Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A wonderful vacation

With Bryan working crazy-long days, Monday thru Saturday, since February, we really needed a vacation. I don't really know how to sum up our amazing week in Colorado (and about 900 pictures) in one blog post, but I'm going to try.

We had the most incredible time! Colorado is a beautiful place, and it was absolutely perfect for us to reconnect as a family and explore nature. There are some precious moments that really stand out in my mind, and I don't have pictures of any of them. So, I will attempt to share with words... During the eight hour drive to Denver (we spent one night there before heading on to Estes Park) no one was bothered by anything. If there were bad drivers on the road, we didn't notice. If someone needed to go to the bathroom ten minutes after we left a gas station, we just pulled off the road and went. We didn't count the number of times someone said, "Are we there yet? How much longer?" but it was A LOT and never a bother. And my absolute favorite was how attentive Bryan was to the boys - they had a lot of questions and comments on the drive out! They wanted their daddy's attention so badly. Unfortunately, we've all adjusted to him being gone a lot, so having him with us was a very special treat! Bryan and the boys even played catch with a nerf football in the van. So sweet...

Another favorite memory is my walk with Luke around the condo property on the second night. We watched birds (he especially liked their "really beautiful chirp" and spied on the chipmunks. We ended up in the condo lobby where we looked through a photo album containing pictures of animals photographed on the property. That led to a discussion with the office staff about the best places to see animals. They recommended the park (and told us that it never closes!), so we went back to collect the rest of our crew and rushed off (in jammies) to RMNP to see what we could see.

On the first day that we fished, Zach got bored so he and I went for a hike around the lake. We climbed rocks, talked and found a lot of little treasures (like a broken Bic lighter). Even the shortest amount of alone time with a child is so precious.

On to pictures....

Luke's first MLB game - at the Colorado Rockies

Happy Father's Day - this was taken outside our condo!
Zach, Grandpa (B's dad), Luke & Bryan

A family picture taken at the other end of our condo building

The boys loved the tire swing at the condo

The most awesome swing ever - at my friend Amy's cabin

Grown up, married, with children..
Amy and I went to school together K-6th grade.

Got knee-deep into the water

Luke absolutely loves to fish!
(Notice the elk about 15 feet away.)

My first fish ever
(I think ruffles are prefectly suited for fishing!)

Bryan and the boys reel one in

Grandpa catches one in the river behind our condo

An amazing 11 mile bike tour through Devil's Gulch

If you look closely, we're down around the corner

Beautiful aspens in Rocky Mountain National Park

We loved climbing rocks at Alluvial Fan

Found this beautiful spot near some privately-owned cabins in RMNP

A self portrait at the edge of a cliff

The hike to Alberta Falls

We made it to the top!

Crossing the water on the hike back down

An incredible sunset in the park

2 comments:

Katie Patterson said...

We just got back from Colorado too!!! Man it is beautiful and I took about 900 pictures too!!!

SnoWhite said...

I love Colorado too -- your pictures show how much fun your family had!