we're going on a nature hike

We are so Colorado.

Vivi sitting in the big tree. Grandma is holding her up.

Grandma popped up for this one.

We had gone down to the bank to look at a beaver dam.

He's playing in part of the trail where the stream crossed. It was about 3-4" deep. You can imagine how much dexterity it took to get the stroller through that without getting my shoes wet. I should of had Avery push it. He didn't care about wet shoes.

That's a 'fishing pole' in his hand I'll have you know.

Yup, that just about captures it.

The water was icy cold. She loved it, even when I had to strip her down and clean her lady bits.

Rock fishing.

Since my mom had been doing such a wonderful job watching the kids while I worked like a crazy person on the bathroom, I thought we all deserved to get up into the mountains for a little hike. Well, what I thought would be little stroll in the woods turned into an almost 3 hour tour. Avery was such a trooper and besides one spill, he did great and almost walked the entire time. Vivi, on the other hand was so whiny. I haven't heard that much whining since Michigan. That girl really knows how to ruin the sounds of nature and all she had to do was relax in the stroller and munch on snacks. Luckily, after lunch she calmed down a bit and seem to enjoy herself, especially the icy cold stream. 


Mapquest guided me to what must have been the overflow lot (down a steep dirt path, behind someone's lonely house, down another dirt road) instead of to the main trail head. Cheney had told me there was a castle about 1.5 miles down the trail but when we came to what appeared to be the main entrance, not the far, far back entrance, I knew we still had a ways to go. We rallied, explained what 'rally' means to Avery, and kept going. 


Avery was definitely into the adventure. Vivi would have preferred to be elsewhere. Actually, I think she got bored riding in the stroller (the awesome Bob borrowed from the Itens...thanks!) and did much better when I got her out and let her scootch around.

All in all, it was a great morning and I am so appreciative that we live this close to such awesome natural beauty.