Cayla: I Love My Daddy

I ran across this cute audio recording of Cayla today. She was a little more than two years old and if I remember correctly she was holding Christopher, who was a couple months old. I threw a picture up with the audio.



Here's what she says:
I love my daddy, I love you so much daddy.
Cayla, Brother, Brother, Brother
I fall down. I fall down brother.
I love you so much. I love you so much brother.

So cute.

On a Field Trip

This year the 4th graders in Cayla's school went on a week long field trip to Coloma, CA. Coloma is a small town outside of Placerville, made famous by the discovery of gold there in 1848. To give the kids a taste of what life was like back then they weren't allowed the normal comforts of modern life. They ate all their meals outside, weren't allowed to use any electronics, and worst of all weren't allowed to use phones - all communication with parents was via written letters! There was one exception: they were allowed to take pictures. I sent Cayla with two disposable cameras - she used one whole camera the first day!

I went as a chaperon on the trip. I'm so glad I did, it was a blast. Unfortunately I wasn't able to chaperon for Cayla's group, but I did get a few opportunities to see and talk with her each day. I bunked with 14 boys and one other chaperon. 14 boys in one cabin was a lot to deal with!

It was a really great trip. I hope to go again when Christopher goes. Coloma is a great town too. It's full of gold rush history, which I find very interesting. Read about Coloma at Wikipedia.

I heard stories while I was there about Cayla getting dragged around the girls dorm. This was apparently a game they played each night.

Here's me with a couple of the boys from my group.

Check out pictures of Cayla's group and the pictures I took.

Back on the Bike

I got back on the bike this morning for a ride with the guys. This is the second time I've been on the bike since last summer, so I'm really out of shape! I really felt it today.

I started out at about 8am, temperature at about 42 degrees. I usually won't admit this, but I hate getting out there in the cold. I was missing one of my toe covers, so one foot was really cold.

I rode down Foothill and met the guys just at the edge of Pleaanton. It's just over 8 miles from my place to the spot I met the guys. I pushed it a bit too hard on the way there. I was afraid I'd be late meeting them. Turns out I was about 5 minutes early. I took the opportunity to move my one toe cover from my right foot to my left foot. Brrr.

Once the group showed up we did two laps (~8 miles each) around Sunol Rd and Foothill Rd. I got dropped by the fast group going up the hills, and the fast group wasn't really going that fast. And I guess the hills weren't real serious hills either. My heartrate was off the charts - average for the ride was 170 and topped out at 196. I don't think I've hit 196 before. Mid last year it was more like 160 average for a hard ride. 

Check out the ride details here.