Diaper Dash

A few weeks ago, Nevi competed in the 2nd race of her young career, the always scintillating “Diaper Dash” at the Frank Shorter "Race 4 Kids Health" in Broomfield, CO. Her first effort was the DD2010, almost 1-year ago, when she shuffled to a noteworthy finish, being beaten out by only kiddos with more than 3 months' experience on their legs. This year, she was hungry for another blue (participant) ribbon.

The race occurred in two heats. The first was the entire length of the football field, a veritable marathon for tykes under 2, who mostly opted for the short-course version, a 50-foot sprint, to be run shortly thereafter. So, in culmination of 25 months of intense psychological and physical conditioning, she toed the starting line.

The Applebee’s Bee, a charming but daunting character (hey, I’m a little scared of anybody with a 3-foot stinger) was the grand marshall. Wordlessly, he coaxed the field to the starting line, and then sent them off, whizzing down the gridiron himself, toward the finish line as a hungry pack pursued. Nevi’s start was a bit tentative....actually reversed would be a more appropriate term. It was less due to pre-race jitters (I think), and more a case of no-clear-idea-of-what-she-was-supposed-to-do. Kate’s hair appointment had been scheduled a month in advance (before either of us had even thought about entering this race) so I was flying solo as coach, photographer, and “seeing-eye dad” all rolled into one. But enough with the excuses. After we got going in the right direction, Nevi’s furious footfalls had her pulling away from the stragglers, and making a real push to advance to the rear of the lead pack! As the race’s first finishers crossed the line, The motivational music faded, and our ferocious little athlete suddenly slowed in her tracks.

“The music stopped,” she said.

“Keep going, keep running,” I prodded, “you’re almost there!”

Darting back & forth to avoid the previous finishers, she made it to the end, and there was much rejoicing!

Heat 2 was just as fun. Again, there were some problems at the start, but she finished respectably against a strong field of 2 & unders. Our neighbor, Powell, was Particularly Powerful, and according to my observation, bested all-comers. An awesome event as always, all the kiddos were supplied with ample finisher “schwag,” including a stuffed bear, books & stickers, and restaurant coupons. Well worth the no-charge entry fee!

SPRING! Another green thumb...

Aside from the insane WIND we've been having it's been a pretty nice Spring thus far here in Colorado. Boulder Farmers Market had it's season opening last weekend and IT WAS PACKED! We mostly stayed away from the crowded market and blew our bubbled in the grassy space surrounding it. It was also warm enough to splash our hands and feet in the Boulder Creek. Let me rephrase...the air outside was warm enough, however the creek was almost painfully cold. Nevi's internal thermostat is always high so she didn't mind the cold water one bit. Her newest favorite activity in the WHOLE WORLD is throwing sticks and rocks in the creek. We usually walk out back to the Coal Creek where we get crazy muddy and explore the ground for fun things like ants, rocks, tracks, leaves, etc. It is hours of entertainment for the both of us and much warmer than the Boulder Creek for me.

Nevi also helped me get the back cleaned up a bit. I raked the leaves away and she helped me place rocks and manage the compost. She spent about an hour making a mulch/rock/dirt display in an old terra-cotta flower pot. She was trying to put the rocks to sleep, with the mulch being their blanket. She kept saying, 'shhhh, it's OK baby rocks....go to sleep now.....' I think we've got another nature lover and green thumb on our hands.

Fun Stuff

We've been having nothing but fun lately.... Had a get-together with our Bradley Birthing friends, Peter, Dominika, Pavel and Dawid. Nevi LOVED playing with the boys and staying up late! And the adults had a nice time eating, drinking and being merry.

It was a Wednesday morning in March.....I was showered, ready for work, making sure the animals had their food and getting my lunch ready for work too...Robb marches down the stairs and says 'Why don't you stay home from work today and play with Nevi & I...', something he says on occasion. My usual response is...'but I've got sooooo much work to do...'. That morning I responded differently. It was the first day I'd EVER taken a personal day from work. I called work and told them that I wouldn't be in and man were they shocked but I had full support and a few, 'Good for you's.' Anwyay, we headed straight for the Erie park and played and danced until our we could no more. It is a newer park with your basic kiddo recycled play materials but it also had a pretty awesome solar powered musical dance and game arena. WE LOVED IT! We also basked in the grass under the sun and played kick ball for a while, rolling down grassy/hay-y hills and reminiscing about life. We were all starving after a glorious morning of laughter and hard play so we headed to Smash Burger for some burgers and fries. Nevi had a hot dog and fries - this was the very first time I have ever seen her dunk anything in ketchup. She dunked everything in the red stuff and to this day, she still loves to do it, only at home we're dunking 'healthier' things in it like scrambled eggs. We eventually made our way home and all took a nice nap. Again, glorious. That evening Robb joined me in a yoga class at the YMCA while Nevi played with the kiddos in the day care. Hiked our 'sunset loop' that night with Dylan and played sidewalk chalk until there was no more daylight. The day could not have been more perfect.