Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Fall in Estes Park (one of our favorite family vacations!)

This Fall Break we took our first trip to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park.  It turned out to be one of our favorite family vacations!  We stayed in a cabin in the mountains at this incredible rec center.  Or, as the boys called it, "their happy place".  They wore ear to ear grins the whole time!

I warn you, we really enjoyed ourselves.  So there's lots of pictures.

Just under two hour drive away, easy in the new Outback.

Yeah, that bag fell on Hershey's spot.  She paid us back by vomiting on it. 

Our two bedroom cabin with a fully furnished kitchen.

Oreos, milk, and lots of laughs.


Sunrise view from the front door.

The wildlife was incredible!!

Our visit coincided with the annual elk rut, herds walked among us the whole trip.

When I opened the cabin door to let Hershey do her business, we had some company.

Ethan made friends with all of the animals, including this bird of prey (hawk?).

After five minutes of standing a foot apart, the bird flew above him.

A flock of wild turkeys gobbled in our backyard.  Alas, Hershey didn't fetch us dinner.

The only animal we spotted without grabbing a picture was a coyote.  Needless to say, he looked well fed.


The boys even investigated a mouse skeleton they found.  

Beyond the wildlife, the boys were in heaven with limitless (FREE!) activities.  We didn't get to half of them!

Unlimited mini-golf- Gavin's version of heaven!



I told you the elk walked amongst us!

And my version of heaven- an art center!

Ethan painted a wooden snake.

Gavin a wooden alligator.

And I painted a wooden cabin, to use as an ornament to remember our trip every year.

Chris taught the boys how to play pool, and he and Ethan handily beat Gavin and I.

Their biggest obsession? Tennis!!  Who knew?!  Ethan has been begging for lessons for at least a year, but I need more days in a week with gymnastics, soccer, cub scouts, and his seasonal swim and parkour.  Apparently, I need to find a time because he LOVED it!

Of course they had playgrounds, and Gavin crossed the monkey bars for the first time on his own!


Not to be outdone...


We finally left the site to explore the Rocky Mountain National Park and drove up the Trail Ridge Road Summit.  





We climbed a couple hundred steps in the windy cold weather of the tundra to see the view!  (We were so high it's apparently a different ecosystem and qualifies as a tundra with glacial snow).  

Boy it was worth it!









Thanks for sticking with me to the end!  Needless to say, we promised the boys we will be back!






Monday, March 30, 2015

NOW we have a fifth member of the family!

Okay, we had a little hiccup, but now we've found our family dog! After seeing the boy's disappointment saying goodbye to their first dog, Chris and I knew we needed to do what it took to invest in the right dog for our family. The right breed and the time and energy needed to raise a puppy to have the traits that match our family.

Meet HERSHEY! A 14 week old purebred standard poodle!! No froo froo tiny dog here, this girl will be able to keep up with the boys in this house.

Named by Pennsylvanian born and bred Chris and voted for by the chocolate loving boys. (They thought my idea of Snickerdoodles was a joke and vetoed it). Hey, at least I got a second girl in the house.

She's soooo soft, like down feathers, and playful, and gentle!

Here are the boys teaching her how to roll down a hill behind our house.

 

 

She thinks Gavin is a puppy from her litter. I constantly remind him to stand up so she doesn't tousle him like a fellow pup.

Bad shot, but here's Gavin with a wastebasket on his head giggling "Tee hee! You can't lick my face now Herseeeee!!"
She cheered up Ethan from his fever today.
Sitting at his feet as he watched Wild Kratts. (I'm not letting her on the couch...yet).

But her puppy friend Gavin happily had the energy to show her around.

Her litter was adorable, so I can see why she that Gavin was one of them ;)

The boys are potty trained and I'm glutton for punishment, so let's house train baby! And we are just starting to sleep through the night around here, so better get a puppy before we are too used to it!

Welcome home Hershey!