Chasing Rachel

Whoa, two entries in the same day. This one coming from Colorado, where the word of the day is "Mama." Not really, it just seems that way. Daddy spent all day trying to wear Rachel out so hopefully she'll sleep well tonight. I wanted to update everyone on some super fun moments we've had this weekend - sorry the photos are more limited than usual. This is a stories blog.

Saturday
After dropping Meggs off at the bus stop so she could catch the shuttle to the airport, Rachel fell asleep 5 second into our drive to Lafayette so I drove around checking things out. Finally she woke up and we explored the model home (again) and Rachel had a great time pointing out things like the giant balloon that advertises the development. It generally floats right above where our house will be - fun.

Eventually we made our way to Centaurus (my school) where we were scheduled to participate in the Warrior Marble Relay to raise money for the CHS track team and the family of a student who has been undergoing treatment for leukemia since the fall. Immediately upon arrival, Rachel was a hit. We set up the Chariot, and took off running. I was determined to get in as many of our scheduled miles in before R became fed up with the chariot. My fears were unfounded, however, as she loved it! "Yay" "Go!" "Windy" (there was a headwind on the back stretch) and "Hi" were constantly heard coming from the front of the chariot. After half an hour, however, we got a flat tire! We went over to the nearest bike shop (right outside school) and had rude service and were overcharged by the guy -- won't go to Joe's Bike shop ever again. Back to the track. Ran some more, and Rachel remained happy and pleasant. As we approached our 10th mile, we had another flat! I was frustrated at the bike shop guy, but after examination with some helpers, we determined that the rim tape on the tire was terrible and we called it a day based on mechanical difficulties. After eating our free Chipotle burrito (R was a big help) and saying hi to everyone and running all around the track infield, we completed one more lap to bring our daily total to 10. The team raised a ton of money and several track guys ran marathons -- brought back memories of my own first marathon, the Shamrock in Virginia Beach, almost exactly 14 years ago. Home to hang out, play, and destroy the house.

Sunday

Started our day by going for a walk with Janny and Finn near NIST. We stopped at a creek and threw rocks for a while before meeting a friendly man with his puppy for a while. R was so excited to keep petting the puppy! To the park for fun before lunchtime, then Daddy biked us downtown (Rachel fell asleep). Rachel did help pump up the tire inside before we left. Read on Pearl Street park for a while before decided R was going to stay asleep and just came home. At home we had great fun unpacking hats and gloves and trying them on. Daddy tried on one particular hat of Rachel's, which was too small. She said "Help!" and reached up to try to pull it down onto my head farther, and then struggled to fasten the strap while seeming frustrated that she couldn't get her hat to work for Daddy.

Rachel had a snack outside, and enjoyed walking around and waving in the wind. Went to the pool after that, which was fun. Rachel went down the big slide, the small slide, and swam the lazy river. She could live at the pool. Cutest story from this evening, after dinner. As I was putting away dishes, Rachel took Nunu (her blanket), put him in the hiking backpack, then proceeded to say "Please...Okay!" about 8 times. When I checked on here I realized she was offering him water from the backpack, then feeding it to him.She had done the same with an empty snack wrapper and some crackers. So cute. :)

Wish us luck in our week without Mommy!