Colorado Vacation - Day 4 & 5

Day 4 was Sunday and we enjoyed going to church with Chad and Laura. It's always fun to go to a new church.

Day 5 we went to Grand Lake to play at the park and use the library's internet. The park was a lot of fun and we enjoyed a picnic lunch before we played.


We weren't sure what to do with this part of the playground, but Autumn figured it out. She just made it even more difficult than it already was...


Laura's turn


Russell's turn


Cute cousins.



Ashlyn posing for me.


Slade making a perfect landing.


I look like I'm holding on for dear life, but I really was having fun.


We played a little friendly tag and all the adults discovered we can't run as long as the kids can. We also don't really run as fast, either... It was a sad discovery.


Randall did a lot of swinging at the park. He and Ashlyn enjoyed that the most and Nanny sat in the shade near them.


Autumn tried out Russ' rollerblades. They were too small, but she still did pretty well. Even Mitchell tried them out. They were really too small for him.


Randall playing at the library while Laura and I checked e-mail and such.


Autumn was very sweet to the boys and Randall really enjoyed playing with her.


A fun, relaxing day full of making memories that will last a lifetime.

Colorado Vacation - Day 3

We went to the Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park on Saturday, when we were in Colorado. My favorite thing was the SNOW and our short sleeves. It didn't feel cold, but we had the enjoyment of snow. Perfect combination.

The kids loved the snow, too. Of course, you can see the grass around the snow. It was just a big patch of snow.



Trying to get the three boys to pose for a picture...


Ashlyn (who turned 16 while we were there) and me.


Ashlyn enjoyed playing with the camera and took this one.


Before the actual hike. The boys did more rock climbing than hiking (and slowed us down some, but we weren't actually doing it for exercise or anything) and had a blast!



A beautiful, fast-flowing river that flowed down from the mountains.


Russ really wanted to be on the top of this rock, but just couldn't get up. Uncle Chad helped.


Russ, Mitchell and Autumn on top of the rock.


Rand gives everything a thumbs up. Resting on the rock with Nanny got a thumbs up, too.


Autumn rests, too.

Russ plays air guitar. Yes, we got a lot of pictures of him doing that... :-)


Me and Peggy.


Slade on a high rock, taking pictures.



We found another patch of snow while hiking. Rand gave it a thumbs up. :-)


Beautiful view! Everywhere we looked there was a beautiful view!


Mitchell meditating... Well, at least sitting still for a bit.


This time, I think it's gorilla boy, not air guitar, but I could be wrong...


Mitchell took this one of Slade and Russ up on one of the many rocks climbed that day.


Some funnies:

In the car driving through the mountains, we taught Russ pig latin. He was so proud to catch on so quickly and usually got the words right. Randall called it pig language.

We were listening to a song that talked about praising God whatever your state and I explained that "whatever your state" means how you're feeling, your state of mind. For example, an angry state of mind, sad, nervous, etc. Later, when we were listening to the same song, he told his cousins, "I'm angry in my state." I think he was trying to explain it like we had...

Randall asked Nanny at one point while we were hiking, "Nanny, guess what I was singing in my head?"

We all slept really well that night!

Colorado Vacation - Day 1 & 2

Well, I'm finally going to post about our Colorado trip. Better late than never, right? Right?!

We left on Thursday, June 26th around 4pm. We were planning to stop around midnight and get some sleep before heading out the next day, but then after an hour of looking for a hotel with a room (there was a lot of construction going on and every available room was filled with construction crews) and 3 1/2 hours sitting and going absolutely nowhere, we decided to just drive straight through. Yes, we sat for 3 1/2 hours. The weather was nasty and a power line went down right over the highway. Randall slept through the whole ordeal of turning the car on and off to de-fog the window and get some fresh, cool air flowing. Russ was awake for about 2 hours, but seemed to enjoy the strangeness of the situation. Slade and I dozed on and off.

A car next to us finally pulled out, drove on the side of the road and turned around at the front of the line of traffic. We decided to follow before the truck behind him pulled in and closed the space. When we got to the front of the line, we realized there was a turn around that we couldn't see since the weather was so bad and there were semis all around. Slade said he's pretty sure it's illegal to turn around in them, but it was asphault like the road and didn't say anything about emergency vehicles only or anything, so I think it was legal. At that point, we didn't really care, anyway.

We were so frustrated that we had sat that long when we might not have had to, but we were glad to be on our way again.

We drove through Russell, Kansas. I think it was in Kansas. I can't remember now. Russ wouldn't smile for a picture.


I like this one because it's Russell with Slade Russell.


We got to Chad and Laura's around 3, if I remember correctly. It was great to see everyone and get to see their home and land and such. Slade laid down for a much-deserved nap and Slade's mom, Peggy, and I went walking with the cousins. Chad and Laura have 4 kids, Brandon (19), Ashlyn (she turned 16 while we were there), Mitchell (12) and Autumn (um, 9, I think). Brandon doesn't live at home anymore.

They live in Grand Lake, which is about 1 hour from Estes Park and about 2 hours from Denver. They have a beautiful view of the mountains, lots of land and a river that is fed by melting snow.

Heading off to explore.


Autumn and Randall and what a view!


Ashlyn enjoys riding her bike down their lo-o-o-ng driveway.


The water is cold! But, Autumn loves swimming in it and so do their dogs. She just rolled up her pants and waded in.


She eventually got completely in.




Russell plays some air guitar. Mitchell and Ashlyn enjoyed taking pictures, too, so some of these are taken by them. Mitchell took Russ' air guitar picture (actually, we got many of Russ with his air guitar *grin*)


Close up of one of the dogs. They have three and I can't remember who is who.


Nanny keeping Autumn warm on the walk back home.


Look at that view! Amazing.


Mitchell took this one and it turned out great! In his words, he wanted to "capture the essence of the mood" or something like that. Well, he captured it. *grin*


I love this one of Mitchell and Russell. Both Russell and Randall loved playing with Mitchell and Mitchell was a lot of fun to be with. There is a face under all that hair, I promise.


I really enjoyed a chance for the kids to have some good quantity time with their cousins. Because of the age difference, they haven't really had much in common, until now, as the kids get a little older. Russ really enjoyed playing Mitchell or Autumn's Gameboy Advance and learning tricks from the older cousins. The week began with everyone feeling as if it had only been 2 weeks instead of 2 years since we've all seen each other.