Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mountains. 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!






Thursday, July 21, 2016

Camping in Colorado

The boys are sooo happy, we finally went camping (for the first time!).  It felt silly to live at the bottom of these glorious mountains with these nature loving boys and not go for it.  

Golden Gate Canyon Park was recommended as a good starter mountain.  Boy did we go for it, refusing to turn back.  

Even when we went to set up camp and we realized that I forgot the tent poles.  

Even when it took a two hour round trip to come back down the mountain to buy a tent from the closest big box store. 

Even when the whole afternoon and all night we were pounded by rain in a thunderstorm.  

Even when the rest of the site was almost abandoned, with most people leaving early or not showing (forecast, schmorcast!).

Even when our tent smelled of wet dog, as Hershey curled up with us dripping wet.  

Despite all of that, the even the most reluctant camper (Chris) stuck through it with a great attitude and we all had a blast!  The sun shown when the boys were awoken by chipmunk chatter at 5:30am, cheering to start exploring the mountain.  

And that we did.

Next time, fingers crossed for a dryer trip.  With tent poles.

Dry patch



Ethan talked about smores nonstop until he had one!

Huddled under our tarp to stay dry, with said wet dog.

Chris is the cook with the most, including when roughing it.  



The view from Panorama Point.

This little friend was happy to wake us at 5:30am.





With the trails completely empty, Hershey was THRILLED to trot alongside off leash.  


"We'll be back mountains!!"