Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day Fun

The kids were put in jail today in the Old West Town at the Royal Gorge.

So you all know, Joss dresses herself these days! Mommy is no longer responsible for her ensemble!


They must have had at least 10 rides and each time changed horses.


The kids were full of energy as usual!


The tiny monkey did great with the potty training away from home all day.


At the bottom of the vertical coaster.


Inside the vertical skyway.



At the bottom of the Vert.


The skyway tram...yes, hanging by a cable!


Joss danced on stage with the singing puppy (big surprise) while her brothers were too shy.


Mmmm...tomato juice.


And a picnic lunch.


We took the trolly across the Royal Gorge bridge...

Looks safe enough...

So we thought we'd walk back across...and the wind kick up to like 100 mph and the world's highest suspension bridge was very clearly bouncing up and down and swaying back and forth.

I managed to snap a picture looking down through a crack in the bridge floor...below, rapids of the Arkansas River.

Mountain boys.

Joss wanted to ride the horse and carriage.

Of course, the baby goats were a hit.

We enjoyed the carriage ride.

And the Frontier man was enthralled with Jossie.

Jake tried out mommy's birthday present: a Camelback.


And Paul Bunyon's chair.


We did quite a bit of hiking. Everyone was troopers.


The kids were very patient with all the picture taking since it was "Mommy's Day!"

The Royal Gorge.

Joss tried mommy's flower in her hair.
The boys tried to climber higher than one another on the rocks.


And Joss sang a song to mommy...

using the blow dryer for a microphone.

The vase Jake made for mom...and Tye made mommy some Sunflower seed balls to plant later this spring. Soooooo sweet! And it was even better to have Nick celebrate with us this year!!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, too.

Friday, May 8, 2009

San Isabel National Forest

Today we trailered the quads to the Arkansas River in search of our 1st Spring camping location.
We saw quite a few white water rafters coming down our section of the river, a class III (Brown's Canyon).

The boys skipped rocks and played in the water.

Gail was a big help with the kids.

Joss felt the chilly water.

A perfect spot for camping next weekend!

The boys loved every minute of the beautiful weather.

Mommy even had time to sneak in a picture alone with each of the kids.


Jake and Tye went fishing...but caught nothing. (Due to the rapids, I'm sure.)

Tye and his worm!

And Jake with his!

Mommy promised to hold a worm today!

The boys we very patient.



Daddy looked "mountainmanish" with his bandanna! Ha!

TT and Mom.

Breck really enjoyed his first experience with big water. Akitas are swimmers, so we weren't surprised and he LOVED it!!


The boys and their puppy.

Of course, the little monkey of the family had to climb the trailer ramps.

Joss had her first "potty-in-the-forest" experience! (The wilderness girl was all about it!!)

We got OHV tags for the quads to ride them in the forests and national/state land.

Notice Gail's shirt and hat? We tie-dyed a bunch of things with her and her kids last week for her birthday!

The whole family on a quad ride: Nick and Jake/ Mommy, Tye and Joss

I caught her!

Off we go...no worries, the kids are required to wear goggles (or sunglasses), a helmet, hiking boots, protective gloves and a bandanna if riding on the 2nd quad.


The wet sand was very soft.


Joss loved it.

Who can resist splashing?


The weather started in the high 50s...

And ended with us shedding layers with the weather in the high 70s.