Denver Science Museum - Free day! Of course we are going

Denver Science Museum had a free day on Monday, so I took the kids as they like going to the museum.  Turns out we did pretty well as we got to see the Jungle Lady show (sounds more exotic than it is) and the Gates planetarium (the highlight of the day).

The Jungle lady was a show featuring snakes, turtles and hedgehogs, and the boys loved Ted the tortoise chasing after bananas and the turtle racing.

The planetarium did a special show for us, and we got to travel to many different planets and get ringed by Saturn.  The boys and I enjoyed this one.

Checking out Dinosaurs

Mayan explorers

Let me get a closer look

Mars up close

They do eat meat daddy

Check out this bear

Beach Party for the kids

We took the kids to Sand in the City, which sounded like a great event.  A massive beach in the middle of Colorado, sculptures, shows, bouncy castles and more.

This is one where marketing hype took over.  When we go there they did indeed have an area of beach, but they wanted to charge the kids to use it.  The sculptures were okay, but there were only a few of them and not as good as the ones I have seen in England, the shows were okay, the magician was past his prime, and they wanted more money for the rides.

I cant blame the organizers for the weather, it was super hot, so none of wanted to stay very long, so all in all it was interesting, but we will skip it for next year.

Checking out the firetruck

Lego and sand can mix

We have larger hippos at home!

Cody hikes Mount Sanitas

A few weeks earlier Cody and his friend Jonah had hiked some of Mount Sanitas and the pictures that came back showed an easy wide trail, so when Cody and his dad went hiking again we thought this would be a good one.

Turns out there are two trails, one which is flat and wide and eventually turns steep (which the boys took last time, but didnt get to the steep part), and a steep from the start trail which we took this time.

Cody did really well, climbing/scrambling up the rocks, and we got pretty close to the top before running out of time and having to head back home, next time we need to start a little bit earlier in the day.

Ready to hit the trail

Checking out the route

Tricky rock section

Resting before the summit push

Hiking in Bettasso

Last year the floods wiped out a lot of hiking trails, so we have less hikes to pick from.  We went hiking with the Heides and Sienna likes Bettasso because they have blue diamonds on the trail, so we selected this one to do.

The hike was shaded and the weather wasn't too hot so we had a pleasant hike around the preserve.

Young Hikers

Young at heart hikers

Heide Hikers

Elk Hikers

Hiking Royal Arch

Royal Arch is a nice trail in Boulder that is steep, but has some great views at the top.  We went to Boulder to bag this one, only to find when we got there that the trail was closed due to flood damage, so instead we took the trail to Woods Quarry.  The quarry was originally used to provide sandstone for sidewalks and buildings, but now offers a great view of Boulder from the stone chairs.

The hike wasn't too hard, but still a challenge..

Happy hikers at the bottom of the trail

Tired hikers at the top of the trail

Check out our cool seats

Why are they called flatirons?

Fathers day breakfast

Technically it is Fathers day, but in the Mills household we celebrate Fathers week (Or at least that is what I suggest to Siew Gin each year).

This year I got breakfast in bed brought by the kids, and a cool Coke glass to enhance the flavor of my favorite drink!!

Ready for breakfast

Opening my card

Checking out my Coke glass

Alan competes in MinHaHa Triathlon

The pool where Tyler has his swim team holds an annual triathlon, and I thought that I would sign up and give it a go this year to show him what a bigger triathlon is like.

With all the work on the house, and vacation, much like Bolder Boulder I hadn't done any training for the bike or the swim, and just a little running, but I figured I could still get around the course.

The event consists of 300 yard swim (12 lengths), 11.5 mile bike ride and then a two mile run.  Luckily for the competitors the weather on the day was overcast, around 64f, which is ideal although a little chilly!!

I had put down six minutes for my swim as I figured 30 seconds a length, and was pleasantly surprised when I got out of the pool after five minutes, next time I should really get lessons from Tyler and get a better heat/draw (so I can draft off a faster swimmer!).

My transition was slow, as I stopped to put on socks and tie shoelaces (any real triathlete would just go barefoot and lacelock).  

I decided to use my mountain bike for the cycle section (in part because they were not closing the roads and I didn't feel comfortable potentially being hit by a car and partly because I hadn't ridden the road bike for many years).

I passed a lot of people on the bike section, and a few people on road bikes passed me, but I managed to finish the bike section in just under 40 minutes (17mph average) which isnt too bad given the number of hills and lack of practice, plus wanting to save something for the run.

Onto the run, it is amazing how riding a bike hard affects your ability to run.  My legs didnt want to respond to running fast, but there was a target runner ahead of me who I gradually reeled in over the 2 miles, passing him on the final hill and straight.  I had run this course on Thursday in 12 minutes, today I ran it in 14 minutes, so my triathlon run time is roughly 1 minute a mile slower.

Overall I finished in 42 place, out of 281, finishing fourth in my age division missing out on a medal by 16 seconds, and my overall time was 1 hour, 1 minute, 6 seconds.  (They don't do any split timing, but I am pretty confident if I do it again that I could get under 1 hour.

Swim

Bike

Waiting Boys

Bike Transition

Start of run

At the finish

Tyler and Cody attend Broncos Bunch training day

Tyler and Cody are members of the Broncos bunch.  They were invited to the Broncos junior training camp which is a chance to go to the stadium, meet some players, take part in sports and generally have a good time.

Tyler of course took part in everything, Cody just did a couple of things, but overall they both enjoyed their time being part of the Broncos..

Outside the stadium

Made it onto the field

Who are the Broncos?

Best looking cheerleader?

How hard can it be to get an NFL contract?

Looks easy to me!

I guess I may have to put some weight on!

I am done now!

Throw me the ball!

I got a horse to sign my picture