Ridin' baby

Went for a 20+ miler last night and rode hard for an hour over lunch today. That with commuting is making a good week of riding so far this week. Gotta get rid of my spare tire by April 26th for the Decorah Time Trials.

Ellen is feeling much better. Too bad she wasn't in this good of a mood at Grampa's and Gramma's last week and weekend.

Back to reality

Bachelor week has come to an end. I got lot's of sleep, but as predicted, the house is just too damn quiet when it's just me and Josey. We headed up to Clear Lake Friday night, met Stacey and the kids there. It was a nice visit. There was supposed to be a Kite festival going on, but it was kinda thwarted by the 30mph winds and the blowing snow on Saturday. So instead Dad, Stacey, and I took Mara to get her first Shirley Temple. She didn't like it, but she's just that way. She ate her fruit snacks at our cocktail table while we had a couple drinks. Then we went home and had dinner, watched some movies and played dominoes. Good times.
Back home today, went for a little ride this afternoon. Gonna try to get some goooood riding in this week.

Bachelor for the week

Yep, kids and wife left for Des Moines this afternoon. You'd think I'd be stoked about it, and I was till I got home to the empty house. Lame. Gonna make the best of it though. I'll do as much riding as I can do and I'll grill dead animal every night. On my 3rd beer whilst my Iowa Chop finishes up right now. Then it's to the comfy chair in the basement where I will watch a WWII movie and fall asleep. Need to catch up on some rest after all the sleep lost to sick kids this last week.

My ladies are treating me good

I never give enough credit publicly to the matriarch of our little family and I think it's time. It's past time. Stacey shown below going to work, is a great Mom and not a bad wife (hee hee). Anybody that puts up with my shit for such a long time has to have a big heart. She facilitates my riding habits, my beer drinking habits, keeps our home comfortable and clean(which is a lot of work considering her husband and children are slobs). On top of that she works her ass off and she ain't bad to look at either.

Mara develops more and more everyday. Her imagination is incredible. We're going to get her involved in some sports activities this summer. Pre-school has transformed her shyness and social skills more than I ever thought possible. Potty training is nearly complete, we just have to get through nighttime now.

Ellen seems to be liking music a lot. She loves to dance and keeps pretty good rythym. She continues to get up before the crack of dawn, other than that she is an absolute treat. She talks all the time and is learning new words everyday. As seen below, she has mastered the big girl cup.