Camping at Mesa Verde

We "met in the middle" with my family to explore Mesa Verde in Colorado. It took us all a while to get there and we chose our campsite in the dark. We were glad it turned out to be a good one. We stayed in a group site together, which was really nice. The groups sites are more spread out from one another so you can wander more and not be bothered by noise as much.

From 2009_05_23

It was at this first look out that we figured out you need tickets for tours to get close to most of the ruins. And most of the hikes include 100+ ft ladders to climb up and down to get to them. So we spoke with the ranger and she told us of some family-friendly areas we could get close to without dangerous hikes or paying for a guided tour.

Here we start our hike:

Me with my sister, Angela, and Abigail on my shoulders

From 2009_05_23

Grandma with Corinne on her back

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My sister, Amber, with her husband, Steve

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Angela with Annika on her back

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I think the kids loved having so many options for piggy-backs during the hikes!

Here are Ashley and Megan

From 2009_05_23

My sister Hannah and her husband, Will

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The kids in front of the ruins

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One of the fun things here was climbing down into a Kiva (an underground room).

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

Inside the Kiva (pictures are taken with a flash, it was pretty dark in there)

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

It started to rain a bit while on our hike, but we had checked the weather before coming and were prepared

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

Here we are being rebels just for a picture!

From 2009_05_23

I think half of the hike Eve kept Aunt Angela busy as they hunted for the best dandelion puffs to blow.

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

This was day one, I'll have to do day two on another post!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I've made it to the year of womanhood eternal (29). I'm guessing it'll be the best year of my life, since this is the age that women claim to be forever after.

From 2009_05_18

Not only did I get cake and ice cream I got to have my first day of classes on my birthday! That's right, I'm a student again trying to learn and study enough to be a business major. I don't know how long it'll take me to finish. It really depends on my class load, which will vary each semester as I look at our plans for the next couple of months. Like next semester, where I'm looking at having a baby, two surgeries and going to Boston to celebrate Gordon becoming a Fellow (no we haven't gotten the official results, I'm just being optimistic.)

Our hike to Tent Rocks

Note: This adventure happened in early May, I'm really behind and will try to catch up.

We were hoping to go camping this weekend, but as it turns out our trip had to be demoted to a hike on Saturday morning. We went with some good friends to Tent Rocks, a place we had been and enjoyed, but they had never been to before. Here are some of the pictures from our adventure:

From 2009_05_16

From 2009_05_16

From 2009_05_16

From 2009_05_16

Trying to climb with a cast.

From 2009_05_16

From 2009_05_16

From 2009_05_16

This is definitely a cool hike, and we will be back again!

Abigail's Souvenir

On Saturday the girls and I went to the botanical garden for a picnic and some fun. We really enjoyed our visit. There was a orchid contest on display that was beautiful! The fish in the Japanese gardens were almost jumping out of the water to be near to us. Then as we were walking out Abigail stopped to smell the flowers, lost her balance, and fell face first against the decorative fence surrounding the flower bed. I picked her up and rushed to find first aid help. They didn't have much more on hand than band-aids, so we drove home. So here it is, two days later.

From 2009_05_04

Sweet!

We were given a gift of "Smores in a Jar" for Easter from some friends. The girls have been begging to make it since then. But I kept putting it off while we had too many other treats in the house to make another. Finally we put it together as our FHE dessert. It ended up being WAY sweet (how could it not?) but it was fun!

From 2009_04_27

The recipe is graham cracker crust, topped with M&Ms followed by marshmallow peeps! One spoonful and you're on a sugar high!

A Fruequent Visitor

From 2009_04_12

This bird (I think is a cave swallow) has been caught on three separate nights roosting right there. On the handle of our screen door.

A Trip to Arizona

Over Easter the girls and I went and visited my sister Sarah who lives in Arizona. Gordon stayed home to study hard and keep preparing for his exam. This time the drive was only seven hours (short compared to the last one!) And we all did really well. We didn't have to stop very often and Lily is getting really good at making sure the other two have food, drink and entertainment. Our trip was mostly for hanging out and relaxing.

The kids really, really, really wanted to swim. Sarah and I had no intention of jumping into the 58 degree water. But we agreed to lifeguard and it was comical to watch the girls only stay in the water for seconds after pleading for so long to be allowed to swim.

From 2009_04_09

From 2009_04_09

From 2009_04_09

I think Lily may have been the only one brave enough to actually put her head under and swim for a little bit. But after that she mostly laid on the warm sidewalk or huddled in her towel to try and heat up again.

From 2009_04_09

The biggest fun to be had was holding the new baby cousin (only a month old!) Eve and Abigail would ask to take a turn and would hold her for thirty seconds then say "I'm done". Which was good since the baby was usually done too. Lily lasted quite a bit longer on her turns, and I held her as much as I could.

From 2009_04_10

From 2009_04_12

During our visit the girl's were able to go to a dress-up party. Here they are all ready to play!

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We also did an Easter Egg Hunt.

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The eggs were filled with treasures, like candy (totally worth crawling on the ground in your new dress to retrieve) :)

From 2009_04_12

From 2009_04_12

We had to leave for our drive home shortly after the hunt. We had fun hanging out and playing. We hope to be able to do it often since they're our nearest relatives from my side of the family (and they're really cool!).