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:
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