christmas for Amalia

Amalia was really excited for Christmas the year. The packages have been coming in and today she got to open them. Upon opening each one she would say 'thats so cute'. She was really excited. We then went on a hike to the cascades. It was cold but sunny and Amalia got to wear her new 'ski' outfit. We did about 2 miles and she hiked ~1.5miles. This afternoon and evening she got to video/talk with her family on skype and had a good time seeing them all. She had a great day.

You didn't know angels wore crowns made of campagnolo track chainrings???

Trying on her knew fancy socks from Grandparents Belden:
Test driving her new turtle puzzle from Grandparents Belden:
Opening her present of kid's cookbooks from Uncle David:
Learning about spiders from books from Grandparents Moore:
Playing with her Diego puppet from the Koepke's:
Test driving her new Dora sleeping bag from the Koepke's:
It was cold on the hike but Amalia enjoyed it:
Mostly she hiked on her own but I carried her for a bit:
Enjoying a banana bread snack:
All bundled up:
But then she insisted she was too warm so removed her coat:

Christmas music

A couple of classics:

Run DMC


Family guy:

Amalia's first mile race

Today was the Frosty 5K and 1 mile fun run. I have been telling Amalia all week that she was going to race so she was really excited. She likes to say that she is 'really, really, REALLY fast!'So we went to the race. We decided to stick with the 1 mile race and she was in the 12 and under group... way under in her case as a 2 year old. There were 3 other kids, a brother and sister around 6 and 8 and another little girl who was 3. Lisa came along and took pics. Overall Amalia did great! She ran the first 0.6 miles almost without stopping. This included running by a playground (I thought we were going to have to stop and play on the slide). I had to carry her a bit on the uphill on the way back. As you can see she sprinted through the finish for a strong 3rd place and a ribbon! I think our time was 11:46. Outstanding performance.

Stretching it out before the start:

Warming up:

Its go time!

Starting slow to finish fast:

The 3 year old starts to fade and hears Amalia's footsteps:

Sprinting through the finish!

trip to PHX

Got back from our pre-Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix to visit my family. All went well, even flying with a 2 year old (thanks to Steve Jobs and the video ipod!). Here are a few pics from the trip:

Amalia running through the botanical garden:

Looking at birds with me:
Sitting on a bench with mom and grandma:
Using Grandaddy's binoculars:
Riding the carousel (riding the elephant) at the zoo with mom and grandma:
Riding the camel at the zoo with mom (Lisa says they aren't very comfortable):
Studying (or is it stalking) birds up close:
Another trip on the carousel, this time on the cheetah:
In the backyard learning about flowers and bees from Tio David:
Sitting on the couch with prima Anacelia.
Back to the zoo to visit with the goats:
Anacelia likes the goats too:
The primas taking a goat for a walk:
Too tired to walk:
Reading a book with Tio Gabe:

cyclocross

Yesterday and today were the Tech Cross races, those were the cyclocross races on our very own VT campus. Good stuff. Since we ride on the course every week, there is a bit of a home court advantage. I officiated the wheel/spare bike pit when I wasn't racing. That is, I sat around and made sure that no one cheated. For my races I did the 35+ category. I got 3rd on both days. The winner and second place were the same. The winner was just too strong and John McKenna (2nd both days) were faster than him but not stronger. In any case, we raced hard and had fun. I only crashed once, in warm-ups. I was trying to figure out how to ride the corner of death and figured out what line NOT to take. Nothing hurt, just my pride when my friends laughed at me.

Here is a cool video of the fast guys racing, notice the cool move over the logs at ~2:00 mark.

Some more pics will appear here.

Even more pics here and here. 

Here are some pics taken by Ryan Harne.

I was actually leading the race at this point:

Mud on my side from my crash:
Finishing alone in third:

halloween

Yesterday was halloween, Amalia's first real one. They dressed up at daycare and paraded around. Then Lisa picked her up early and they carved up a pumpkin. Then we took her downtown where the merchants gave out candy, cookies, etc. They also had a costume contest at the theatre and a giant slide set up where the farmer's market usually is. Amalia was dressed up a cheetah and had a great time. When the trick-or-treaters started to show up, Amalia insisted on handing out the candy. She liked giving away candy more than getting candy!!! Her great-grandmother Moore would be proud as she always said its better to give than to receive.

Amalia with her pumpkin:
Amalia at the theatre looking at other kids in their costumes and enjoying some candy.

Amalia on the slide. You might notice that she is catching some serious air. The slide was meant for bigger kids but she insisted on doing it, twice!This picture obviously isn't in focus but I like it because it captures the glow on her face. She was fascinated with the candle.

Uncle Ted

In honor of conviction today of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, check this out, pure brilliance. Its no wonder our government is broken.

Volleyball and trail running

So Friday I took Amalia to her first official Hokie sporting event, a women's volleyball game. We went early because it was faculty night so I got a free pair of Crocs. Amalia seemed to have more fun running around the arena than watching the game. We finally had to leave when she insisted on going onto the floor and I wouldn't let her. 

Saturday I did the Brush Mountain Breakdown trail running race. I did the 15 miler which ended up being 16 miles with 4750ft of climbing... let me explain. It started off well enough, given that it was below 50 degrees and raining. It rained all day friday so the trails were nice muddy. At the top of the main climb I got lost. The trail was marked with baking flour but it had washed away and I got confused by the markers for the mountain bike race the next day. The daze of exhaustion didn't help. Anyways, thats why the 15 miles race became 16 miles. That ended up being significant. I was lost on top of the mountain and it was super windy and I got cold. Then I found my way back onto the trail and figured I had about 7 miles left. So I started down the mountain. Then I started to bonk. I had been eating but I should have eaten more as the cold was taking it out of me. Then with 2 miles left I started to cramp, bad. With a mile left I had to stop as my quads were locking up. It was horrible. I finally made it to the finish but was one of the last I think. The take home message, if you are going to do long races, you should probably do long runs.

I like bees

A guy in Punta Cana named Rubio is a beekeeper and he had a great time showing me around his hives. Rick Fell was also there at that time and he is a bee keeeper and the state apiculturalist. I am seriously thinking of starting me own hive.

last day in the DR

Leaving the DR in a few hours. Interesting country. Unfortunately, it shares many of the problems of other developing nations in latin america, specifically a wide gulf between the rich and the poor. Its particularly evident at this resort as there are plenty of Mercedes, BMWs, and Porches and then hundreds of people serving the them. These people are often Haitians that come across the border looking for work. These are the lowest class and do such jobs as raking the beach each morning. I try to speak to them in French but their French is almost unintelligible to me. I always wonder what these poor people think when they see the obscenely rich... I can't imagine its anything other than jealousy, bitterness, and hate. We need to spread the wealth.

On another note, I have eaten my way across this country. I have made it a point to eat lots of roadside food and still haven't gotten sick. The fruits are particularly outstanding, a highlight being limoncillos. I have no idea what it is but its delicious!

Los Haitises

Made it back from Los Haitises last night. Amazing place! Its really hilly and rainy there. Each hike we went on we got rained on multiple times, usually dumped on. Neat area. Here are some highlights.

Some kind of big skink I caught after breakfast under my bench:

This is the Risdgeway Hawk. This guy is super rare, only occurs in this park and only ~200 individuals in the world. Got up early the last day to see her. This pic is through the scope.

This is the hotel area, very cool. It is built into the side of this mountain.

This is the front of the main area with the waterfalls and the main gathering/eating area.
Another view of the waterfall. The water was cool and refreshing and a good way to clean up after a muddy hike.
This is the local pet crow. Its an indigenous white-necked crow. Cool bird and very curious.
Pretty little anole:
Big old toad. There were dozens of them around. Marine toad?
Tiny little frog on the stem of a very big leaf:
Lots of smaller frogs were about calling up a storm. Its always nice to fall asleep to sounds of frog calling.

Made it back from the Los Haitises national park last night. Amazing place!