Many of our adventures this year took place on road trips. Chris had some meetings in the San Diego area earlier this year so we hopped in the car and made a little tour of the Southwest. We spent a couple days in Madrid, New Mexico with a buddy Jameson met on the beach in Mexico a couple years ago. Jameson and Maya had a blast climbing boulder-covered hills and high-stepping through cactus clusters. We then spent a week in Tucson and loved it (more on that later). After business concluded in San Diego we made a stop at LegoLand and then took in Joshua Tree National Park before making our way back home.
Montrose Pools, Tucson AZJameson loves the road and also enjoys getting back to his friends in the neighborhood. Highlights of their shenanigans this year include a bungee jumping experience the kids invented using life vests and bungee cords and launching themselves from tree branches in the front yard. The kids also became very fond of our spare garbage container. One day they decided they wanted to "swim" in it and later it became a stage for an up and coming rock band. Most of August was spent with this swimming pool / concert activity.
Jameson remains an avid outdoor kid and has logged several long bike rides with the family. Speaking of bikes, Jameson and Chris took apart an old 3-speed and a kids bike this summer and changed things up during reconstruction. Turning is a little tricky but by all accounts it's a cool ride.
Jameson still adores Legos. In addition to our trip to LegoLand, Jameson had a Lego Engineer at his birthday party. The guy showed up with boxes of Legos and Power Functions. For hours the kids designed and built battery-powered track machines and battled each other.
Melinda had a great year too. When we decide to hit the road and transform a business trip into fun for the whole family, she's our cruise director. We love that Melinda is an expert on the "Journey". For example, Chris had some work in Pennsylvania and along the way we spent a couple of days on the beach near Michigan City, raced a train on our bikes in Ohio (and won!), and experienced snowless tubing at a ski resort in Virginia. Another trip to meetings in North Carolina included mountain biking in Kansas (it's true...Kansas!), Frisbee golf in Tupelo Mississippi, and a Renaissance Festival in Kansas City, Missouri. That last trip included Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando. We are all fans of Harry Potter so visiting Harry Potter World was a thrill. The Pumpkin Juice is actually pretty good!
This Frisbee golf course on a ridge outside of Tupelo was ablaze with Fall colors.
This bike path in Little Rock is the longest pedestrian bridge in the US. It's built atop a dam and spans the Arkansas River. It's called the Big Dam Bridge. :)
With Hogwarts Castle in the background, Jameson casts a spell on himself with his new Harry Potter wand.
Riding in a big Dr. Seuss fish is serious business.
Melinda continues to run all aspects of finance and administration for our business. She's also a weaver from way back and was thrilled to receive a loom hand-crafted by her father this year. We always knew Melinda was creative and the loom is drawing out even more of our artist.
The family business had a spectacular 2010. Chris's book, "Managing the Core" launched multiple consulting projects for our business and the book is now required reading for many in the industry. Chris is a regular guest-lecturer at the University of Colorado and, if we ever decide to come off the road for a year, he's been offered the chance to teach business part-time. Chris continues to run and ride bike on whatever trail he can find.
We're all looking forward to wintering in Arizona this year. We mentioned the brief stay in Tucson as part of an early-year road trip and we liked it so much we decided to hang out down there and experience a warmer winter.
We wish you the best this holiday season. Celebrate and then have a wonderful 2011!
Chris, Melinda and Jameson (I'll drop a few more photos below just for fun)
We met Jameson's buddy Evan at Disney World.
This is how we look on the road.
This is how we look after a long roady!
Riding in a big Dr. Seuss fish is serious business.Melinda continues to run all aspects of finance and administration for our business. She's also a weaver from way back and was thrilled to receive a loom hand-crafted by her father this year. We always knew Melinda was creative and the loom is drawing out even more of our artist.
The family business had a spectacular 2010. Chris's book, "Managing the Core" launched multiple consulting projects for our business and the book is now required reading for many in the industry. Chris is a regular guest-lecturer at the University of Colorado and, if we ever decide to come off the road for a year, he's been offered the chance to teach business part-time. Chris continues to run and ride bike on whatever trail he can find.
We're all looking forward to wintering in Arizona this year. We mentioned the brief stay in Tucson as part of an early-year road trip and we liked it so much we decided to hang out down there and experience a warmer winter.
We wish you the best this holiday season. Celebrate and then have a wonderful 2011!
Chris, Melinda and Jameson (I'll drop a few more photos below just for fun)
We met Jameson's buddy Evan at Disney World.
This is how we look on the road.
This is how we look after a long roady! 