Yesterday we returned from a nine-day trip to Estes Park, Colorado, with my parents and the boys. To say that the trip was refreshing and badly-needed is a bit of an understatement; we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and had a great time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains! There was plenty of fly-fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing, rock skipping (by some more than others!), reading, and eating to go around! Bouts of sadness were few and far-between for me, which was a nice change of pace. Our family took a few days to drive there, spending the majority of the second day enjoying Denver and its Butterfly Pavilion, hotel swimming, and microbrewery ammenities. On the third day of driving we arrived at our cabin, where we spent the next five nights particularly enjoying life. Here are some pictures from the adventure. Believe it or not, I have vastly pared them down; please feel free to look at as many or as few as you wish.
Cuteness in the cabin
A preface shot to the above-mentioned rock throwing. Silas was a master of dumping rocks, sticks, and pine cones into the river right outside of our cabin.
He may be getting big, but he'll always be my baby!
It may be hard to see, but there are two male elk tangling horns just below that center tree. Each evening we walked and/or drove down Fish Hatchery Road, which was adjacent to our cabin. Every night we had success spotting wildlife there, typically elk..but once we saw a black bear walk across the road in front of us while we were walking the boys!
Gots to get clean to get dirty again the next day!
George and Daddy on a rock in the middle of the river.
Georgie fell asleep for a morning nap, and when he awoke he found himself in his jam-jams inside Rocky Mountain National Park! And in Papa's arms to boot! Dream come true!
My mom in the alpine, 11,700 feet up. It was noticeably chillier above the timberline, if you can imagine.
Hiking time! BJ and I have come to learn that hiking with two little ones is quite unlike the grueling backpacking days of yore. Sometime I will write a post about the time we hiked the 60 miles through Yosemite and the Ansel Adams Wilderness on the John Muir Trail...before we had children.
This elk, seen around town commonly, has Christmas lights stuck in his antlers. They didn't seem to be bothering him in the least though.
I wish I could say that all of these hours spent fishing resulted in even a single fish caught...but I cannot tell a lie.
Can you see BJ way down there?
An excavator was parked right outside of the Subway we ate at in Russell, Kansas, on the way home. The only thing that could have made this better for Silas is a treasure trove of Sour Patch Kids tucked into the scoop.
This wildfire was enormous and only two miles downwind of our hotel in Colby, Kansas. From where we were as we drove past, you could hear and feel it. Utterly amazing.
A great time had by all!
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