Color Run 5K

I am so proud of my husband.  Last September he decided to make a life change.  He began changing how he eats and working out everyday.  He tends to be a little obsessive so he has taken this new experience and jumped in head first.  He has learned all about nutrition, how to build muscle, etc. and he lives it and breathes it.  He has been "hiking" which is really more running up a mountain all summer long.  On one of these runs he happened upon Eli (Abby's brother) and they have become workout buddies.  I think it was meant to be. They decided to run in the Color Run, Tyler's first 5K.  Josh and I had a fun time waiting near the finish line.  It was freezing cold and everything was covered in frost.  Josh spent a good amount of time playing with the steam coming from his mouth.

When people began trailing in, Josh would get super excited and I would have to say, "It isn't Dad yet".  Then I saw two bluish figures that could be them.  I wasn't sure until I saw Tyler push his glasses up his nose in the way only he can.  Here they come!  

Tyler says the only thing that was clear when crossing the finish line was Josh's ear piercing screams of joy.

They came in after less than 30 minutes of running.  I believe they were between 20-25th place although I am not sure.  

Josh was worried that Tyler might get him dirty.  

Not long after, they began to feel the cold.

Totally gross but kind of awesome

Eli gave his sunglasses to Josh.  Josh loves sunglasses and I love what a ham he is.

There were free massages for the runners and Tyler and Eli decided to get one.  Josh was so full of energy he decided to blow off a little steam.  

After laughing at Josh's antics, I turn around and Tyler is getting his butt rubbed by two young ladies.  Josh laughed so hard he could hardly stand.  

They had a couple of guys there using leaf blowers to get off some excess color.  This guy looks like he loves his job.  

By this time, my toes had gone completely numb and Josh thought that he was freezing to death.  Tyler gave Josh his hoodie and we got a few more smiles out of him.  

I love this ridiculous picture.  I wanted to get one more picture of Tyler but Josh (now given more energy from the warmth of the hoodie) wouldn't stay out of the picture.  Tyler would stop, I would lift the camera, Josh would jump in front of him, Tyler would try to move, repeat.  It was adorable though.  

It has only been one year but I can't believe the amazing changes that Tyler has made.  I am so proud of him.  

Denver

Our family had the opportunity to go see Tyler's dad (Clair) and his wife, Lena, in Dever this summer.  Lena made us the most amazing Russian food.  Cabbage has never tasted so good!  She made a delicious cabbage soup that we all loved.  My favorite Russian food were these amazing balls of meat wrapped and cooked in cabbage.  I would eat them here or there, say I would eat them ANYWHERE!  Josh's favorite were these yummy little ravioli type things with a healthy portion of meat in them.  I was a little concerned because Josh isn't a big eater and kids and new food doesn't always go over well but he ate it all and asked for more a lot of the time.

One of the first things Josh saw there was his birthday present from Clair and Lena.  It was a huge Ninja Turtles playset with the sewer on the bottom and the alley above.  He wanted it so badly that he didn't want to believe that it was his.  When he saw it he got really excited and showed me.  "Who do you think that's for?" big hopeful eyes and shoulder shrug then a pause, "Dosh?"  We began taking it out but quickly realized that we would never be able to get it on the plane.  Poor Josh spent the whole weekend playing with his Ninja Turtles on top of the box pretending it was the real thing.  Each time I came downstairs he would point out a new feature he noticed (tire swing, secret entrance, etc).  Clair shipped it to us when we left and Josh asked to pray for it to arrive safely everyday until it came.  Since then, he has played with it everyday.

The first day we went to Tyler's old school and saw the city. It felt like every street we went on had a memory attached and I would swear he pointed out at least 5 different places he used to live. We went to 16th Street Mall which is a neat outdoor mall that stretches down many blocks. There were all sorts of characters out there. It started to rain but there was something really fun about walking in the rain with people playing pianos outside, the energy was palpable.

The next day we went to the Denver Zoo. I am not sure how the rest of the group felt but Josh and I had a blast.  We love animals and a new zoo is like a dream come true.

They had some animals that our zoo doesn't have and they had many that our zoo has but you can't normally see well, like the cheetahs.  

One of the coolest attractions that they had was an area that you could buy nectar and feed the birds.  I can't remember what they are called now because it has been too long but it was so much fun.  The little birds are hogs and as you hold the cup to them they will do anything to keep you from taking it away including grabbing the cup or using their beak to pull it back to them.  Tyler got pooped on, which naturally I thought was hilarious but didn't take a picture of.  

Josh and I learned a lot.  I always like to read the placards and then read out loud one or two of the most interesting facts to Josh.  

  

Denver Zoo must have something with birds because they had amazing bird houses as well.  I realize now that I took more pictures of us looking at the birds in the birdhouses but I promise you the birds were beautiful.  Lena is the woman with the camera in the salmon top and hat.

Since Josh is really into Gator Boys, he loved the crocodile statue and wanted to kiss it like the Gator Boys do after they catch their alligators.  Neither of us was thinking about the fact that it was metal in like 100 degrees so he burnt his little lips but he got over it pretty quickly.

After that, we went to this fun little bistro in a hole in the wall that Tyler found.  Delicious food.  One of the best soup and sandwiches I have ever had.  We drove all over that day, going to car shops and seeing where Tyler used to do this or that.  Josh was a complete angel which was shocking because normally his ADHD would have made this impossible.  

The next day we spent the day in Boulder.  We began by going to the farmers market.  I love farmer's markets and this one was exceptional though small.  There was a stand that had an amazing variety of plants.  If we lived there I would have bought more because they were so interesting but as it was we just bought one for Clair and Lena.  

Next we went to an outside mall that Boulder is famous for.  We had a blast!  Josh found the best hat.  

There were lots of outside things for kids to do and climb on.  Of course Josh liked the frog the best but we had to take pictures of him with just about all of them.  

Tyler told Josh that he would give him $5 if he could get to the other side of the splash pad without getting wet.  This is what happened.  Technically, I think Tyler still owes Josh that $5.  

Of course, then he wanted to play in it.  

This was Josh's first time seeing street performers.  He really liked the man that played all the instruments at once.  He looks like such a big boy.  

We went into a shop that was full of expensive art so I told him to keep his hands in his pockets.  I love this statue.  

This guy was amazing.  He played the drums with an African flair.  After Josh watched him for a bit, he asked Josh to join him.  You should have heard the music they made, it was beautiful and Josh made all sorts of happy noises.  

We continued out of Boulder to Estes Park and went to another beautiful outdoors mall.  The front side of the stores was the street side and the back side had these amazing stream and rock garden with a path down the entire mall.  

For some reason they had a free live band in Estes Park that day.  Josh loves listening to live music.  He stood and pretended to drum the whole time.  There were actually a good amount of middle age people drinking and dancing too.  

We met up with one of Tyler's old friends, Twitch.  They had a great time reminiscing.  We all made our way to Robin and Rick's house.  Robin and Rick are the parents of the original Josh.  The Josh that Josh is named after.  Josh was Tyler's best friend when he lived in Colorado.  Tyler became part of the family and always will be.  I have spoken to Robin on the phone from time to time since I was dating Tyler so it was great to meet her.  Their family is so amazing.  There is such a feeling of love in their home.  You can feel it in their smiles, in the way their daughter snuggles up to them although she is a teenager.  It was so easy to instantly love them and feel at ease.  Tyler and Twitch told stories about their exploits with Josh well into the night.  Their daughter, Alana, smiled and laughed along.  It is amazing how they have kept Josh a part of their family.  Although Alana was so young when he died, it is as if he has been there all along.  They love our Josh immediately and unconditionally.  They celebrated everything he can do.  I have to admit, unless you are family, it is hard for you to say the right thing when it comes to my son.  I over think what it said about him and people often bother me with what they say.  They didn't.  It was as if they were family.  I wish I could better explain this night.  It was such a wonderful night.  They are such a wonderful family.  We all laughed and played.  Josh fell asleep for a few hours but by midnight he woke up again.  Around this time we were dying of starvation because we talked through dinner time.  They have had some bad luck and their kitchen was not really usable due to a fire.  So Rick made us ravioli from Costco.  He boiled them then brushed them with olive oil and baked them.  We all ate ravioli, bread, and this delicious spread mostly with our fingers.  It felt like so many meals I have had with my family.  

The same time that the ravioli were being made, Robin asked what size of shoes I wear.  They had boxes of hand me downs from cousins and we spent hours playing dress up.  We stayed until after 2am and I wish we could have stayed longer.  

Our last day we were all tired but it was Josh's birthday!  We went out for breakfast with Clair.  Josh spent most of the time playing with his new Ninja Turtle bad guys (Rat King and Cockroach Terminator).  

Josh loved his birthday balloons.  Of course, who doesn't like Wolverine?

Lena got Josh a Russian cake.  I believe it was apricot if I am remembering correctly.  It was yummy, I do remember that.  Seven years old, he is looking like such a little man now.  

This is Lena's granddaughter.  She was such a cutie.  She asked to come home with us and Josh was seriously concerned he may have to share me.  

Denver was a blast.  I am excited to visit again sometime.