Colorado // Sunday and Monday

Sunday was great. We went to church, added another chapter to Adventures with Jared by taking some county roads, then relaxed.  We did go on a Ranger ride and saw a bobcat!  That was great!

Monday morning was all hustle and bustle to get cleaned up and ready to leave.  I hate leaving.  I can't think of a time when I've felt ready and that I had my complete feel.  It breaks my heart every time I drive away.

We did get a family picture before leaving.

I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go.  It created some great memories, inside jokes between me and my kids ("officer, can you make sure he's home by seven?....seven)  and gave us some precious time with Jared.

My car paid a price for all of the dirt roads, rain and going to town and back.  Look at my car!

The first thing i did this morning was head to the carwash.  Now that my car is nice and shiny, it sits out front with a for sale sign.  We're moving on.

Colorado // Saturday

I really slacked on the picture taking on Thursday and Friday.  I ended up in town twice on Thursday. Once to grab some groceries and again to pick up a prescription.  Ben prescribed me some penicillin for strep.  Thank goodness I caught it in time and it didn't become full blown strep throat!

Jared showed up at about 2:00 in the morning on Saturday.  I waited up for him then laid awake in bed until almost 4:00 tossing and turing until I finally fell asleep.  I had so much on my mind and the middle of the night is the only quiet time I get to think.

The next day we took a Ranger ride until, you guessed it, it started pouring rain.  So we headed off to add another chapter to Adventures with Jared.  I wish I could remember the name of this place.  It was a manmade wooden above ground ditch.

Look at our chins!  She had my chin!!  I've never noticed that.

 We then made our way to Silverton and Ouray.  Both beautiful quaint little towns but a bit too much of a white knuckled drive.  This is the view coming into Silverton.  And this is also where the guardrail stopped.

The drive was Ouray was terrible.  Nerve-racking to say the least.  Jared is a good driver and I'm confident in his skills but even he was nervous.  The road had no gaurdrail and dropped off completely.  Straight 1,000 foot drop offs!  Thankfully the little town was cute.  I kind of felt like I was in the Swiss Alps!

 Ouray is known for their Hot Springs.  I couldn't believe how many people were swimming in 45 degree weather!  I talked to some of them and they said that pool was over 90 degrees and the jacuzzi was over 100.  Still, I can't imagine swimming around in warm water with a bunch of strangers and their warm bodily fluids.  Blah!

Colorado // Wednesday

We had so much rain in Colorado!  It was awesome!  But it also put limits on what we could do at the cabin.  On Wednesday we decided to take a drive to Vallecito Lake to enjoy more of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations.

This is the reality of what it looks like to get a picture for us.

 Vallecito was so beauitful!  I'm not really a nature lover but I found myself soaking in all of the beauty that surrounded me the entire time.

When we got back to the cabin we had a clay competition.

I believe this is Lucy's version of me.  Yikes :)

 Here's Kimber's rendition.

 And Addie's.

 A few more of the girls' creations.  I think this is Jared by Kimber.

 Kimber made a fire extinguisher.

 I love Kimber's antlers :)

That evening Colton was super grumpy.  Lucy was the only one who could figure him out.  She spread this blanket out on the ground and fed him a pancake.  After that, he was happy as a clam!

Colorado // Monday

Monday morning we headed to town. We did a little shopping for a few necessities then hit up the Fish Hatchery where they had the most fantastic {free!} wildlife museum. I'll be honest, I was sorta freaked out the whole time but I acted cool so no one would catch up. Thank you Richardson Genes!

This elk had some freaky looking antlers. Apparently, it had a hormone problem which caused its antlers to grow wrong. 

They had a variety of animal pelts. Everyone but Kimber and Colton stayed away from them. Here is Kimber petting an elk pelt. 

The kids LOVED feeding the trout.

 After the museum? We took the walking path to the river. It was a very muddy river but a great view.

That path les to the park where the kids played for bit. Cities like Durango, that are so outdoor and family friendly, make me sad that we don't live somewhere that is more like that. 

The kids had been such troopers so we found a frozen yogurt joint and treated ourselves.

By the time we headed back to the cabin everyone was pretty wiped out. Vacation can be exhausting!

That night we had a talent show for FHE.  Colton's talent was eating a banana then "sharing" it with his sisters.

 My talent was smiling.  Because moments before I wasn't!  I was running around crazy and trying to meet everyone's needs.  It was chaotic and I was grumpy but everyone lived.  I don't let my girls wear short shorts or tank tops around or sleep in them, but at this moment I was just glad we had all come together!

 Kimber's talent was shadow puppets.

 Addie lip synced a song on the staircase.

 She really got into it!

Last of all, Lucy arranged cards.

Colorado // Tuesday

The kids were so excited for Tuesday to finally roll around. They were finally getting their chance to go to the Rec Center!  I spent over $50 just getting stuff together that would make the trip to the pool less stressful for me. A life jacket for Colton, floaties for Lucy, sunscreen for the splash pad, etc. 

To my suprise, the trip went much better than I anticipated. I was prepared to be on wdge and freaking out the whole time. Instead, the kids did great!  The pool was laid out perfectly. There was so much shallow area and lots of toys that everyone played without any problems. A huge blessing for me!

The big girls got to climb the rock wall. They loved it!

I forced them out to the splash pad. They resisted and argued. I believe their exact words were "it looks stupid."  Haha!  They had a great time and later told me how much fun it was. 

You know, having your kids alone on vacation is really hard but these smiles make it all worth it. 

And this little guy too ;)

This afternoon after we got back to the cabin, I took some time to go outside to read my scriptures and think. It's amazing how peaceful life is when you take your schedule out of it. It's also amazing how peaceful you feel when you think about God's creations. They are so vast and amazing in their own way. Just a few weeks ago I was sitting in Aravaipa enjoying the dessert scenery. To compare that with the mountains and trees of Colorado tells me that Heavenly Father truly blessed us when he created nature. It is for our enjoyment of we will only stake advantage of it.