Sand Dunes

Over the weekend we headed down to southern Colorado to explore the 'Great Sand Dunes' National Park.  I did a little research before going down and discovered that Medano Creek only runs through the sand dunes for a short period of time in the late Spring and early Summer. This year, it was only at a fifth of the flow that it normally is, but the kids loved playing in the water and sand. It was also nice not to worry that the little ones would be swept away. We went with several other families and had a blast! I'm sure that we will visit the Sand Dunes again, but I would only go while the Creek is running. I think it would be too hot, plus the water and sand combination is really what makes it so much fun with the kids.

 ***Warning, lots AND lots of pictures!***

Our destination for the weekend.

Emma helping us pack the car. She is such a little climber!

Wasting no time once we arrived! Lots of water, sand and friends to play with!

Found the Tonka truck at a garage sale before we left, it was a huge hit!

Emma ate so much sand and water, yuck! Her poor bottom is suffering...but, I don't think she would change a thing.

Our dinner area for Friday evening.

Let's Eat! 

Too busy to eat. Loading up the truck! 

Friday night was our first time sharing a hotel room as a family. There were a few learning curves for us, but overall I would give it a B-.

2 seconds after this picture, girly dived head-first onto the tile. It was worth the bruise to capture this picture. :)

Saturday morning we hiked to Zapata Falls. It was a 1-mile round trip hike. Beautiful hike! The water was freezing, but we only had to wade in it at the very end.

I threw this picture in because Emma loves the camera right now. She will ham it up whenever someone pulls out a camera and says her name.

Catching a quick nap between all of the excitement.

Back at the Sand Dunes for round 2 of fun in the sun!

Emma chilled in this chair for quite awhile just snacking and watching the chaos around her.

The never-ending journey to sled on the Dunes.

Well, Luke decided that the journey wasn't worth it and headed back to the water. Bryan was extremely grateful.

6 "big boys" and their sand castle.

We also had three 1-year-olds -ish and 2 babies.We were quite the crew!

"Don't lick my finger?"

"You mean, this finger?"

Saturday nigh we had a pizza party at the hotel pool. Perfect ending to a great trip!

 I realize that I'm rockin' a pretty good tan line on my legs. Time to hit up the outside pool! :)

The only girls out of 11 kids!

'Little Red'

I participated in 'Little Red Riding Hood', an all-ladies bike ride in Northern Utah, on behalf of the Rack Pack Foundation. My friend, Carol, lost her niece, Christi, to breast cancer at a young age, leaving behind her husband and children. This foundation was set up in honor of Christi.

Right after I finished my first century ride. I'm smiling because I'm finally off my bike! I spent about 6 hours on that baby! I really liked the course, and HUGE plus, no wind! The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. 

Ran into my buddy, Sarah. We worked and played together until she moved to Utah. So great to see her again.

Carol with her sister, Michele, at the Rack Pack Foundation Booth.

A gigantic thank you to Bryan, for keeping things rolling on the home front and managing the kids flying solo.  Bryan sent me a few pictures to reassure me that things were under control.

Pic #1

Pic #2

Watering the flowers, followed with a "shower" for Emma.

No ER visits and he even managed 8:00 church, I would consider the weekend a success. :)

Duckies

Bryan took some maternity picture for our friends, the Millers.  It was a good thing she didn't wait to have the pictures taken any longer because she delivered Friday night! Huge congrats to Dave and Suzanne.  We went to a nice park for the pictures, that also had ducks to entertain the kids. It was such a nice evening.

Luke liked feeding the dog, Elway, over the ducks. Elway was definitely more entertaining and energetic than the ducks.

Emma chowin' down on watermelon. This girl cannot get enough watermelon. She la-la-loves it.