Our first night there it was just our family. The Lees left Salt Lake City a little after 9:00 P.M. because Jared was out of town and had a late flight coming in. They arrived at 3:30 A.M. (!!!) and their girls thought they had slept long enough! Rough start to the trip for them. We wish they could have joined us at the rodeo. I wanted to go to this rodeo from when we visited 2 years ago. This trip we made it happen. I thought it was such a fun night with our family.
Bryan teaching calf roping to Luke. He caught on quickly and started dragging that calf all over the place!
Seriously, this kid was owning the calf roping. Buy him a pair of cowboy boots, hat and why not some Carhartt bibs! The only (minor) downside was he created the perfect set-up for kids to clothesline themselves. Roping calves and kids, no biggie.
Next we visited the petting zoo. These poor animals had definitely seen better days, but the kids loved seeing the animals.
Watching the chutes...
Luke loved hanging out on the gate. He was convinced that the seat by us was not close or cool enough for him. We thought about entering Luke in the Mutton Bustin' (for about 3 seconds). I couldn't convince him to go on the pony ride, so I thought it was highly unlikely that my persuasion skills would be any better for a sheep.
Emma was recovering from an ear infection and feel asleep during the rodeo. Maybe next year she'll see all of the action. Bryan leaned over during the rodeo and told me, "I think it would be awesome if Emma was a barrel racer." The rodeo tends to bring out the country in all of us.
Happy 4th of July!
We spent the holiday swimming, hiking, gondola-ing and for one of us in the group, puking (poor Charlotte).
I think the "Gondolos" as Luke called them was the highlight of the trip for him. He rode those things probably 9 or 10 times. The "lifties" recognized us and loved watching Luke's enthusiasm. Just not when he tried to jump in without one of us with him. :)
Sweet Emma catching a quick nap. She was great at just rolling with whatever and sleeping whenever she had a chance.
Luke workin' it with the two ladies during an impromptu dance party on the patio of "The Slice" pizzeria.
Sometimes, he really is this sweet.
Headed out for another adventure! Doesn't Charlotte (on the left) and Luke look thrilled???
Hanna and Luke racing up the mountain. Loved their similar outfits.
The next day we visited the Maroon Bells.
We went back to the condo where we grilled hamburgers and swam for a few hours. Later, while the kids and moms napped, Jared and Bryan played dork frisbee golf, a.k.a. frolthing. That night we thought we might go to a concert they had at the ski resort, but Jared wasn't feeling so hot. I think the Lees might have been regretting their decision to join us at this point! Our family went out for a little drive and looked at some real estate. If you have an extra 3+ million to spend, we know of a few amazing places to show you.
On our way home through Independence Pass the next day we stopped for a "quick" hike. Turned into slightly longer than anticipated, but definitely worth it!
Luke loved going across the bridges and spotting the fish in the stream. Bryan was definitely proud when Luke would spot a fish.
I snapped this pic of Emma and me at the final destination. Bryan was back on the trail trying to convince Luke that the lake really was just around the next corner. Yes, she is chewing on a stick. And yes, I gave it to her. It's nature's teething ring. How can you get more organic than that? :)
He MADE it! He proceeded to throw every rock he could find into the lake. I think he thought it was worth it at that point.
Such a fun trip for us! I hope the Lee family has recovered and will join us on another trip! I can easily see this destination becoming a tradition for us on the 4th of July.
A few of my favorite outtakes from the trip:
