LITTLE ONE GETTING BIGGER

Lil Bop has been losing teeth left and right. She has lost 5 now. I think by Christmas, these will have grown in.


During the summer, we find a number of different camps to put her in while Mrs. Bop and I are stuck at our jobs. The first camp she went to was at the zoo. One day after camp, we decided to fly her kite for the first time. She was very excited.


It was a hot day, so after the kite flying, we went to the fountains in the park to cool off. She would stop in the middle, and when the water jets fired, she would take off running and screaming. It was very entertaining for me.


The camp she is currently in is an outdoor activities camp. They get a day each week of hiking, biking, canoing, climbing, and kayaking. Hiking is done on a trail at a nearby creek. Biking is done in the parking lot of her school and they are teaching her to ride a two-wheeler. The canoing and kayaking (and swimming) are down at a nearby reservoir. They are taught how to behave in a canoe, what to do when it tips, and how to enter and exit. They are by themselves in kayaks and have to paddle on their own. Lil Bop says she enjoys the kayaking. The climbing is done at a rock climbing wall at a park. Two weeks in a row now, when she comes home from climbing, she looks like Dbop at Halloween, circa 1984. She's a mess.


She is definitely getting older and into more girly things. She has an alter ego named Molly when she gets her hair curled. It takes some effort, but every once in a while we get a nice picture of her.


But, being a Bop child, we usually get something like this:

WARNING: LONG POST WITH GRAPHIC PICTURES!

SPRING BREAK AND THE REPERCUSSIONS:

A lot has happened in the months since I last posted. Biggest Occurrence: I had knee surgery. For Lil Bop's spring break from school, we went to Rico to ski and spend time with family. We weren't sure how much we would ski until we finished the first day. Mrs. Bop and Lil Bop had such a good time that they decided to ski every day possible. I, on the other hand, let my over-confidence on the slopes make the decision for me. But, a couple of hours before that decision, Mrs. Bop and I were having a great time.

Towards the end of the day, we were on a run and I thought I could bomb through a crowd of people on the mountain and get by quickly. I lost control while in the crowd and instead of hitting the girl in front of me, I took a dive. My ski did not release when it should have and my knee twisted all over the place. After the huge puff of snow died down, the rest of the group convened around me on my hands and knees with my forehead in the snow and my teeth clinched. Mrs. Bop asked if I was okay and with my sharp reply of NO, she knew I needed a moment. However, the good Samaritan that needs to help others to feel good about themselves would not leave me alone. Do you need help? Should I call ski patrol? What's wrong? Do you want my knee brace? What can I do? SHUT THE F UP! After I answered no to 20 questions, you would think this guy got the hint that I would evaluate my situation without his help. After what felt like forever to me, he finally left me alone. He did however call ski patrol when he left. Later, I would appreciate that very much. After my decision to walk down, the rest of the group skied on. After I had descended about 100ft, ski patrol showed up. I got to ride on the back (not in the basket) of a snow mobile, which was pretty cool. I got a ride to the car and that was the end of it. So I thought. I was expecting a week, maybe two, with a sore knee, and life would return to normal. After a month of constant aching, I decided it was time to see a doctor. By the time I saw him, it had been long enough to not get an MRI. With only the physical examination, the doctor told me I had torn my ACL. I could have lived the rest of my life without getting it fixed, but I would not be able to ski anymore or do anything that requires a pivoting move. So on June 12, I had ACL reconstruction surgery. It was pretty cool. The doctor went into my knee, drilled a hole in both leg bones and patched in a cadaver ligament. Over the next six months, my body will bring blood flow to the area and the ligament will be grown over with new tissue. So this is me, ready to be operated on.

Surgery was cool. I was at the surgery center (not the hospital) for all of 3 hours. I was scheduled for 8:45 am, showed up at 8 for paperwork, and was back at my house by 11am. They did not have me count backwards when they knocked me out. Instead, the anesthesiologist said "I'm turning on the sleepy juice", and my eyes fluttered and I was out. I don't think I would have been able to say "ten" in the time it took me to fall asleep. It was almost instant. While the doctor was working on my knee, he took pictures. I think it's cool; I have quality assurance photos from my knee surgery. I have more, but these illustrate what was fixed:

1. Torn ACL


2. Doc's probe in holes drilled in leg bones


3. Cadaver ligament in place


I stayed off of my feet for a week. When I went to the doctor for a follow up, he said the only way to get off crutches was to get off crutches. That day when I got home, I set them down and haven't used them since. I have physical therapy once a week with a list of exercises that I do twice a day. I have to practice walking correctly and reestablish my range of motion. It's a lot of effort, but to be released for sports activities in time to ski next season, I have to get it done. Here is what my knee looks like now. He did not have to cut me wide open to work. I have a bunch of holes with one small scar. Eventually, the swelling will go down and my knee cap will be visible again.


Two weeks after my injury, this is the only way I was skiing:

DID I MENTION MY KID IS A ROCKSTAR?

Lil Bop = Rockstar, v. 2.0: This Saturday was to be a day of Dbop fishing solo. Nice quiet day with no distractions except where to be a trout slayer. As I moved around the house in the morning, Lil Bop woke up and asked me where I was going. After she found out I was going fishing, she wanted to go. So, it became a father-daughter bonding trip. We started the day with breakfast burritos and a drive up Clear Creek Canyon. We stopped a few times to fish Clear Creek, but neither of us was having any luck. It was tough to find a good spot where both of us could fish near each other. After a tough start, I decided to head for the Blue River Inlet to Lake Dillon. A friend of mine recommends the spot, and now so do I. It had plenty of good spots that we could fish near each other and plenty of fish. I caught two small trout, while Lil Bop made history with her first catch. She did all the work. The only things Dad did were to get her rod ready and tell her where to cast. Otherwise, she cast, hooked, and reeled in her first fish all by herself.

SNOW IS COOL. REALLY COOL. COLD?

Part of the reason the Bops are in Colorado is that this here Bop likes the cold. I spent too many summers outside in south Texas to want to endure it anymore. I haven't posted anything recently because since Christmas, Lil Bop has had ski lessons every Saturday. That means every Saturday, I have gotten up at 4:45 am so the Bops will be ready to roll at 6 am so that Lil Bop will make it to class by 8:30. This Saturday is the first since Christmas that I get to sleep in. It hasn't been entirely torture. I do like to ski. The first time I had skied in almost two years was fun. Mrs. Bop managed to capture one of my finer moments.

I got myself caught in some waist deep powder. But, I was to be avenged. A couple of weeks later, Lil Bop had been kickin' butt in her lessons. One day after we picked her up, she wanted to show us that they had been going in the half pipe and that she could do it. Mrs. Bop and I were hesitant, but Mrs. Bop decided to capture the whole thing on video for posterity. All I have to say is that MY KID IS A ROCKSTAR. So's my wife.

TOTEM POLE TOUR '08

I know that we live in a part of the country that has some people that think a little freer than others. One of them happens to be my neighbor. But these are some interesting pieces of art to have in your front yard. I've noticed these poles throughout the neighborhood since we moved. So to cure some cabin fever today, Lil bop and I went for a walk. I knew of four, but found a fifth during our travels.

BAH HUMBUG

There'll be more when I'm not feeling lazy.

COLORADO CHRISTMAS

Last weekend, we participated in a tradition very new to the Bops. We cut down our own Christmas tree. For $20 (awesome), the Colorado Forest Service will let you go into certain areas that need thinning and cut down trees no larger than 6" round and no taller than 15'. The permit is a mirror tag and if you carefully follow the directions on the back, it folds into an ornament (ugly as sin). So we followed some friends to the cutting area, had a small lunch once we parked, and proceeded to hunt down the Bop's Christmas Tree 2007. After 45 minutes of looking uphill of the car, we ended up downhill of the car and found our tree in 5 minutes. Mrs. Bop's "I want to help" was helping decide on the tree, and being the historian for this expedition. Once the tree was decided on, I set to work on falling this behemoth of a tree.

The picture is a little deceiving. It took a little longer to cut it down because I was on the side of a very steep hill. But with a little perseverance, I had the family tree down and was hauling it to the car for transport to the Bop House.

After struggling to move the tree to the car, we had to document our conquest. Our friends took a picture for posterity.

The tree in the background makes ours look a little bigger than it really is. It ended up being around 7' tall, perfect fit for the Bop House. The next day, we had it set up and lit. No ornaments on it in this picture; maybe that will make it to a post in the future.