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. 

Colorado Cabin Vacation

We took an end-of-summer trip to Estes Park, Colorado with Aaron's family. All 21 of us stayed in this group reunion cabin. The kids were so excited to go on vacation to a 'log cabin'. 

The venue had some amusing idiosyncrasies, like the super creaky floors and the crazy narrow (and low ceilinged) stairs. But- every family did have their own bedroom, and the bunkhouse had beds for all of the kids! They loved bunking with their cousins.  

The cabin 'village' had a bunch of amenities, including an outdoor pool. Nora declares this was her favorite part. We also tried to teach the kids to play ping pong (which didn't work out) and they spent some time on the playground.

Estes Park is a fun little town. There were lots of options for things to do. We couldn't resist mini golf for $3 a person. It was a cute 18-hole course and it looked like the nice older gentleman who took our money (cash-only) pretty much lived there and took care of the place. Our kids had never mini golfed before, although they were so excited to try. We spent a lot of time teaching them technique. Zeke had moments of frustration but really did catch on quickly. He was doing really well by the time we got to the end. Nora took a lot more coaching. 

We had such a blast at the golf course that our family of 4 went back again for another round the next afternoon. We played pool at the bowling alley had planned to go bowling after (which our kids have been asking to do for a long time!) but the kids wanted to putt putt again. The second time went a lot faster and Zeke is on his way to becoming a master miniature golfer. He even got a hole in one!

Sunday was our down-time day. We played a lot of games and sat around the fireplace and chatted. Here is Zeke's stinky garbage can he drew in Telestrations.

....And.... Sunday was Nora's 5th birthday! We made some donuts and sang happy birthday to her and she couldn't have been happier. 

After singing and donuts, we went out for a bonfire and smores and the kids put on a talent show. It was cute and fun and I think it very well could become a family tradition. 

The one thing I didn't do that I wanted to was go into the town to walk the main street and do some shopping. There were some fun-looking shops and those who did shop came back with some really unique souvenirs. It's okay though, because I traded shopping for more down time / cousin play time, which Zeke says is his favorite part of the trip.

Some August Fun

August was super busy and we packed in tons of fun. Lots of little things, plus a big vacation/road trip/reunion and a birthday that deserve their own posts!

We went to the 100th birthday celebration at Kings. It was an impromptu thing, and the kids had a blast driving these around.

Zeke also tried out some bb guns and airsoft guns and this is a crossbow with suction cup arrows.

Nora revealed her alter ego as supergirl when she won a cape and mask from the summer reading program at the library.

Ready to fight bad guys and help citizens everywhere.

We went on another sunset walk.

And the sunflowers came out. The year Nora turned 1, there were tons of sunflowers on the path by our house. One one walk, she got to explore the sunflowers and loved it. It's a moment I treasure, and ever since then, all of the roadside sunflowers remind me of my girl. Here is almost-1-year-old Nora. 

And here is almost-5-year-old Nora. I told her this year that she is my sunflower girl, and she told me I was her sunflower girl too. 

Night Flying

Night flying is awesome if just for the sunsets. 

Which is good, because it is kind of the Bermuda Triangle of flying events for Aaron. It seems that more crashes happen to us at night flys than any other time. This year was no exception. 

So, we tried to focus on the positive and I took a whole bunch of sunset pictures. Then Nora took some more. 

And, as the sun went down, the glow sticks came out. These helicopters/fireworks/wheels were really cool. I've never seen them before. 

We made Nora's helicopter into a crown for a while.

At least some other people had night fly planes that worked. One day that will be us..........