Diet Coke with Lime

My Baby is Gone

I can't believe the moment has arrived.

We all got up early and ate breakfast like it was any other day.

But it wasn't any other day.

Today was William's first day of kindergarten.

Little William would have said, I don't want to go. Why can't Jack go with me? I don't want to go to school by myself.

But I didn't see little William this morning.

I saw big William and he was excited... quietly excited - I could tell.

Not only was it his first day of school, but it was his first day of going to school by himself... without Jack in the next classroom.

Will was anticipating, not hesitating this morning. He smiled all the way from our breakfast table to his classroom. Then as we walked into the classroom and Mia ran up and gave William a big bear hug. I missed you, she exclaimed. Will took the hug - standing there until she was done. Then he walked over to say hello to Miss Jan, put his backpack away, and we said our good-byes.

No tears - not even a sniffle.

As I drove to work, I was overcome by emotions. Yet I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad... or if I was excited or scared. But what I did know... my little William... my little baby was gone.

When I arrived home tonight, I asked how was school? William said, Good... really good.... more good than you know. Then he ran outside to play.

I knew it then... I was happy and excited.

Fishin' at Spring Creek

Still Day 5 on the camping trip...

We took that back way down from American Flag Mountain which took us to Spring Creek Reservoir.

We planned on eating lunch and doing a little fishing.

 

The views up to American Flag...

and the views down...

...were gorgeous.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Too bad I didn't take more photos - but you know, the dust thing.

At Spring Creek, we ate and then most of us...

...just relaxed.

The kiddos...

looked for bugs...

 

... and Juanita found a nice rock.

Actually the only people fishing were Dave, Dave Sr. and Bud.

This photo is no prize. It is blurry and is not a true representation of Dave's fly fishing abilities.

Dave can actually fly fish... creating those beautiful arcs and curves with the pole and line.. with all the elegance that you experience when listening to a symphony or watching a ballet. 

But here it went all wrong. Really wrong. In fact, believe it or not, he actually tied the line in a knot!

Now that's talent.

Ok, to make up for showing you that photo, here's one of him after he caught a fish!

William was so excited - he ran right over to touch it.

Will, what cha doing honey?

I think he might have to go...

Yep. He sure did.

Ah, boys. A couple of years ago after coming home from our first long camping trip... I was in the kitchen with the boys. William said, I gotta go and ran outside. Confused, I followed him. And there he was... standing at the bush next to our patio, when he dropped his pants and pee'd.

I supposed if I could, I would too.

After the guys were done fishing...

Or it might be more accurate to say, after the rest of us got bored and started packing up to leave...

Bud got the loot.

  

The count: Dave Sr. 1... Dave 2... and the rest, yep, were caught by Bud.

Bud always gets the most fish. Two years ago the excuse was that he was fly fishing and the rest were casting.

But now?

I guess he is just the master fly fisherman.

Maybe next year, Dave... ;-)

P.S. - I'm sure as soon as Dave reads this, I'll be corrected on the count...

American Flag Mountain

American Flag mountain is a tradition. Likely for a lot of people.

You ride up varied terrain to 12,713 feet. It's beautiful... towering aspens, gorgeous pines, wildflower-filled alpine meadows, abandoned cabins, rocks, streams...

...and then you reach the top.

The ultimate vista with a 360 degree view of majestic mountains.

That's Dave... on his X.

That's short for a Honda 250X for those of you who didn't hear Dave talk about his X for two weeks straight.

That's my bike next to Dave and his X. Andy rode it... the trail is way to difficult for me. Besides I was still recovering and getting my gall back... my mo-jo... my inner strength to get on one of those crazy things again.

When we reach the top, we unload and head for the summit just a short walk away...

And guess what's at the top of American Flag mountain?

Yep, an American flag.

And every year we take turns taking our photo with the flag. So does everyone else who reaches the summit. And for some reason, Bud's photos always turn out to be the best.

Must be the pose.

It's hard to get the complete picture. You see, about five feet behind Bud is a 1,000 foot drop. Ok, I actually don't know the actual distance... 500 feet... 1,000 feet... if you fall, the results would be the same.

The edge just ends. Standing there, at the flag, is likely exactly what it would feel like to stand at the edge of the world, you know, if it was flat. Yikes, makes me woos-ie just thinking about it.

Did you know I have a horrible fear of heights? I cry driving down mountain passes - even I-70 can make me cry. I've never been up Pikes Peak either... couldn't handle it.

But I suck it up and handle this...

Every year we go up it looks different. The sun, the clouds, the light.

Every year it shows a different side of its complex beauty.

You feel like you can reach up and touch the clouds.

...or in Jack's case, reach up and grab your hair? Silly boy.

Here we all are... the crew...

Julie, Baby Sebastian, Chad, Autumn, Bud, Katie, Madison, Juanita, Dave, Bob, Debbie, the fellas, William, Jack, Baby Eva, Karin, Andy, Dave Sr., Me and Charlie!

Who are Bob and Debbie you ask? I don't know. I guess someone in our group met then in the campground and invited them to ride up with us.

Shortly after this picture I never saw them again.

And what is this...?

I went into the archives and found our group photo from our American Flag trip last year. It was a clear, sun-shining day.

Notice Bud front and center. I'm just saying...

How fun!

So I went back to find our group photo in 2007.

I guess we didn't take one... but here is Dave, Dave Sr. holding Jack, and Andy holding William up top. It's a nice view of the summit... and the drop off the summit...

And look at this one...

That's me in 2007. See the tension in my forehead? See how tightly I'm gripping the flag? I'm about to die... or at least I thought I was about to die.

The weather that trip was iffy. In fact, on the way down, we got caught in a torrential down pour and hid out in an abandoned cabin... with half a roof... for hours... eating lunch... waiting for it to pass.

Some day I'll go back and share those pictures.

But for now, as we say good bye to American Flag mountain and Day 5 of our trip, I leave you with this...

The crew in 2007, up on Taylor pass... the trail that leads to Aspen...