Freedom Hike

On the morning of the 4th, we drove to Castlewood Canyon and did the "Creek Bottom Trail" hike. We've done this one before and it is a great hike for kids. Fairly flat, great view of the waterfall and you follow close to the creek. This time, we hiked a little over 3 miles and 95% of it was enjoyable. Luckily, that other 5% didn't last too long. :)

These are not our usual hiking clothes Before, we would let the kids get in the water to splash around and play. .  However, Colorado received an incredible amount of rain and the creek was running too high and fast to get in this time. 

They are quite the explorers when we hike.

Emma scouring the hillside in her swimsuit, classy.

Little man enjoyed the hike from his comfy carrier.

The kids were doing so well, that we continued hiking all the way to the dam.

 On top of the dam, Emma ran out of gas and needed to refuel with some fruit, goldfish and water. :)

 Love those lips.

On the way back to our car, we stopped and dipped our toes in the creek (that was more like a river). 

Bryan managed to catch this crawdad and had us all laughing in the process to snag him.

We also spotted tad poles, water skeeters and raced blades of grass and branches in the water. It's the simple things that can be the most memorable.