie's River Run 5K. WOW, was that chilly. Race temp was 37°F, and Rohan was sleepy & cold. He wouldn't stop screaming in the stroller, so I ended up carrying him the whole time which may have actually kept me a little warmer! Holly and Cari ran the 5K while Sally watched the kids. Everyone met back up at The Bacon's for a nice lunch and more cow time. There were kids everywhere! It was a lot of fun to see all the kids interact and act like they've been best friends their whole lives. Its good to see such socialized kids.
Sunday we had breakfast back in Appleton and said the rest of our goodbyes. The Stokes' drove us down to Milwaukee and we met up with Nikki, Crawford, and Tina at the bestest coffee house on the planet...Alterra. After lunch Rohan and I got dropped off at the airport and said bye to the Stokes'. Chris recommended finding the kids play area if we had time. Rohan absoultely LOVED it. He crawled in and around everything for almost an hour before we boarded. He smiled at everyone on the plane and just before we took off, he fell asleep again and slept the whole flight for almost 4 hours. He woke up when we landed and smiled again. He was so excited to see Mara waiting for us! After a quick dinner we got home and started upacking and decompressing from such a long week. I did have one casualty. My iPod got washed with my clothes and I'm pretty sure it's a gonner...:(
Rohan wanted to thank EVERYONE for their hospitality and for making time for us. It was a whirlwind to say the least, but worth every second. There are close to 100 pictures (over 600 total from everyone's camera) and several videos. Enjoy!
Rohan Fish Hooks Michelle In HD:
There Is Something Wrong With Maggee:
Rohan Wearing Himself Out At The Airport Play Area:
Sunday, October 4, 2009
9 months
9 months old, wow, time is flying by!
8 (or more) bruises on his head from falling7 nights away from mom :(
6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom)
5 nicknames (biner, bunny, rho, rho-man, buddy-I'm sure there are more I am forgetting)
4 cousins he gets to see this week!
3 "words" (ok, syllabals...da, ba, tha--said to no one in particular)
2 steps taken unassisted
1 crazy, adorable, happy, awesome, baby boy!
Birthday Weekend!
Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I had a fantastic day and carried the fun over the rest of the weekend:)
Friday, Rohan woke up early coughing a bit and needed a breathing treatment but at least I got a quick snuggle in with my boy before I tucked him back into bed and headed off to the hospital. I am doing a clinical rotation in Internal Medicine with a Hospitalists (he mostly takes care of patients medical needs following surgery, so the surgeon doesn't have to delve into things that aren't his expertise.) and lucky for me he works fairly decent hours so far. He found out it was my birthday and let me off early so I met Mike & Rho out for dinner. We went to an AWESOME Sushi place that had 1/2 price happy hour (just means we could eat twice as much, right?). After dinner we wandered around the outdoor mall then grabbed a starbucks before heading home. Since it was a beautiful night (70's) and we had a run scheduled we headed towards McDowell mountain for an 8 mile run. We took some really cool shots of the mountains and the valley, but those are on the camera with Mike, so we'll post those later. We capped the evening off with a dip in the hot tub and a drink, perfect end to a wonderful day.
Saturday, we were a bit lazy and lounged around watching college football, Go HAWKS! Then we met a few friends for another climbing session, it has been even more fun to climb after learning some techniques. It was a lot of fun to try out some different, harder climbs and complete them! Rohan as usual flirted with EVERYONE, I think he thinks we go there so he can watch everybody and smile at them:) We climbed and bouldered for over 3 hours! Later that night we met a few more friends out for birthday dinner at PFChangs followed by frozen yogurt, yum!
Today we got up early and got the last few things together for Mike & Rho's trip to WI. I took them to the airport and got a few more snuggles in before they had to board. Their flight left at 9am and they should be in WI by 3pm. I know they will have a wonderful time this week and I can't wait to see all the pic's and video's of the Rho and all the family. After dropping them at the airport I hit a park on the way home and went for a quick 5 mile run, beautiful weather but holy crap was it windy! Nothing else too much planned for the rest of the day, just studying:)
Friday, Rohan woke up early coughing a bit and needed a breathing treatment but at least I got a quick snuggle in with my boy before I tucked him back into bed and headed off to the hospital. I am doing a clinical rotation in Internal Medicine with a Hospitalists (he mostly takes care of patients medical needs following surgery, so the surgeon doesn't have to delve into things that aren't his expertise.) and lucky for me he works fairly decent hours so far. He found out it was my birthday and let me off early so I met Mike & Rho out for dinner. We went to an AWESOME Sushi place that had 1/2 price happy hour (just means we could eat twice as much, right?). After dinner we wandered around the outdoor mall then grabbed a starbucks before heading home. Since it was a beautiful night (70's) and we had a run scheduled we headed towards McDowell mountain for an 8 mile run. We took some really cool shots of the mountains and the valley, but those are on the camera with Mike, so we'll post those later. We capped the evening off with a dip in the hot tub and a drink, perfect end to a wonderful day.
Saturday, we were a bit lazy and lounged around watching college football, Go HAWKS! Then we met a few friends for another climbing session, it has been even more fun to climb after learning some techniques. It was a lot of fun to try out some different, harder climbs and complete them! Rohan as usual flirted with EVERYONE, I think he thinks we go there so he can watch everybody and smile at them:) We climbed and bouldered for over 3 hours! Later that night we met a few more friends out for birthday dinner at PFChangs followed by frozen yogurt, yum!
Today we got up early and got the last few things together for Mike & Rho's trip to WI. I took them to the airport and got a few more snuggles in before they had to board. Their flight left at 9am and they should be in WI by 3pm. I know they will have a wonderful time this week and I can't wait to see all the pic's and video's of the Rho and all the family. After dropping them at the airport I hit a park on the way home and went for a quick 5 mile run, beautiful weather but holy crap was it windy! Nothing else too much planned for the rest of the day, just studying:)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Back In Business!
After our hard drive decided to take a crap on us, we are back online. We lost a TON of pictures from the last 4 months. The last time I backed up to something OTHER than our backup hard drive was the end of March, so we lost all our pictures and videos between March and now. Luckily we are pretty good about updateing our blog, so all the pictures we've posted in the last 4 months (over 1200 of them) were all recoverable through Picasa & YouTube. For the most part those were the highlights of the pictures, so we are happy to at least have those!
This last week ended Mara's stint playing Phychatrist, which she is not too upset about. She was happy for the experiance, but glad to be moveiing on to Internal Medicine. We took some time Thursday to head to AZR and rock climb for am 2 hours or so and then came home and rested. Friday, we were planning on backpacking a trail called Cave Creek (an area Greg & Nico took us to in December). We entered the Bronco Trailhead and hiked for about 3 miles when we realized Rohan's neck was getting rubbed by the strap on his carrier. It's never been an issue before, but for some reason he must have been leaned that way, but it was rubbing pretty good. We decided not to hike in and camp and headed back home. We were disappointed, but it's only an hour away, so we'll be sure to hit it again this winter. We ended up going to REI to browse and relaxed the rest of the night.
Saturday we got up bright and early, around 5am. We didn't get our 7 mile training run in on Friday since we hiked so we fit it into Saturday's busy schedule. We beat the sun up, and ran to the East. The sunrise above McDowell Mountin was gorgeous, and we really enjoyed the run. So much so we ended up extending it to 8.5 miles. We came back and made a light breakfast. Mara got some studying in and Rohan took a nap. I edited some of the pictures that we had, and subsequently lost to the hard drive failure. After lunch we took Rohan to AZR and rock climbed for a bit, which ended up just bouldering for an hour or so, which was a lot of fun. We usually just climb, but bouldering has it's own skill set and we were practicing some climbs too. We made a really good Indian style supper and also made some granola/protein bars, and capped the niight off with a nice drink or two (or three...).
Suinday we cheered Sasha on while she did a sprint triahalon (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, & 3.1 mile run) in preparation for her half ironman in October (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, & 13.1 mile run). Yeah, she's a little nuts. Rohan was slowing us down in the morning, and we thought we would miss her finishing by the time we got parked. But Mara's sharp eye spotted her while we were driving by the race and we got a couple of pics of here on her bike. We made our way to the finish and met up with Ali & Abby after we cheered Sasha on at the end. We went our for breakfast and then Mara and Sasha had to finish a quiz for their last rotation. Later that afternoon Sasha somehow had energy left over so she came up and we went back to AZR and climbed for another 3 hours. After climbing we went to Pita Jungle where Rohan got his first taste of Tabouli...turns out he loved it! We found some time to relax and get ready for another week of fun before Rohan and I head to WI to visit family for a week. We are getting really excited to see everyone again!
If you notice some of the pictures are a little better, and the video is in HD, it's because we got a new camera. Our Canon SD630 started dying on us and Nico had some great suggestions for cameras. We got a 12.1 MP Canon SD780 IS, and we absolutely love it! The video is leaps and bounds above what we had before. From 480 resolution to 720 HD is a huge improvement! Now everyone can see Rohan in HD...:) Enjoy!
Rohan Loves To Pat The Back When He Hugs:
Rohan's Learning To Wave:
Rohan Is Also Learning To Clap:
Jennifer Wanted To See A Video Of Me Climbing...So Here It Is:
This last week ended Mara's stint playing Phychatrist, which she is not too upset about. She was happy for the experiance, but glad to be moveiing on to Internal Medicine. We took some time Thursday to head to AZR and rock climb for am 2 hours or so and then came home and rested. Friday, we were planning on backpacking a trail called Cave Creek (an area Greg & Nico took us to in December). We entered the Bronco Trailhead and hiked for about 3 miles when we realized Rohan's neck was getting rubbed by the strap on his carrier. It's never been an issue before, but for some reason he must have been leaned that way, but it was rubbing pretty good. We decided not to hike in and camp and headed back home. We were disappointed, but it's only an hour away, so we'll be sure to hit it again this winter. We ended up going to REI to browse and relaxed the rest of the night.
Saturday we got up bright and early, around 5am. We didn't get our 7 mile training run in on Friday since we hiked so we fit it into Saturday's busy schedule. We beat the sun up, and ran to the East. The sunrise above McDowell Mountin was gorgeous, and we really enjoyed the run. So much so we ended up extending it to 8.5 miles. We came back and made a light breakfast. Mara got some studying in and Rohan took a nap. I edited some of the pictures that we had, and subsequently lost to the hard drive failure. After lunch we took Rohan to AZR and rock climbed for a bit, which ended up just bouldering for an hour or so, which was a lot of fun. We usually just climb, but bouldering has it's own skill set and we were practicing some climbs too. We made a really good Indian style supper and also made some granola/protein bars, and capped the niight off with a nice drink or two (or three...).
Suinday we cheered Sasha on while she did a sprint triahalon (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, & 3.1 mile run) in preparation for her half ironman in October (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, & 13.1 mile run). Yeah, she's a little nuts. Rohan was slowing us down in the morning, and we thought we would miss her finishing by the time we got parked. But Mara's sharp eye spotted her while we were driving by the race and we got a couple of pics of here on her bike. We made our way to the finish and met up with Ali & Abby after we cheered Sasha on at the end. We went our for breakfast and then Mara and Sasha had to finish a quiz for their last rotation. Later that afternoon Sasha somehow had energy left over so she came up and we went back to AZR and climbed for another 3 hours. After climbing we went to Pita Jungle where Rohan got his first taste of Tabouli...turns out he loved it! We found some time to relax and get ready for another week of fun before Rohan and I head to WI to visit family for a week. We are getting really excited to see everyone again!
If you notice some of the pictures are a little better, and the video is in HD, it's because we got a new camera. Our Canon SD630 started dying on us and Nico had some great suggestions for cameras. We got a 12.1 MP Canon SD780 IS, and we absolutely love it! The video is leaps and bounds above what we had before. From 480 resolution to 720 HD is a huge improvement! Now everyone can see Rohan in HD...:) Enjoy!
Rohan Loves To Pat The Back When He Hugs:
Rohan's Learning To Wave:
Rohan Is Also Learning To Clap:
Jennifer Wanted To See A Video Of Me Climbing...So Here It Is:
Technical Difficulties
Our computer recently took a turn for the worse (cyclic redundancy errors on the hard drive are bad!). HOPEFULLY we won't lose ALL our pics, but thankfully we have some backed up and the best of the more recent pics on Picasa, so we can always get them back. The others may be lost though, unless I can figure out some way to get them off (or someone else can).
I'll check back in a couple of days, or sooner if I figure it out, and update everyone on our weekend. It was fun-packed as usual!
Back to the PC OR for me...
I'll check back in a couple of days, or sooner if I figure it out, and update everyone on our weekend. It was fun-packed as usual!
Back to the PC OR for me...
Monday, September 21, 2009
Another Fun Packed Weekend!
Not much new has happened to the Syring's this week. Rohan is cutting teeth like crazy. He's up to the two front below, and a chompers in the front on top. 2 fangs on the top are working their way through. As long as he has something to chew on he's pretty content. He has taken to grinding his teeth a little, but hopefully that will pass.
We spent most of the week outside since it's been under 100°F most of last week! Talk about gorgeous weather. We ran over 30 miles this last week, and most of the time it was in the low 90°F's or upper 80°F's with very little humidity. We've even rigged the new jogging stroller with a 3L water pack so we make sure we are drinking enough. We've slowed our pace down for some of the longer runs, but it has made them feel even better since we can run 7-8 miles without stopping. We aren't trying to set any land speed records, we are just having fun running. When we don't have fun running, we tend not to run...:)
Rohan has been REALLY digging the pool lately. He absolutely loves to splash! He get himself as well as everyone around him, but he just keeps on splashing. We can't wait until we can get him a float suit to wear so he can splash away without blinding us...:)
We (of course) also found time this weekend to rock climb at AZR. We went once last week when we ran 3 miles there, climbed for an hour and then walked back. It was tiring, but it felt awesome. We followed that up with a trip to the pool to complete the wearing out process. This weekend we noticed our fingers are getting a lot stronger, and we've noticed holds and grips we couldn't do before so that was encouraging. Sasha and Mara both made some really good climbs on Saturday, even conquering a couple that had given them fits before. Rohan is still a ways away, but he seems to be getting the hang of it (no pun intended).
This week Mara is finishing up with her Psych rotation and SHELF exam. Next for her is Internal Medicine, which she is looking forward to. Maybe this weekend we'll work in a hike or overnight camp somewhere, we'll have to see. Hope everyone else had a great week & weekend!
Rohan Loves To Splash Swim:
Rohan Laughing At Mara Climbing/Dangling:
Rohan Climbing On The Gym Mats At AZR:
We spent most of the week outside since it's been under 100°F most of last week! Talk about gorgeous weather. We ran over 30 miles this last week, and most of the time it was in the low 90°F's or upper 80°F's with very little humidity. We've even rigged the new jogging stroller with a 3L water pack so we make sure we are drinking enough. We've slowed our pace down for some of the longer runs, but it has made them feel even better since we can run 7-8 miles without stopping. We aren't trying to set any land speed records, we are just having fun running. When we don't have fun running, we tend not to run...:)
Rohan has been REALLY digging the pool lately. He absolutely loves to splash! He get himself as well as everyone around him, but he just keeps on splashing. We can't wait until we can get him a float suit to wear so he can splash away without blinding us...:)
We (of course) also found time this weekend to rock climb at AZR. We went once last week when we ran 3 miles there, climbed for an hour and then walked back. It was tiring, but it felt awesome. We followed that up with a trip to the pool to complete the wearing out process. This weekend we noticed our fingers are getting a lot stronger, and we've noticed holds and grips we couldn't do before so that was encouraging. Sasha and Mara both made some really good climbs on Saturday, even conquering a couple that had given them fits before. Rohan is still a ways away, but he seems to be getting the hang of it (no pun intended).
This week Mara is finishing up with her Psych rotation and SHELF exam. Next for her is Internal Medicine, which she is looking forward to. Maybe this weekend we'll work in a hike or overnight camp somewhere, we'll have to see. Hope everyone else had a great week & weekend!
Rohan Loves To Splash Swim:
Rohan Laughing At Mara Climbing/Dangling:
Rohan Climbing On The Gym Mats At AZR:
Friday, September 18, 2009
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