High Adventure

For the majority of years that Bryan and I have been married, he has served in the young men's organization. This year, he helped to organize and carry out high adventure with the Boy Scouts in our church. The setting was gorgeous and the managed to only have a few storms roll in. Bryan said he made one of the more responsible choices and told the group to turn around from a 14er they were trying to summit when he saw storm clouds moving in quickly. It's a good thing they did, because that storm was on them in no time at all.
The next day, those that wanted to climbed a 14er. Bryan also helped the scouts catch fish and other leaders showed the boys how to clean and gut a fish, much to the dismay of some. They finished the trip off with boating at Pueblo Reservoir.

Plum Creek Pathway

I took the kids down to the pathway where Emma could spread her wings and cruise with her new bike riding skills. Everyone did really well. Luke rode the entire way: easily 6-7 miles. Emma cruised with ease and kept a good attitude when facing some challenging hills. Myles was content to ride along in the trailer and didn't put up much of a fuss until we were in the neighborhood. It turned out to be a much longer outing than anticipated, but really fun.

Myles decided he wanted to try and go pee...without any help from his mother. Makes me hope and dread that potty training might not be too far away.

Mutton Bustin'

Emma found her courage and tried her luck at mutton bustin'. Luke helped encourage her and cheered her on from the sidelines. He was too big this year to participate. We met up with other friends that were also participating. After the "main event," we went to see the animals in the 4-H barns. Myles kept say "toot (cute) bunny!!" in the bunny barn. The guy tried to send me home with one of the bunnies, but I stuck to my guns and managed to escape bunny free.

Emma is Living the Dream

One evening, I took the kids to the school grounds for some fresh air and exercise. I wanted to work with Emma on her bike-sans training wheels. The boys were excited to play golf and have a little more space to run around in than our backyard affords. Well, it was the magical night for Emma and it just clicked. She was adorable pedaling around (I know I'm slightly prejudice). My favorite comment was, "Mom! It feels like a dream! I can't believe I'm riding my bike!"

Wildlife Experience

It's real name is CU South Denver, but it will always be known to me as the Wildlife Experience. I utilized our library's resources and requested complimentary tickets for a date this Summer to change things up. It was a good getaway for a few hours and the mannequins were so life-like that each of us took a turn being startled.

Douglas County Parade

I had the realization this year that our small town parade is really not that great as far as floats and creative displays. However, it is incredible with the amount of free hand-outs and advertising. The kids were into the candy and anything handed to them (rarely did they have to even move for their candy...ridiculous).

How did we know the parade was over? It became evident fairly quickly once the street sweeper showed up! :)

KR 2017: Day 6

Day 6: I had quite the mixture of emotions when we left. #1 emotion was relief that it went well and nobody was seriously hurt. :) But I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for family. Family is what matters most! There have been recent events where I feel like people I know have been taken too early from this life. Such a strong reminder that we never know how much time each of us are given. "Beyond grateful" is cliche and inadequate to describe the time we had together this week, but other words escape me right now. Families are forever.


We decided to head to Island Park after the cabin to try our luck fishing at a friend's private lake. It was so much fun and beautiful. We took one of the row boats out for a 5 minute ride. It took more time putting on the life jackets than our actual ride in the boat. We made it to Little America in Wyoming and crashed there for the night. We drove the rest of the way home the next day and jumped back into real life.