Wordless Wednesday: For the Love of Clifford

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Last weekend the USA Pro Cycling Challenge came through Golden. This was a huge event for Colorado. It had been 23 years since a pro bike race was in our state and this one was BIG - a six stage race that covered 5 mountain passes and close to 500 miles. The top 3 finishers from the Tour de France were there. This race had the best of the best.


The final stage of the event started in Golden! For weeks there were signs of road closures and promises of thousands of people. We knew we had to be part of the madness! We went to church that morning, so we were late getting to the starting line. Consequently, we couldn't see much, but we were there!

We were at the starting line for about 10 minutes and then it was all over. Luckily, the race came through town three different times before heading out of Golden and down to Denver for the finish. After the start, we walked a few blocks over to the street that they were using to get out of town and set up shop.

We had to wait about an hour before they came by us, but this time we were in the front line and it was worth it.

The town of Golden showed up! There were thousands of people lining the streets (it was Buffalo Bill Days times 100!) to cheer for the riders.

I am not a cyclist, but it was exhilerating to feel the wind off the bikes as the whizzed inches from us going upwards of 45mph. It was awesome!


It sounds as if the challenge was a huge success for the riders and for Colorado. Maybe I'll get into cycling so I can enjoy it even more next year.

Ok, probably not :)

Working Mama

A few weeks ago I rejoined the workforce. After two years off from teaching, I am officially back in the classroom - but not full time. I found a great job share situation at a local school (not the one I was at before I had Caden, but the next one over). My job share partner and I share a second grade classroom. She teaches Mon., Tues., and every other Wed. I teach every other Wed., Thurs., and Fri. It's a win-win for all of us. I get a little "adult" (although I'm hanging out with 7 year olds mostly) time, Caden gets to meet some new friends, and I don't have to give up my teaching contract.

The scariest thing about this endeavour was finding the perfect place for CP. We checked out several places and decided on the most wonderful home day care for him on Thurs. and Fri. Our day care provider, Ms. Amber, runs a toddler class out of her home. There are two teachers, 8 kids, and tons of fun! Caden has adjusted so well, and they really seem to adore him. They say he shares (really?!?), is mannerly (thank goodness!), and even sleeps on a mat on the floor with other children around him (no WAY!!!). I will say that I think he uses up all his "goodness" at Ms. Amber's house, but let's not even go there!

On the first day back to school I didn't know who would cry more, him or me. Without a doubt, it was ME! He hasn't cried yet! He just waves bye-bye to daddy and walks in to see his friends. Jeremy drops him off around 8:20 and I pick him up about 4:00, so he spends a good 7 1/2 hours away from us. One of the things I love the most about Ms. Amber is that, almost daily, she sends me text messages about how he's doing. On the first day I could hardly concentrate until she sent me this

A very content Caden P playing with chalk.

Another day, JZ sent me this one

My sweet boy walking into "school" with his puppy "pack-pack" and lunchbox.

And just when I was questioning how the sleeping was really going, I got this one

Yep, I don't think he even misses me. Actually, that's not true. I get to pick him up, and he always squeals with delight when I walk in. It's almost worth working just to get that kind of reaction! And then he goes and gives Ms. Amber the most gigantic hug good-bye. I guess I'll share.

Wordless Wednesday: Tired Dude

Out for a Spin

Apparently Caden has been taking notes while we've been driving lately...

Put on your "guy-sees"

Load up your truck with all your buddies (in this case, puppy and blue "bah-dee")
And take them all for a spin

I promise that none of these pictures were staged - he collected all of his stuff himself!

Up Up Jump!

A few weeks ago, CP and I went with his friends Ayden and Sophia to Up Up Jump - a place full of jumpy castles! Last time we went Caden was a little unsure of the jumpy castles. This time he was all about them. I know all of the pictures are blurry, but I forgot my camera and had to take them on my phone. I guess even my super cool phone struggles to capture jumping kiddos without making them blurry. Trust me, it's them. Caden is in the blue and white stripes, Sophia is in the pink and Ayden is in the green.

Sweet Treat

This evening Caden finished his dinner (a rare activity these days!) and got to have dessert

He chose a popsicle - or a "pa-ca-la-la" according to CP

A very messy sweet treat
But super yummy

And even though he ended up looking like the Joker from Batman

It was worth all the stickiness (and extra bath!) to see this smile

Wordless Wednesday: Papa and the Wood Chipper

Training Camp

Who's ready for some football? Team Zahrte, that's for sure! On Saturday we all put on our Broncos gear and headed down to Broncos Training Camp. This was not our first trip to Broncos Training Camp, so we were pros!

We even got GaGa to go along with us!

Caden had a super time and even made a new friend or two

This year we didn't stay for the autograph frenzy, but we did enjoy watching the team run through their drills

Caden loved yelling, "Go Broncos!" and "Go Tebow!" Looks like it's going to be a fun football fall!

Sprinkler Sprintin'

Nothing says summer like running through the sprinklers, right? Caden and the sweet girls in our neighborhood agree wholeheartedly! We have three girls that live just up the street from us that love Caden to bits (trust me, the feeling is mutual!). They have been begging us to turn on our sprinklers so they could run through them. Jeremy finally gave in and turned them on one afternoon last week so they could get soaked. Caden did not want to be left out, so we stripped him down and let him run through them too. As you can see, he had a ball!

Don't Be Jealous

I've mentioned many times about Caden's love for Barney. I have tried and tried to encourage him to love another character - Elmo, Dora, whatever I don't care. No luck. He loves the big purple and green guy. So, when we heard that Barney's Birthday Bash was coming to Denver, we (JZ, Caden, GaGa and me) loaded up and headed down to the Pepsi Center

We met up with Nana and Grandpa Kim

And we watched Barney bust a move with his friends Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff

It took Caden a few minutes to warm up to big dancing dinosaurs, but he eventually loved it and started singing and dancing along
He even got a Barney ball to commemorate his first live show experience
Ok, so I don't love Barney, but I do love seeing this little guy smile