MIA

Sorry for not updating the blog regularly anymore...basically the twins are zapping our remaining free time and putting together week events and pictures has been a struggle...:)

We regularly update Facebook quite a bit since it's easier to upload a few photos at a time rather than grouping them all together in Picasa to share.

For the foreseeable future we'll probably suspend the blog for a bit and just update everyone on Facebook.  If you don't have a Facebook account, we'll gladly e-mail pictures to whoever wants them, just drop us a call or e-mail.

My Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Michael.Syring.

Rohan Goes Rogue

Rohan’s First Mud Run This last weekend we had a HUGE number of people sign up for a race called the Rogue Runner. It was tons of obstacles over ~6.2mi (10K) through the gorgeous mountain desert. But it wasn’t about our giant team that day. It was about Rohan. He had been asking to do a “Tough Mudder” since we ran our first one 15 months ago. Since they can’t electrocute 3 & 4 year olds we had to wait until a race came along with a kid’s mud course. Finally during this year’s Tough Mudder a plane flew overhead advertising the Rogue Runner, and Rohan was signed up as soon as we got home.

Rohan has been training by climbing, running, and doing anything crazy just to say it was “training”. He was so excited. The race was supposed to be 200 yards long, and when we saw the course, it was a joke. This kid could do this in his sleep. But Rohan was still VERY excited. Rohan waited VERY patiently with Mara and the twins while our group of 32 people did the adult race. Rohan sat and played in the mud for close to 3 hours before his race…:)

Turned out they didn't have very many 4-8 year olds sign up so they just grouped them in with the 9-12 year olds. That meant a ½ run with some real obstacles, not the kiddie ones. I was able to run with him and film a lot of it. The kid blew me away. He was fast, excited, and out for blood when challenged. Even as hyped and jacked up as he was, he still waited patiently at the obstacles and was (fairly) courteous to other racers…aside from the fat kid he tackled at the bottom of the water slide. Nothing malicious; just jumped farther than I thought he could and landed falling forward…:)

After the race he got his medal, and was gleaming ear to ear. You could tell this was the highlight of his life to date.  It was great having such a HUGE support team with friends cheering Rohan on, getting tons of pictures and congratulating him at the end.  It meant the world to him.  He capped it off by impressing EVERYONE by doing 2 chin-ups on an ox yolk that we won for largest team (totally random prize).

 Our friend Shannon put together a great compilation of his race. Enjoy!

Great weekend!

This last week, Mara's parents came out to see the twins.  I think they were pretty excited to see them...the break from the snow was an added bonus though...:)  Rohan had a blast showing off his sisters, and G&G were along for the ride to parks, space centers, and more parks.  G&G even got to see Rohan's TBall practice.
Saturday I went to a car show while Mara, Rohan and the twins ran errands.  Afterwards we made some awesome beer bread, coconut shrimp, asparagus, and scallops with Shannon & Angelika.  We topped the night off with S'mores and a fire in the pit.
Sunday we started off with Matador and then met Shannon & Jeremy in the McDowells for some climbing.  We found an awesome boulder and Rohan was able to do his FIRST official outdoor route, which he has named "Avengers Assemble"...:)
A great week & weekend!

Here is a little video of Rohan's climb set to his favorite song..."Sail" by AWOLnation:

All our kids are home!!!

So we are finally getting settled in with our giant family of 5…:)  Actually it hasn't been that much of a struggle.  The girls are on a pretty solid, regular schedule already so we can plan things pretty easily without too much trouble.  To be honest, they could be nightmares and we’d still love having them home rather than the trips to the NICU!

Rohan has been an AWESOME helper and loves to snuggle his sisters.  We've been venturing out as much as possible so we don’t get stuck in any ruts staying at home…we like to stay moving around so we train our kids to do the same. J  We took the family to a spring training game last weekend (Brewers of course!) and have done several walks, trips to Matador, and out to see friends.  Next stop will be taking them to the climbing gym to start them early!

We've just finally also cleaned out our camera from the Tough Mudder and some of Rohan’s soccer games.  Soccer is finally done, so we can jump back into TBall! Yeah!
Enjoy the pics...there will be more to come once everything settles down...which might be never...:)

TOUGH MUDDER 2013!

Mara and I were fortunate enough to have another AWESOME team to run the Tough Mudder with. This year we had ~14 people (9 last year) and all but Mara and I were first time runners. The course was just as brutal as last year. Everyone had a lot of fun, and I really mean that. We were laughing, joking, and being our goofy selves the entire course...the pictures & videos prove it.  I took our waterproof (& mud/shock proof) camera long and documented the majority of the fun run...:)

It was absolutely awesome to have Jen, Michelle & Chris, & Allison share the fun with us (another post for their whole visit). We wish the twins would have incubated a lot longer, but because they came early they all got to meet the newest Syrings, plus Mara (being awesome) was able to train enough to run as well!

This was another awesome experience, and we'll let the pictures (from us and others) and video (courtesy of Shannon) tell the story.

Shannon's video can be found here: http://goo.gl/yxfqq

My individual ones are in a playlist here: http://goo.gl/hL75c

2.5 Week Twin Update

Hard to believe the twins are already over 2 weeks old! They are doing so well, gaining weight and changing daily.  As of this AM both girls weigh 3lbs and are on full feeds through the feeding tubes!  Their IV's and nasal cannulas have been removed and they are tolerating everything very well!
Saturday we were able to give Prana her first bath.  Rohan was such a good helper as well, and the smile on his face was there all day!

Yesterday Mara was able to hold them together for the first time, which was a very special day.  We happen to have our friend Hannah along to take some pics and the timing couldn't have been better.  Mara was able to hold them for almost 3 hours!  We were able to give Tesla a bath as well yesterday, so lots of firsts!

Looking forward to getting them home in the next month or so.  We just need them to keep gaining weight and keep getting stronger.

Enjoy some of the pics we've taken over the last 2.5wks:


Prana squeaking & hiccups:

Tesla & Prana Have Arrived!

The twins have arrived!! A bit earlier than we were expecting, but doing great! Both twins will be in the NICU at Scottsdale Shea hospital for a while so they can grow a bit before we take them home, but we've been able to snuggle them a bit and look forward to bringing them home! Here are some pics and some stats:

Tesla Avery
Born @ 4am on 1/24/2013
2lbs 3oz (990 grams)
14.5 inches

Prana Claire
Born @ 8am on 1/24/2013
2lbs 8oz (1130 grams)
15 inches



Rohan learning about his new sisters:

Rohan meeting his new sisters:

Twin Peaks

A couple weekends back Mara and Rohan set off on a pretty epic quest...to hike 2 of the valley's mountain peaks. The first one they hiked was Piestewa Peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. It's 1.2mi long and an elevation gain of almost 1,200 feet! I know several adults who can't do that, let alone a 4yr old! They were originally going to climb Camelback mountain where I was climbing with friends (Shannon & Jeremy), but the parking is atrocious there so they opted for an equivalent hike with a better parking lot. We all met up for pizza afterwards and regaled each other with our climbing & hiking stories

The second day/second peak Mara and Rohan were able to hike was on the same mountain I was climbing, Lookout Mountain. I took some first timers out to climb outdoors, and Lookout is a great in town, short mountain to practice on. The trail is much shorter, but still a 0.6mi trek and 500+ feet of elevation is solid, especially considering they took a couple rough scramble trails to get to our climbing area as well

Rohan also has been enjoying soccer and it's fun to watch all the kids just swarm the ball...frustrating at times too...:)
Rohan climbing like a beast and highballin':

Happy New Year!

It has been a whirlwind holiday season! Mara was working A LOT to cover people on vacation and leave so we have a somewhat unorthodox xmas. Rohan had lots of stocking stuffers leading up to xmas day and since Mara had to work we ended up doing a gift opening xmas eve. Rohan LOVED all his gifts! Seriously, there wasn't a single one he didn't like. By far his favorites were the Legos and sports equipment from everyone.

We took time to head up to Flagstaff and sled with friends we met through TBall/Daycare. Rohan had a blast going down and was a trooper climbing up the hill every time. We even went on the “big kid” hill which Rohan wanted to go down more and more. Mara did have some time off with some luck and schedule switching. She had 6 days off in the middle of the week! Unheard of! Luckily I had some vacation time left to burn so we took a lot of the week of Rohan’s birthday off together.

Besides a fun New Years with our neighbors and friend’s parties, we took a trip to the Tucson Air Museum. They had TONS of planes in hangers and hundreds on their grounds. It was a gorgeous day to wander and let Rohan explore this kid wonderland. My favorite (and therefor Rohan’s favorite) was the SR-71 Blackbird. An absolutely gorgeous plane and modern engineering feat. I’ve been wanting to see one since I was Rohan’s age! Couple that with seeing the Space Shuttle a month ago and my inner 5yr old is ecstatic!

For Rohan’s birthday day we went to a trampoline place with his friend Owen for a couple hours, then to a park for TBall and Soccer. They were worn out (Owen more than Rohan though…:P)
The day after his birthday we had a picnic at the train park in Scottsdale…one of Rohan’s favorites. We had a good turnout of friends…it’s funny what Rohan’s parites look like. There were a couple friends his age, but also a lot of single people we climb with who adore him…

All in all a great holiday season. We hope everyone had a great one as well, and wish you a Happy New year!


Rohan Manning The Control Tower:

Rohan Jumping Into The Snow:

2012 Year In Reveiw

This is our first real attempt at a Xmas/New Years letter.
This year has gone down as one of our most active & exploratory.  Some of the activities that brought us to new & exciting places are rock climbing, running, camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, star gazing, any other sport you can think of, and even work.  We saw some awesome scenery and areas most people never make it back to, and that makes all the work to get there worth its weight.  We do it for ourselves, but also we do it to show Rohan the awesome world around us.
This year we went all over the Southwestern US with a quick foray into the Pacific Northwest.  Outside Arizona we hiked a couple state parks in Colorado, Canyonlands & Arches NP in Utah, several state parks in Oregon & Washington, camped in Joshua Tree NP and Cuyamaca Rancho SP in California.  Within AZ we explored East Clear Creek Canyon, Fossil Creek, Mount Lemmon and quite a few lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.
A little about the family:

Rohan is a week or so from turning 4 and as energetic as ever.  He had changed everything we knew about the endurance of a kid.  Rohan enjoyed playing TBall and was one of the better players (thanks to his awesome coach!).  He has just started soccer and loves to chase that ball as well.  Rohan has been intensifying his love affair with space shuttles, dinosaurs and Legos...the trifecta of any soon to be 4yr old.
Rohan has weathered 99% of all the adventures we have gone on and loves everything that goes along with exploring the world around us.

Mara is doing great in her 2nd year of her Pediatrics residency at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  She is also showing no signs of slowing down despite being 25 weeks pregnant with twin girls!  She really is a superwoman!  With the twins due in April (but planning for March) she'll have some time off with maternity leave.

Michael is still with Translational Genomics in their Center for Proteomics division.  He had a blast coaching Rohan's TBall team (despite the annoying parents).  Currently training for the Tough Mudder in February.

The Endeavor

We have been on countdown for what seems like forever for this trip.  I think we started the countdown at about 30 days for Rohan, which to an almost-4-year-old had to seem like an eternity.

First we had some stuff to do.  We had Rohan's last TBall game a couple weekends back followed by his party with his team at a friends house.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with the parents outside of TBall, and great to see the kids have so much fun playing anything other than TBall.

We also had Mara's party for PCH which we had our friend Shannon watch Rohan.  She always spoils him rotten when she's here so he's glad to get rid of us for several hours.  We had a lot of fun without Rohan, and even made some time for a quick coffee (just us!) at Matador before heading to the party.  We can back around 10 to Rohan sitting with Shannon on the couch (past his bedtime) watching The Avengers...spoiled...:)

After all that we finally hit the last day before the trip.  Mara worked a Noon to Midnight shift on Monday, so I picked her up at Midnight (after a quick nap) and we headed towards California.  We stopped around 3:30am in Joshua Tree National Park and found our normal spot for camping and slept for 3hrs before heading in the rest of the way.

We hit the California Science Center around opening time and got in line with our free timed ticket to see the space shuttle.  It was insane.  Thousands of kids were busing in from all over.  The shuttle iteself wasn't too crazy, but we see why they needed timed tickets.  Before the shuttle they showed a quick video of the Endeavor being brought through the streets of LA.  Here is a similar time lapse video:

Rohan was so amazed by this video...we watch it at least once a day now...:)
After the video we get full reign of the the shed it's currently in.  I will have to say...for someone who has been waiting ~27 years to see a space shuttle in person...it was beautiful.  Never had I had so much pride looking at a national monument.  I cannot wait until they set it up in it's final position, upright with the booster rockets and fuel tank attached.
We roamed the shuttle for about 45 min before heading to an IMAX movie about Earth.  Rohan liked that a lot too!  We finally grabbed lunch on the gorgeous USC campus and headed back towards the museum.  We had several more hours until it closed so we decided (well...Rohan decided) to see the shuttle again.  It was perfect timing.  It was around 2pm so the schools were all headed back home, and before others got off work to come.  We didn't even need to wait in line for a ticket, they just opened the door.  There was only about 15 people in there, and it was so nice to have it quieter and more open this time around.  We spent almost another 45min there before calling it a day.
We wondered around USC a little more, got some stuff for breakfast in the morning, and ate at the Lab Gastropub...very cool place...:)
The next day we got an early start (after some coffee) and hit the rose gardens on the museum's campus.  Rohan went around smelling tons of roses, and just running around being a kid.  Today we were hitting the Natural History Museum to see their Dinosaur Hall and whatever else they have...turns out A LOT!  Rohan was yelling TRICERATOPS at the top of his lungs when we walked in because they had a T-Rex attacking a Triceriatops in the front rotunda...it was hilarious...:)
We spent A LOT of time at the Dinosaur Hall and also checked out the mammal, gemstone, and evolution exhibits.  All in all and awesome museum!  It was great to see Rohan SO excited about everything.  Every time he saw a dinosaur exhibit or foot print or preserved dung, he would run and get us and tell us we HAD to see it.  We were there for almost 4 hours before grabbing lunch at a great Indian place.  We had some time before we had to head home, and around 2:00 we hit the space shuttle for the 3rd time in less than 2 days.  It was really quiet again, and very nice to see one last time before heading home.
The car ride back was mostly at night, and one nice thing is it was almost the peak of the Geminid meteor shower!  I saw more shooting stars on the way home than I have in the last 5 years...it was a great way to end the trip...:)
Enjoy the pics and hop everyone has a great XMas!

We ended the 3 days off by taking Rohan to a tampoline place called AZ AirTime.  It was a blast!
Double Trust Fall:  

Rohan Jumping:


Mike Jumping:

Full Advantage

Despite Mara's busy schedule, we have been taking FULL advantage of the beautiful weather lately!
Rohan had TBall the weekend before Thanksgiving, but it has been nice to have a break from it for a bit.  After his last game we headed out to the Anthem Community Park because of their amazing park, playground, and Daisy Mountain Railroad.  The day was so perfect, and we even had clouds! (The little things for AZ people...:P)
We also took the opportunity to continue our running and work on Rohan's biking.  Since we live in a fairly quite neighborhood with wide streets and sidewalks, we took Rohan on an 2.5mi bike ride while Mara and I ran next to him.  He did AWESOME!  Later in the week we did a run/bike to Matador to meet Mara while she studied, and also did a 3mi ride where Rohan rode a full mile on a trail!  It was slow going because he wasn't used to the terrain constantly trying to turn his wheel.  The first 100ft he wiped out 5 times, but kept at it, and completed the whole trail.  Very proud of him!
We also met up with Shannon & Angelika at the PHX Mountain Preserve for a sunset hike.  Rohan hiked almost the whole 3.5mi!  The sunset was gorgeous and the colors of the sky looked awesome from within the preserve.
Because we couldn't be with family this Thanksgiving, we decided to have an "Orphan Thanksgiving".  We have lots of friends who also don't have much family here so we did the only think we know how.  We got a 28# turkey and a keg of Four Peaks Kiltlifter...:)  We had about 20 people roll through and had a blast with great food and great beer...:)
The day after, Mara got sent home from the clinic (since it was empty) so we took Rohan to a park to do exactly what he wanted when we asked..."Play baseball, football, and soccer."  We played for almost an hour before we took him to an indoor trampoline place (AZ AirTime) to burn off some energy (this kid has a lot!).  We jumped into a foam pit for 2hrs.  I say "we" because after 2min of watching him jump, I went and got a ticket so I could join in the fun...:)  We had a BLAST...just see the pics...:)  Afterwards we went out for a picnic, and capped a lovely morning.
Saturday, Mara had to work, so I took Rohan and some friends to Groom Creek (near Prescott, AZ) to do some bouldering.  We were there all day, and had so much fun gouging our hands on the sharp granite...:)
We are just taking a nice break on Sunday, adding to our Target & Babies'R'Us wishlists since we keep thinking of more and more things we need for the twins...:)  Mara was 20 weeks on Thanksgiving Day, so we are well over half way now...can't wait to meet them!
Enjoy our pics from the last week or so! :)

Twin Girls!

The other day we had the anatomy ultrasound for the twins.  Everything looks great, and they gave us a disc with tons of pictures and a couple videos of the heartbeats...:)  Enjoy!

Twin A Heartbeat:


Twin B Heartbeat:

More TBall & Biking...Enjoying The Awesome Weather

Catching up on some more weeks...they are just FLYING by!  Mara is done with her long, late, fun PICU rotation so she has some more free time and isn't so exhausted anymore.  She is at 19 weeks this Thursday, and finally starting to show a cute little bump...:)
Last weekend we painted the Twins' room.  It was hard to paint a pink room, but we got through it, and we think it turned out pretty good.

Rohan is finally completely autonomous on his bike.  He can start, stop and steer all by himself, and had been riding up and down our quiet street almost daily.  The other day Mara went to study for boards at Matador bright and early.  Rohan rode his bike all the way there (on the sidewalks) and I jogged next to him.  He was so proud of his achievement too!
Rohan has been doing great at baseball.  He overcame a huge hurdle...letting other kids get the ball.  He was a bit of a ball hog (as all kids are at that age), but he was faster and more aggressive than the other kids, so he would usually end up with the ball.  Now he will let other kids get the ball and cheer them on to get it and throw it.  So fun to watch him evolve!

We also had Halloween and I am just now posting those pics...sorry.  Rohan was really into the season this year, and couldn't wait to go.  He was shy in the beginning, very quiet, but after 20 houses or so, he started getting more and more excited to talk to the strangers and say Trick-or-Treat.

Hope everyone had a great start to November!

TBall & Bridges

This last couple weeks have been mostly filled with Mara working in the PICU, and on her short time away we've been climbing a bit, and going on some long bike rides.
The last weekend Mara had off we took advantage and headed North to camp (while the temps are still above freezing at night).  We just camped the one night since Rohan had TBall and a friends birthday party on Saturday morning, but afterwards we met up with Angelika and headed North.  We had plans to visit the Tonto Natural Bridge so we decided to find a forest road to camp on nearby.  We ended up about 6.5mi into the forest in an AWESOME clearing beneath some massive pines.  It was also maiden voyage for our new tent.  The fire was an excellent way to chill out and stay warm while the temps dipped down to low-40s.  We made some hot coco and relaxed well into the night.
Sunday morning we got up and warmed up with some oatmeal and cheesy eggs before heading to the bridge.  I was always unimpressed when they talked about the "Natural Bridge".  I've seen arches in Arches National Park, so how different could a bridge be?

Rohan was an absolute trooper, hiking almost 2 miles on his own through rough trail and over boulders that were at least his height, and sometimes much higher.  We visited the waterfall trail first, which had a really cool suspension trail, before heading down the canyon trail to the "bridge".  We stopped at a really fun cave we explored extensively before spying the bridge just around the corner.  How different are arches & bridges?  For one thing the arches are probably 20-30ft wide..the bridge was 400+ft long, and absolutely stunning.  The pictures don't quite do it justice.

Enjoy the pictures!

BUSY MONTH!!!

Wow, sorry about the absence!  We have been CRAZY busy, and just a teensy bit lazy about the blog.  I’ll play catch-up now.

Mid-September our friends Wyatt & Jovanna came to visit from Chicago.  It was AWESOME seeing them, especially since we hadn't seen them since their wedding (3yrs ago)!  As always with our friends, it doesn't matter how long it’s been, we can just jump right back in.  Wyatt & Jovanna did some much needed relaxing and I took them rock climbing in Superior as well.  Couldn't have been a better day for it!  It was a great visit, and we hope to see them soon!

Rohan has started T-Ball now, and I had the great idea that I should coach…:)  The parents are all pretty good, so it wasn't the nightmare I thought it could be.  Most of the kids are pretty athletic and have some skill in some way, so it’s been fun.  Some are even making progress after 2 practices!  Rohan, of course, is probably the fastest one, and hits just as well as his buddy on the team (Jack).  Jack has a much better arm though, but Rohan is catching up in that area.  It’s fun to watch them wield a metal bat and hit a regulation size ball (with a soft shell & core).

I also had some tickets for the last series of Diamondback games.  The seats were given to us by a very generous person ($120 apiece!).  They were ~12 rows behind the Rockies’ dugout and just off home plate.  Awesome seats!  Tons of foul balls around us, and a pretty good game with 5 HRs and a DBack comeback, but lost in extra innings.  We left in the 11^th, and they didn't finish until after we were already at home and in bed (13 innings!).

The last Friday of September we met up with H&J and hit up the PHX Science Museum (also with free tickets through work!).  They had a Lego exhibit (which Rohan was all about), some educational booths with heart beats transmogrified into drum beats (pretty cool), and a giant sneezing nose.  Rohan’s favorite was the giant stomach complete with farting noises, burps, gurgles, and a colon slide…yup…a colon slide.  Heather even took a spin down it…:)Heather also beat John in a head-to-head wheelchair race…good times…:)

We had more visitors from WI, this time work friends of Michelle’s that were in AZ for a conference.  I agreed to take them on a hike so I picked a night hike at Shaw Butte, just outside their hotel.  The scenery was awesome, and the sunset was gorgeous.  They bought us dinner afterwards, and we had great time!  If they come back, we’ll gladly take them out again!

We celebrated Oktoberfest with some German & Austrian friends in downtown PHX.  It was the second year we have been, and it’s fun every time!  Mara competed in a stein-holding contest and came in 3^rd to a 70yr old beast of a woman.  Rohan was cheering her on loudly as well…:)  Lots of pretzels, boots of beer, and bratwursts & wienerschnitzel.

We had a housewarming party for a friend, that eventually escalated to a full out Nerf war.  Rohan was running around aiming a fully automatic gun that was taller than he is.  Comedy.  Rohan was a madman as well…running to and from rooms, targeting people, and yelling “Military”…it was awesome…:) 

Mara is doing great with the twins, she is at almost 14 weeks.  We had several ultrasounds and some very cool 3D pics.  Crazy to see them in 3D this early!  They were not cooperating, so we couldn't get a sex determination yet.  Rohan is flip flopping between all possible combinations so I think he’ll be happy with whoever will be his siblings…:) 

Well…that wraps up the last several weeks!  Here are some pics & vids of what we've been up to…

Roh-zilla:

The giant stomach...:


Rohan's War:


Rohan Laying Suppression Fire...Then Attacks:


Taking Fire...1st Person Angle:


Irena's Dart Stash:


Rohan working on some new moves...:)

Syring Family Update

For those who know me know that I am in LOVE with Fibonacci's sequence. It is just so damn elegant.

Well, I have another reason to love it, because my family is living it...let me explain...and see if you can figure it out...

We can get metaphysical and say that before I was born, I was 0, nothing, void.
Then there was me, I was 1.
Then there was Mara, she was 1.
Then we got married, our family was 2.
Then came Rohan, and our family grew to 3.
Do you know the next number in the Fibonacci series? 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, ?

It's 5! Meaning we have twins on the way! :)

Due date is mid-April, but we're guessing they will be slightly early. We are SUPER excited!
Rohan is asking all sorts of questions, and told Mara he wants twin girls...I don't think he understand the consequences of that...:)

Here are a couple, very early, ultrasounds. We will post more when we know more! :)

Rohan’s Longest Camping Trip!

This last holiday weekend took advantage of the 3 day weekend and turned it into a 4 ½ day weekend by taking a ½ day on Thursday and heading up North to the Mogollon Rim.  I picked up Rohan and the dogs and scouted for a perfect spot.  The woods are pretty full of people on holiday weekends, but I eventually found a spot that was somewhat isolated from drunken hillbillies.  Mara had to work Thurs/Fri so it was just Rohan, the dogs, and I that first night.  It was really fun to explore the woods and trails with Rohan, and he had a blast with the freedom he had!  We hiked a bit, explored the forest a bit, set up camp, and cooked, all to his amazement/interest.

Friday we set up guides for friends to find us.  Mara rode up with another one of our friends, Ryan, and Shannon came up that night as well.  Shannon made a GREAT dinner with steak, potaotes, asparagus, and who knows what else; all cooked on the coals of the fire.  It was perfect!

Saturday we headed back to East Clear Creek and did some kayaking and Deep Water Soloing/climbing again…we LOVE that area!  We met Jason & Jaymie there, who came up from PHX that morning.  It rained on us as usual, but we didn’t care, and Rohan even fell asleep in Mara’s boat…it was adorable…:)  That night Angelika, Michael, Patrick, (another) Ryan, and Heson came and joined us for a total of 11 people!  It was a great night of campfire, hanging out, and eating MORE great food!  Unfortunately Mara had to work on Sunday so she had to head back that night, but it was great she could get out of PHX for 24hrs!

Sunday the kayakers took to Blue Ridge Reservoir while others headed to Horton Springs on a solid hike down and up the rim.  The wind on Sunday night was pretty wicked, so it cut down the time we spent around the fire, but we still found some things to do.  Rohan always kept us entertained with is antics, and we use a tomahawk from Angelika’s stash to do some throwing contests and even do some deforesting (of dead trees of course…).

One exciting thing that happened on Thursday while we were looking for a spot is that I got the truck back to a fairly “tight” spot where I basically needed to do a 12+ point turn to get out.  Everything was fine until about turn 9 when I slowly backed into a tree that was in my blind spot and obscured by one of the 3 kayaks I had in the back.  It slowly pushed one of the kayaks through our back window (on the driver’s side).  Luckily Rohan was not covered in glass or anything, but he was a little shaken.  He calmed down quickly and when we did finally get to our site (which had plenty of trees) he said he was going to take his Captain America shield and chop down all the trees so I wouldn’t back into them…what a thoughtful boy…:)

We had an absolute AWESOME weekend with great friends, great food, great views, and awesome weather to storm watch!  We got some rain, but it never dampens our mood, it’s all part of the experience!   Hope everyone had a fun/safe weekend!

Shelf Jump:


Rohan & Jaymie Summiting The Tailgate:


Ryan Going Caveman On A Tree:

More Camping/Kayaking/Hiking...with stargazing this time!

We took yet another break from the heat this last weekend and headed back up to Northern AZ where it's about 15-20°F cooler, and about 30°F cooler at night (6250ft in elevation, compared to PHX at ~1500ft)!  This time we camped with some friends at Jack's Canyon (a climbing area that recently had a fire caused by lightning).  We got a fresh start in the morning and headed to Winslow to East Clear Creek (much like we did a couple weeks back).  We were in the water at 9am and didn't get back to the truck until about 4:30pm!  It was an AWESOME day on the water, and we got TONS of climbing in.  One was about a 35' jump from a small shrub...had to do this one a couple of times!!! :)
We camped at Jacks again and did some stargazing and meteor shower watching.  The Perseids did not disappoint.  We watched some really strong ones and  some even had streaking trails that hung around for a while...really fun!  Rohan was super excited and even fell asleep in his chair watching the skies...it was awesomely adorable...:)



Rohan's Jump:

Highest jump of the day: 

The Syrings Jump: 

Captain Rohan explaining Thor's powers: 

Small Vacations & Enjoying The Summer!

Wow, we have been busy! (Hence the lack of blog posts...)
A couple weeks back (end of July) I finished up TGen's Helios Internship Program for students interested in science.  My intern did an awesome job, and she churnned out some great work.  A lot of investigators were asking very good questions and I'm sure I'll be hearing more from them in the coming weeks.  We had a symposium on a Friday and after a celebratory beer with the other mentors, Mara, Rohan and the dogs picked me up and off we went on an adventure.  Friday night we camped at Joshua Tree National Forest in California   Absolutely gorgeous, and we found a free place to crash for the night.  The next day we headed to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, about an hour outside San Diego, where we set up camp and did a couple day trips into San Diego.  We LOVE to visit San Diego, but wouldn't want to live there.  We took the dogs to the Mission Beach Dog Beach where Schroeder had a blast chasing balls in the ocean, and Rohan had a blast as well running through the causeway and in the waves.
We also hit up the Little Italy Mercado where Rohan got to see his favorite accordion player, Smilin' Jack.  He's a little creepy, but a super nice guy.  We also took time to check out the USS Midway docked museum.  We couldn't go on it this time since we had the dogs, but we relaxed at the park next to it, and Rohan wouldn't stop talking about it.  We walked by Petco Park (where the Padres play baseball) and ran around their Park at the Park; a really awesome idea, and Rohan loved playing in the shadow of a baseball field!
The awesome kick to the end of the trip was The Field Irish Pub.  They had live dancing and Irish/Celtic music and we had the best seat in the house!  They gave us an elevated booth looking down on the dancers. Rohan would take a bit and chew it while he was trying to shove his head through the banister to watch.  Definitely a place to hit when we go back!
Earlier in the week Mara's vacation started (on a Wednesday...FFS), I took a day off and we headed down to Tuscon.  We never really explored the area as well as we would like, so we did just that.  We hit up a couple coffee shops, a couple parks, a Thai restaurant, and of course Mount Lemmon.  Mt Lemmon is HUGE, and it is about a 25mi drive from the base to the top, but it has some great views and was VERY cool and comfortable at the top (100°F+ below).  Rohan took it upon himself to do a Tough Mudder course which consisted of climbing, running, jumping over logs, trees, and streams...very similar to the real one...:)  He had a blast exploring and has really taken to engaging his surroundings and seeing what he can find.
Such a great week for Mara to have off, we always try to make the most of these rare vacations.

Rohan being C-R-A-Z-Y in San Diego:

Irish Dancing at The Field (wish you could see how enthralled he was!):

Schroeder having fun in the causeway:

Linus the not-so water dog: