As mentioned in my previous date post, Ethan and Nicholas came to visit us. Their friend, Jordan, joined as well for several of the days, and the three of them went up into the mountains for an overnight camping trip.
While they were around we were able to fit in some other fun as well!
The girls had fun playing tag with their uncles and Jordan and being pushed on the swings at our nearby park.
And we explored the creek bed. Kolbe loves splashing in the water. I was loving the way the sunlight was reflecting and bouncing on the water's surface as well.
And he doesn't want to just splash either. This little guy wants to crawl all around and explore too!
Because I had so much help with the kids at the park, I was able to let them explore more. Jordan is a farm kid and he was all about exploring with them. He took Kayla down the creek further than I normally allow her to go just on her own and they found a "beach" (a small area of sand/dirt along the edge of the creek) and an "island" (it was a peninsula really), and this water snake. Jordan picked it up and even checked to make sure it didn't have fangs (and therefore was not poisonous).
Then he showed it to the rest of them and let them touch it. "Is it dead?" was my favorite part....
After the terrible cloudy weather rolled in for our last two sets of (early) August visitors, we were relieved to see our beloved mountains again.
And the kids had fun hanging at home. Reading, playing legos, playing tag, and just plain being silly with Ethan and Nicholas and "Uncle J-dar".
After the boys went on their camping and hiking excursion and watched our kids so we could attend the concert, Jordan had to head back to Cincy. The following morning, Chris and Nick and Ethan headed out on a two night backpacking trip up in the mountains, which Chris will eventually write up a post about....
They returned Saturday late morning and we attended the Vigil Mass that evening and had a fun BBQ at home. After the kids went to sleep, the adults hung out on the deck enjoying the weather.
The following day was the boys' last day with us and they had to be at the train station (to get to the airport) by about noon, so we had limited time, but we drove down to Castle Rock to do a (new to us) hike there. It was a 5.5 mile loop with beautiful mountain views, some lovely meadow areas, wildflowers scattered throughout, and a lot of whining from several of our kids who haven't hiked in nearly a month. ha. But there was also fun and the opportunity to teach and learn (both lessons for all of us) and memories made together.
Tried for a group shot with the self-timer and we got this artsy shot.
Tried again and got this slightly less (but still) blurry one.
Elise is now "training" for her first backpacking trip with Daddy since she turned 6 this year, so she wore the camelpak and carried some snacks and water for this hike.
He slept for a good portion of the hike.
Barely got us all in the shot, if you look closely everyone is there somewhere.
At some points, the girls pretended that they (and their uncles) were birds and you could hear the "chirping" and other "bird calls" and giggles from a distance. It was sweet to just observe and be a part of the memory from the outside looking in. I'm so grateful we get to have time with family in all sorts of different settings and in various groups and individually.
Kayla thinks mushrooms are super interesting, so I took a picture of these ones spotted on the side of the trail.
Week 28 (finally!) of the #52hikechallenge2017
A sweet moment when the "attitudes" had gone and the sweet and fun-loving attitudes were in full-force.
You can't see them unless you look really closely, but in the shadow of the trees on the trail in front of the girls are the three guys checking out a snake.
Ethan got a picture of the snake.
Thanks again for coming out, guys! It was really fun hanging out, chatting about life, and exploring Colorado with you. Come again, soon!
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