Rotach

Holly and Lilly Are Here

2009-11-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

Holly and Lilly left Anoka Friday afternoon. They stopped at my grandma's in Des Moines and continued on west planning on stopping around Lincoln. Holly was listening to a book on tape and decided to just keep driving. What a surprise to get a call on Saturday morning saying they were in town already!

We did some unpacking on Saturday and Holly and Lilly took a few naps after their all night adventure. Sunday was more unpacking and grocery shopping. Holly and I got to go on a bike ride together while Aunt Bee and Lilly went to the Denver Art Museum.

Our bike ride ended up being a walk for the last half hour as both of us got flat tires and my hand pump is broken! It actually ended up being a great walk with a beautiful sunset and nice talk.

We wrapped up the weekend eating a great dinner at Beth and Geoff's. Quail looks like delicious little people.

Homeowners

2009-11-04T10:19:00.000-08:00

We are officially homeowners in Denver! We closed Monday afternoon and I've spent the past two night moving our stuff into the garage. I've unpacked enough for Boo and I to sleep there. Now the process of unpacking and organizing.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend when Holly and Lilly move out for good.

Outside (corner lot on an alley)

Kitchen / Living Room

Another Kitchen / Living Room

Boo Hike

2009-11-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

Boo and I went hiking today. A little muddy as it was 65 degrees and the snow was melting down.

Mountain Dog

Halloween

2009-11-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

Lilly went trick-or-treating in Sioux Falls this year. They had gone to Holly's parents' house this weekend.

Beth, Geoff and I went out dressed in costume. Beth was Princess Leia, Geoff was Han Solo and I was Elton John (circa 1973).

Elton

Bummer

2009-10-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

We weren't able to close on our house in Colorado today. It is a little fuzzy to me but it seems as if some documents were delayed getting to where they were needed. A near record snowstorm two days before closing doesn't help either. Not a huge deal as we'll close on Monday. Just a big inconvienince as I had the entire weekend to unload the truck.

Oh well. I seem to remember a crazy snowstorm on an important day 10 years ago and things still worked out in the end.

Closed in MN

2009-10-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

It is official, we are no longer owners of our house in Minnesota. The closing on our house in Minnesota went through this morning with only small issues. Most of the problem was flood insurance misunderstandings and confusion but our realtor and insurance agent really came through with a solution. There was a mad scramble by our realtor at the last minute to get some stuff out of the house the buyers wanted removed. I can't say enough about the great service we were given by Duane Bauermeister of Edina Realty.

It was a hard morning for Holly and Lilly leaving the house. Lilly was upset to leave her friends and the neighbor kids were sad as well. Lilly left the house and said, "Goodbye house. Thank you for keeping us safe." How sweet is that?

Now the next step is to get through closing here in Colorado on Friday.

Lilly Has Figured Out Disney Movies

2009-10-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Holly and Lilly watched The Ice Princess this weekend and this conversation happened close to the end:

Lilly: "I know what is going to happen at the end."
Holly: "What?"
Lilly (wispered in Holly's ear): "They’re going to kiss."
Holly: "How do you know?"
Lilly: "Because that is what always happens at the end."

The Boat is Out

2009-10-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

I flew back to Minnesota this past weekend to take the boat out of the water and fix a few things around the house. I fixed the garage door in the lower garage (it blew a spring), the thermostat in the basement (it was set to 77 degrees for 7 hours of the day making it 80+ degrees upstairs) and winterized the mower, weedeater and leaf blower.

My friend Rob came over with his 4Runner (ours is in Colorado) to pull the boat out of the river. I got it winterized and put the trailering cover on. It should be ready to pull down to Iowa for the winter.

Holly, Lilly and I went to Serum's in downtown Anoka for the first time for lunch. We watched the Gopher game and I tried their World Famous wings. Mmmmm....hot.

Holly was able to go on a chilly ride with Madonna and Larry on Saturday afternoon. A bunch of friends met at Moonrock after their ride for dinner and some drinks. It was nice to see everyone again. The CrossShark made an appearance after a strong, mid-pack finish in the CX4 race.

On Sunday we carved Lilly's homegrown 37lb pumpkin:

Scooping it out

Here's how the lid goes on.

Scary!

After pumpkin carving we went on a hike in Elm Creek:

The park is beautiful now.

Ninja in the woods.

A nice dinner at Maverick's and then down to the airport. What a great weekend!

Long Time, No Update

2009-10-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I updated. I've been out of town in Atlanta on a project management training trip for the past week. I've also been pretty busy at work and busy in my spare time getting housing paperwork rounded up.

First, a housing update. The people buying our house will close on October 28th. I'll be back in town the weekend before to pre-sign our closing documents allowing our realtor to handle the closing in the middle of the week. I'll drive a UHaul back to Colorado on the 25th. We close on our new house Thursday or Friday of that week. For now Holly and Lilly are planning to stay in Anoka until the first weekend in November so Holly can help her company get through month end before she leaves.

Our new house is a new construction house in Stapleton. Stapleton is a neighborhood in the city of Denver. This is an urban renewal project creating a big new neighborhood where the old Denver airport was located. It is designed as a sustainable community where things are within walking distance and houses are pretty close together. There is some research that shows neighborhoods become very closely knit in situations like this. There are kids everywhere and a lot of the residents are our age. There are neighborhood pools, trails, parks and schools all built with the philosophy of brining the neighborhoods together into one community. I'll post some house pictures shortly.

Last weekend Holly and Lilly did a 45 mile bike ride in northern Minnesota near the headwaters of the Mississippi river. Lilly did great! She was a little cold and hungry at the start but after it warmed up and she ate some food at one of the rest stops she was happy and singing.

This past week Holly and Lilly made some Halloween treats. Marshmallow ghosts and chocolaty treats.

Snow

2009-09-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

I looked out the windows of our building today at about 10:00 to see snow flurries. Wow. There is now a dusting of snow in the mountains. From near 80 degree highs this weekend to a high of 48 today. Only in ~~Minnesota~~ Colorado.

Holly and Lilly Weekend

2009-09-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

Soccer in a park

Holly and Lilly were in town this weekend. Saturday was concentrated on house hunting. We found a house we both like and are now waiting for the offer on our house to become more solid before we make an offer on this house. We spent a large part of Saturday out and about so that evening we stayed home and played in Beth and Geoff's backyard. We grilled and just took it easy on the deck. Sunday we took another peek at the house we liked and then spent time playing in the neighborhood parks and scoping out the distances to the pool and school.

Backyard

Lilly's new favorite website:

Badger, badger, badger...

Weekend Update with John Rotach

2009-09-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

Friday eve: Rockband at home then karaoke at the Hangar Bar

B36 made out of beer cans

Saturday: House hunting in the morning then mountain biking at Mt. Falcon in the afternoon. That's about as technical as I can handle while climbing 1,500 feet over the course of an hour. Ouch. Great views of Red Rocks park and the city from the top.

Sunday: A flat, windy ride out past the airport. Very nice.

Fall Already?

2009-09-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Holly took the neighborhood to a movie, treats and Elm Creek Park. This tree seems to be getting ready for winter a little early:

1st Day of Kindergarten

2009-09-09T21:28:00.001-07:00

Today was Lilly's first day of Kindergarten. She said, "School is awesome, Mom!"

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

Holly and Lilly were here in Denver for the long weekend. We drove through neighborhoods, looked at houses, walked to the dog park and farmers' market and went hiking. It was a terrific weekend and I was sorry to see them leave. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Rock Climbing in Stapleton

Fat Sully's NY Style Pizza

Lookout Mountain Park

Balance

Dad and Lilly

The rock snowman

Mom and Lilly

Counting the Days

2009-08-31T18:39:00.001-07:00

Holly and Lilly fly out here this weekend. And they're here for four days. I can't wait.

Playtime

2009-08-31T18:34:00.001-07:00

A picture from this weekend:

Parachute!

The Loon State Skier

2009-08-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Photos from last weekend's ski with Dave:

Check out those shorts!

Andy Mapple I ain't.

Back to MN

2009-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

I flew back to Minnesota this weekend. Mostly to see Holly and Lilly and partially to take care of a couple things we needed to fix for our inspection. I also fixed the lid switch on the washing machine.

When I got of the plane there was a surprise waiting for me:

Fairy Lilly

They waited at the bottom of the escalator for me and everyone that went by couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing in the world.

Saturday morning we went on a family bike ride to get the replacement part for the washing machine and to eat lunch at Panera.

Team Mom and Lilly

We played in the river all afternoon on Saturday. What a great weather day.

River kids

Dave Hoglund stopped over for a quick ski pass on the river and we all hit Q-Fanatic afterward. Thanks for buying my ribs Dave! Lilly didn't make it through her meal:

Sleepy fairy

After the Q we headed home and had Neil, Andy and Dave over for a fire.

I opted out of biking with the group on Sunday morning to get the washer fixed and knock off some of the other items on our inspection list. In hindsight I shouldn't have spent all day Saturday lounging around. Sounds like I missed a good ride.

One bummer of the weekend was getting stung by a bee. I must be a little bit allergic as I swell up pretty bad right by the sting.

Which one is swollen?

Weekend Recap

2009-08-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Highlights from the weekend...

This morning Beth and I walked to the dogs to the Stapleton dog park and then grabbed some coffee. We walked back through Stapleton looking around for ideas on possible houses.

I went for a bike ride to Lookout Mountain. I only went part of the way up as I wanted to get home for...

Geoff smoked a brisket yesterday (around 12 hours on the grill) and we ate it this afternoon while watching the PGA Championship. It was incredible.

Geoff and I spent a few hours yesterday trimming back tree limbs that were touching their roof and their neighbors' roof.

Next weekend I'm flying back to Minnesota to see Holly and Lilly. I'm already excited and will have a hard time thinking of anything else this week.

Holly in DC, Lilly in South Dakota

2009-08-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Holly traveled to Washington DC this weekend and part of this week to go on college visits with our niece Kalie. While she is in DC Lilly went to Teresa and Russ' house in Harrisburg, SD. Holly said she talked to Lilly and she was really having fun.

Best Evening Ever

2009-08-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

A great bike ride

PLUS

Jimmy John's telling me to take home all of the day old bread

PLUS

A care package from Lilly

EQUALS

A near perfect evening.

Sedalia Sunset

Holly & Lilly's Weekend

2009-08-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Holly and Lilly had a fun weekend this weekend. They went to Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America and went for two bike rides. Unfortunately Lilly wasn't hanging on while riding on her tag-a-long and fell off. She is pretty scraped up but was a little trooper and rode the 6 miles home after the accident. Poor kiddo! Here's some pictures from Holly:

Mountain Biking in Elm Creek

Fun!

Bumper Cars

Click on this one...

Great Ride

2009-08-10T20:01:00.001-07:00

I rode from my sister's house to Lookout Mountain and back yesterday morning. The out-and-back was around 60 miles. Sustained climbing (2,500 feet) with multiple switchbacks. Wow.

Lookout from East Denver

Here's a picture taken from Buffalo Bill's gravesite. Below is Golden, CO, home to Colorado School of Mines and Coors Brewery.

Golden, CO

Rockies Game & Buffalo Creek

2009-08-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Last night Beth, Geoff, and I went to see the Rockies beat the Cubs. Coors Field is beautiful and the weather couldn't have been nicer. Geoff asked when was the last time I had watched outdoor baseball. It was probably in high school when we went to see the White Sox. Wow.

Great View 1

Today I mountain biked Buffalo Creek again. One of the trails linked up with the Colorado Trail. I rode it for a while and turned back just shy of Durango (500 miles from Denver). :)

Great View 2