The Nixnerd

Today, we decided to do something a little different. We took him to the restaurant with us, got a high chair, and fed him at the table. He got to eat breakfast with us. Big Boy! From there, we came back to the room where Nikki got ready for her presentation. Zaiden and I walked her to the conference. He and I came back to the hotel room to hang out while we waited for Nikki. We played around on the bed until he started to get fussy. He was awfully tired by that point so I put him in his car seat and did “the daddy swing” until he fell asleep. He stayed asleep while I got some blogging done (and you thought I was writing this as things went along? :). Nikki got back, we packed up, and headed for the Air and Space Museum! Woot woot! (I was secretly happy that Zaiden slept so he would be awake for pictures, today!) (more…)

We got up this morning after a wonderful night’s sleep. Zaiden slept from about 8 until 3, then until 7. It was awesome! I’m so proud of him!
We fed the boy breakfast then mosied down to the hotel’s restaurant and had a huge breakfast and decided to go for a quick walk before hitting the sites. During our walk, we realized how close we are to the APHA conference. We went on over to get Nikki registered and she went to find where her station is going to be, tomorrow, while I kept the boy asleep. Next, back to the hotel to get all ready for some site seeing. Of course I have a very special T-Shirt to wear in Washington DC — it has a head shot of both George H. Bush and his son, George W. Bush. Underneath the two shots are the words, “Dumb and Dumber.” (more…)

Nikki and I got up bright and early at 4:45 am to head to D.C. Let me rephrase: we set the alarm for 4:45 but actually got up around 4:00. Yes, FOUR. It was Daylight Savings Time and I didn’t turn the alarm clock back. I’m just used to my computers setting the time for me so I didn’t think about it. NUTS. On the bright side, we had plenty of time to feed Zaiden and finish getting ready to go. We had a nice leisurely morning before hopping in Black Beauty (that’s Nikki’s Vue for those that don’t recognize the name) and heading to Starbucks (and you thought I was going to say the airport, didn’t you?). (more…)

We went camping with mom, dad, Paul, and Marlin over the weekend in Buena Vista. Here is a recap of the trip. Clicking on any of the pictures will take you to a gallery of photos we took during the trip. Throughout the weekend, everyone was so happy to see Zaiden, talk to Zaiden, and play with him. He was so cute with everyone — all smiles.

Day One: Thursday August 16, 2007

Nikki and I had gotten mostly packed on Wednesday night. I just took a long lunch to try to finish things up. I was hoping to get all packed and showered up before heading out. Unfortunately, packing took longer than I expected and I had to shower after nikki got home. We got Moose in the FJ and took off around 4:30. Before hitting the road, we went to pick up Zaiden from day care (Nikki had a metting in Thornton, that day, and decided to come home after the meeting rather than going to pick him up, first). Luckily, he had eaten fairly recently and we were thinking we could make it to Buena Vista before he needed to eat again. Quick stop for gas and we were on our way.

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We just got back from our trip to Oklahoma. We took Zaiden to meet his Aunt Dawn, Uncle LaMont, and cousins Alexander and Sedona. It was great to see them. Alexander was so cute with Zaiden — he always wanted to give him kisses. Doh! Read on for more!

As usual, click on the photo to the right for more photos!

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We met up with Chris ‘n Sherry, Brad ‘n Sharon, and a bunch of their friends in Buena Vista, CO on Friday. We then drove up above Cottonwood Lake and found a nice big camping space for several tents. One couple had a little tent trailer. Zaiden was awesome! I figure if we get him started early he’ll “be a happy camper.”

And … I finally got to go 4 wheeling with the FJ! Woot woot! Chris and his friends are “the jeep guys” and we took a little trail across Cottonwood Creek and up … and up … and up. The trail goes above timberline but we didn’t go that far. Nikki stayed behind because Zaiden’s neck isn’t ready for the bumpy rough and tumble of 4 wheeling. I felt (feel?) bad about leaving them behind but Nikki didn’t even blink. She encouraged me to go. She’s so awesome.

As usual, the photo on the right will take you to some photos of the trip!

So Nikki and I decided to take the FJ off the beaten path (well, off the paved path at least). She gave me a book of off road trails in Colorado for Christmas that has “easy”, “moderate”, and “difficult” trails. We picked Mt. Herman Road just west of Monument because it is rated “easy” (I want to get a feel for DitR before taking it on more difficult trails).

Well, wouldn’t you know it, we had about 150 ft. visibility due to fog, and it snowed last night. I wasn’t so comfortable off roading with potential snow and a pregnant wife. So, we only went about 2 miles or so of the 36 mile trail and turned around. We got to feel some bumps, though, and we drove up on the side of the road where other folks have done to see how far we could tip the FJ. I hate tipping so we didn’t go too far but I did get to see the inclinometer go over to a point I hadn’t seen, before.

We’re planning on going back to that trail in a couple weeks and doing the entire trip. It looked like there would be some pretty Colorado views. Cant’ wait to take DitR to a few more intense trails!

As usual, click on the photo on the right to see more pictures of this little excursion.

We were supposed to fly to CA, today, to spend Christmas with Nikki’s family. Unfortunately, Denver got 2’ of snow, DIA closed. Nikki was on the phone all day trying to get through to United. Their website said we had to make a change of plans by midnight or we’d be S.O.L. The earliest we could get out to CA would be Christmas night — kinda pointless as our return flight is for the day after Christmas. Total Bummer! We’re going to be here for Christmas, I guess.

Click on the photo to the right for some photos Nikki took.

We met my mother-in-law, her husband, and my wife’s Tia Erma. My wife, her sister, AJ, our friend, Wendy, and our dog, Moose, drove down on Saturday morning. The drive was about 5 - 6 hours. It went by pretty quick because we kept poking fun at each other for various reasons (AJ: I won’t be telling folks about anything on the web site ;-). Moose did pretty darned good in the car, too. He’s a great dog.

That night we had dinner in a wonderful restaurant next to the old rail road tracks then mosied around the plaza for a little while. We discussed the fact that we wanted to hang out down there on Sunday before leaving town.

Which is exactly what we did. The picture, above, is of me (again, I’m a Tool) and a statue in front of a little church that has “the mysterious staircase” (long story that I’ll go into at some other time). I’ll make a little photo album and plop it on my little web site, here, with some photos other than me being a tool.

Nicole and I headed out to Moab, UT, with some friends for some 4-wheeling. We took my truck (The Beast) on a trail called, Steel Bender. It was tons of fun. We were all surprised at how well my truck did on those trails. The folks we went with build their own Jeeps with lift kits and all that jazz. Even those guys were impressed with The Beast.

Of course, the next day we went on some other trials that were quite a bit more difficult. Couldn’t bring The Beast on that trail. :-\