CO vaca. . DAY 4

Monday morning, we woke up to a beautiful day! Actually, most every day we were there the weather was gorgeous! The view from our cabin. . .The first few nights at the cabin, Ryker did not sleep well. . .maybe the very dry air? Grammy and Grampa were so helpful! They took the 4:30 am shift with Ryker and the 6 am shift with Porter (who hadn't adjusted to the time change). I think they enjoyed the time with their grandkids :)
They made us breakfast every day!! mmm. . .
while GooF was on bear watch. . .can you see him?


and although we didn't spot a bear (there was one at the cabin last summer), we did spot elk and coyote out this window!


We were all at the lodge to help my parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! We are so very thankful for their love and commitment to each other over the years. I remember growing up, they'd tell me they were "committed." I'm so glad they were, and still are today.
They are committed to not only each other and their family,

but most importantly to God! I am so thankful I learned about the love of my Heavenly Father from my parents. On day 3, we packed picnic lunches and headed into Estes Park for some bike riding/hiking. We stopped at the lake to cool off!

Fun with Cousins! Yes, Ryker was along but he was in the moby wrap at this point :)


playing with grampas cross. . .


We ate our picnic lunch and walked around Estes Park. . .Grammy treated us all to DELICIOUS icecream!!! Then it was back to the lodge. . .

CO vacation. . DAY 3!

I have a little tradition where I get my picture taken by state signs, and I keep them all in an album. I can now add Wyoming to the album!
We drove by ranch after ranch after ranch after ranch. Lots of nothing after nothing after nothing after nothing. We finally came to a little town called Lusk, Wyoming. . .thank goodness for Lusk. We found a bathroom and a Subway. . . and a long line for both (because there quite possibly is no other bathroom or place to eat between the Black Hills and Cheyenne). The kids were such good travellers! After Lusk, it was onward to Estes Park, CO!! We arrived at our lodge and were greeted by my parents, my sisters, and both of their families. The kids began "creature spotting"




and GooF was on "Bear Watch"

The cousins were so very excited to see each other!! The "girls room" sign in the lodge. . .

The girls got right to work journaling about their vacation thus far!

CO vacation. . .DAY 2

Unlike dinosaur park, if you haven't been to Bear Country, you are missing out! You start by driving through and seeing all sorts of animals up close. The bears walking right by your vehicle is sure to produce squeals from the children!And then you get to walk around and see Baby Bears!! We all agreed that they were so cute/playful and we couldn't take our eyes off them!
Feeding time for baby bears. . .


We made a quick stop at the Cosmos



and then headed to the 1880 train. GooF took the 3 oldest on it,

while Ryker and I drove to Keystone with the minivan so we could pick them up there. We had some time to walk around. . .watched them make taffy and bought some nasty pb fudge. GooF said the train was exciting for the first 5-10 min, but then they just have to sit there. We were eager to get to our hotel, so we pointed out Mt Rushmore to the kids and cruised on by. GooF says if you've seen the postcard, you've seen Mt Rushmore :)
The kids had had fun climbing on this smaller version :)
We had pizza at the hotel, explored and went swimming!

Dino Park

If you never make it to Dinosaur Park, you really won't be missing out on much :)

Fun with Friends

Girlfriends are a must in life.As are buddies, or pals, or guy friends or whatever you call them.

CO Vacation. . .Day 1

My favorite part of vacation? Time spent with family. . .without the chores and interruptions at home. Yes, I enjoy cooking and cleaning for the most part, and facebook and texting, but there's just something about being away with my family. . .it allows me to just be in the moment! And many moments we did have :) On day one, we headed out to Rapid City, where we really enjoyed Reptile Gardens and alligator wrestling!

And then we got lost on the way to Dinosaur Park. We never did see the street mapquest told us to look for but we could see the dinos on the hill! I will put the pics in the next post bc blogger isn't letting me arrange pictures easily?!