I saw the invitation laying on the table at home and left it alone. I didn't want to be the guy that pushed my kids into something. Anyway, weeks went by and I went out of town. Came to find out the girls signed up and were at practice. Guess its on! Apparently, doing pretty well at it. We have raced before so its not new but definitely haven't trained for anything. The school stuff isn't hard core training of course. But its something regular.

The first meet was today at Boulder High School. This was right after a blizzard so the track had to be shoveled days prior. Kids had their choice of 400m, 800m or 1 mile. That's 1, 2 or 4 laps for you non-track folk. I am a non-track folk -- never raced on one in my life. So its new to me. But I know a few things so I spent time teaching them to run the tangents and such.

Told them that if they won, I would love them. And if they lost? Yep, I won't claim them. They knew the answer as they told me out loud -- this while other parents are telling their kids they are winners for just being there. Right.

Ready?

Working in with a pack of boys. They race together. Bogus! Oh well. Gives them something to chase I guess.

Run the tangents? Not so much. I was screaming at her while she passed by.

Got in front of that girl.

I told both kids that if they aren't hurting or puking on that final stretch, then its not hard enough. I think they both got the message. Sydney looked like she was working hard on the final stretch. We have raced enough to know that you don't die after the finish line. It gets better instantly.

800m Finisher! Great job. Not really sure where she finished as all eyes were on her. But it was a solid performance. She has some work to do before next weekend's follow-up meet. TANGENTS!

Both my racers! Boulder High School was originally a University of Colorado campus building. Later it became the first high school in the state. Maybe one of these girls will represent the Buffaloes on the track someday?

Live action video taken by Kim. See the race unfold!

The parents gave in.

We have bows too!

After a season of skiing only at Ski Cooper, we headed over to Copper Mountain. So much more expensive. But the kids had a great time running bigger terrain. They were definitely wore out from the 2 days prior of skiing. The season is coming to a close. We have had a great season. Most ski days ever for all of us.

Anyway, the girls scout troop attended a CU Woman's Basketball game today. My kids don't see sports (other than running) that often. Its not our deal. So this was going to be a fun and exciting adventure for them. I tried to turn it into a mini-school visit by letting them experience some campus on the way.

We went out for lunch at The Sink in Boulder. Its next to campus. Its been there since the 20s. Robert Redford worked there. Its more recent claim to fame is that Obama stopped there to eat on one of his many Colorado trips last year. Being he is the POTUS and all, this a is a cool deal to kids. So we found his signature on the wall before we ate.

There is many years of customer-driven art on the walls here. The girls walked around and checked it all out before sitting down to eat.

The manager grabbed the girls and gave them a big Sharpie and put them up on a table. He wanted them to sign the ceiling. Just like Obama! 5 star treatment! So they did and the resulting signatures can be seen below. They are in the room in the back by the TV in the wall if you ever try and locate them. We will have to return to see if they are still legible sometime.

It was off to the game! I taught them what college was like by making them walk from The Sink to the event center. Its a mile or so. In the cold. But we cut through campus and saw huge bike racks, buildings with interesting subjects on them, kids going in and out of dorms, and lots of people out on the lawn playing various sports. Looks like a fun spot, eh?

The game started out slow but the excitement built once they figured out which team was Colorado and how to tell who was winning. By the end, I thought they would die if we lost. We did not.

On the way out, we picked up some goodies. I don't think they have taken these sweatshirts off since they got them.

Go Buffs!

Syd likes her runs like most like their coffee. BLACK. We skied them all day. She is nutso. She even sings the Avenged Sevenfold song of the same name while descending this one. Be afraid.

The first run of the video is entertaining. Watch! The rest is us just doing some speedy bombs down various runs.

A productive first weekend of the 2013 ski season with my chicas. I dropped my pole off the lift minutes after this photo and had to go retrieve it solo. The girls headed down another route by themselves and I joined them later. Crazy...I remember when they couldn't ski. Probably more proud of this than teaching them how to ride a bike.

Behind the scenes photos! Here is Sydney on a solo run.

You can see her rider here. The camera mount was a bit high.

Last one to give in for the day. She couldn't stop. BTW, its hard to climb this hill over and over at 10,000 feet.