Aquarium

We spent spring break at home, with cousins who had come to visit. Most of the week was spent at grandma's but we did load everybody up and go to the aquarium for an afternoon. 

Lots of cousin love! 

My kids love love loved the sharks. 

The penguins were another favorite. They were so fun to watch. 

We didn't think we would get them out of the deep sea diver. The windshield is curved and it looks like you are putting your hand through the glass when you reach out from the inside. They couldn't get enough!

Little tiny jellyfish smaller than Zeke's fingers. We loved the jellies too, although there weren't as many of those as sharks or penguins. 

The group. Yay for cousins!

Feeding the Neighbors

Zeke made a bird feeder in Scouts last summer and thus started our adventure in feeding birds. For a while we had our feeder in the wrong place and were feeding a mouse instead (yikes!), but after we got the feeder moved to a better place we started seeing feathered friends. The first few times Zeke saw birds feeding, he said "Hey there neighbor!" and from then forward we have referred to the birds as our 'neighbors'. 

Most of what we saw through the summer and fall were finches. 

We also got 2 other feeders for Christmas and since then our bird population has really grown!

We've seen goldfinches,

and a really pretty pair of flickers,

and juncos (love these ground feeders),

and starlings,

  

and adorable downy woodpeckers

and my favorite, the chickadees.

We've loved watching our feathered neighbors and look forward to meeting more of them.

Fall Scenery

Fall was long and warm this year and we had so many chances to get out with the beautiful scenery. We went up in the mountains to take family pictures one Saturday and it was so pretty. 

Kids having fun while cousisns were taking pictures. 

Leaves falling while we were digging potatoes. 

Our yearly fall picture. (Nora loved getting to wear shorts and flip flops until the end of October!)

X marks the spot in the sky above these pretty trees in the park. Carrie and Zeke had an extended conversation about how they would get to the treasure the X was marking. 

Moon rising through the fall foliage. 

The grounds crew gathered the leaves in one place just outside our house one morning, and Nora was lucky enough to get to play in it before they took them away. She's standing up in this picture, so the leaf mountain is probably 2 feet tall or so. 

Colorado Road Trip

We went to the Fort Collins area of Colorado before, about 6 years ago. For that trip, we took I-80 through Wyoming because it is the fastest. It wasn't bad, but it was boring enough that we decided we wanted to try a different route, even if it did take longer. We discovered US-40 goes over the top of the Rockies, while I-70 has almost a 2 mile long tunnel under the Rockies. At the mention of a tunnel, the kids were hooked and looked forward to that almost as much as staying in a cabin with their cousins. So, we took I-70 out so we could go through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel. It would cost us extra time, but we were okay with that. 

Aaron planned our route to include stops about every hour. At least every other stop was a park where the kids could play for a few minutes. This was the best idea ever! A few minutes at a park did so much to help the kids deal with sitting in the car for hours. There were only a couple of times where we went a few hours with just quick bathroom stops rather than park stops, and we could tell the difference. 

We stopped for lunch at an adorable pond-themed park in Meeker, CO.

We expected to reach I-70 within an hour after lunch. An hour or so later we realized that we were headed north rather than south and were about to join up with US-40 (again). We still don't know what went wrong. We were following google maps directions and the GPS and both of us thought we turned correctly.... but obviously we went the opposite direction after lunch! 

So, we regrouped. Aaron and I knew the kids' hearts were set on the tunnel, and we discussed whether to try to drop down to I-70 now or to go that way on our way home. Ultimately, Aaron set the GPS for Denver and we headed south yet again. We merged onto I-70 about 10 miles before the tunnels.

It's a very weird experience seeing this gigantic mountain towering above you and knowing you are about to go under it.

The tunnel was awesome. We all loved it.  I don't recommend zig-zagging across the desolation (and construction) of middle Colorado, but in the end it was worth it. I'm so glad we didn't skip out on the tunnel. 

On the way home, we took US-40 over the Rockies. It was so beautiful and, again, worth the extra hour or so compared to driving through Wyoming. The road was narrow and winding and I was glad Aaron does the driving. In addition to trees (many, many trees!), lakes, rocks, snow fields, and blue skies, we also saw this herd of elk right next to the road. 

After we got down out of the mountains, the road wound us through a string of small towns. This lake town was cute. Zeke loved the boats. It reminded both me and him of quintessential New England harbor towns. Aaron and I decided this trip that US highway driving is the way to go. You may not go as fast as you do on the interstate, but there is so much more to see as you pass through the little towns on your way. Also, it's easier to make a quick stop in town because you can see the park, grocery store, or gas station rather than trying to figure out which exit to to use. 

We went just slightly out of our way in Vernal to see the Vernal Temple. It was beautiful.

The kids really did great on the road. They colored a bit, watched movies, ate some fun snacks, and played 'I spy' or 'I'm thinking of something....' with us. And we're still playing the license plate game. 

One other funny thing we learned this trip is that our GPS can't be trusted. We set it to home as we left Estes Park. Of course it wanted us to go to Wyoming, so we muted the directions. We figured it would eventually decide to follow the route we were on. Well, that darn thing kept re-routing us to Wyoming until we turned off US-40 in Heber about 3 miles from home. We were in disbelief. But it definitely kept us entertained!

Colorado Scenery

Our first out-and-about trip of our vacation was a hike around Lily Lake. It was a gorgeous little lake with an easy walking path around. 

The first thing we saw as we got started was a duck family with mom, dad, and 4 little baby duckies. The kids were smitten. I should have been videoing all of the "Awwww, look! They're sooooo cuuuute!' But I got this cute picture instead. 

Most of us chose to extend our hike a bit and take the optional trail over the top of a nearby mountain. It wasn't too hard, although it let us know we were getting good exercise. All of the kids did great, and the views from the top were amazing. 

Once everyone had gathered at the end, we got a super nice ranger to take a group picture. 

There was beautiful scenery right around the cabin too. The Big Thompson River ran right through our cabin village. Zeke and I walked down to explore a bit on Sunday morning. And he added plenty of rocks to the river. 

And, when you get on the edge of the cabin complex, you realize you really are up in the mountains in the pines. 

Our drive out took us through Rocky Mountain National Park. Even though we didn't do any hiking or exploring, I count this as part of our sightseeing because it was breathtaking. We started out in dense pine forest, then gradually the trees thinned out. 

After that, the road goes above the timberline and it's just rocky, with a few low plants. And you feel on top of the world. I suppose you pretty much are -- we crested the mountain at about 12,000 feet! We feel like we live up in the mountains, but that's double what we are used to!

One thing I absolutely loved about this part of Colorado was the little lakes that seemed to just appear out of nowhere.  Zeke took this picture for me while we were driving home. 

Sunset Walk

One night a couple of weeks ago it was approaching bedtime and everyone was kind of crabby when I spotted some pink sunset clouds out of the corner of the window. I sent the kids to the door and grabbed my camera and we headed outside in our pajamas to watch the sunset. 

We started in the front yard and moved around to the back to see if the view was different.

The kids ran around in the sunset for a bit. 

Then we followed the vivid colors across the street. 

And watched as it changed again.

It was a fun and beautiful way to end our evening. 

January Snow

 We have the cutest kids...

Winter is not the favored season around our house, but the kids really do look forward to the snow. They don't like the cold, or not being able to play outside all day, but they love the snow. 

Zeke built this sweet snowman with our neighbors.

Nora and I went winter walking and picture taking. Look at that blue sky above the snow-capped mountains - so much better than the foggy smoggy mist of the city that I usually walk in. 

Probably their most favorite snow activity is to walk in it. Making footprints, scattering snow, crunching around, and pretending to ice skate on the sidewalk happens pretty much every time we walk out the door!

My favorite snow activity is to watch it snow. From the safety of my own house, with nowhere to go and a bowl of soup to eat. :)