South Valley Park

Still back in September, we headed out for a Saturday hike to South Valley Park, part of the Jefferson County Parks system with similar, though less dramatic, scenery to Roxborough Park, one of our favorites.  While the red rocks at South Valley aren't quite as exciting as Roxborough, it was free (woohoo!).  Roxborough is a state park and is around $10 a car to get in. 

We came a day or two after a big storm so the trails were a little sketchy.  Nothing a two year old couldn't handle!

In fact, Will would have sat there all day throwing dirt clods if we had let him.

Our trusty $10 garage sale back pack has been quite handy on our hikes.  However, the bottom strap is broken which means there's not a lot of support (resulting in ouchie backs for me & Grant).  It may be time for an upgrade.

Running, running.

Love my boys.

Weekend Family Camping Reunion

The last weekend in July, we met up with Uncle Robbie & Aunt Katie (cute little newlyweds!) for a few days camping.   We looked for a campsite halfway between Provo & Denver and found Jumbo Campground outside of Mesa, CO.

We traded off meals-- Uncle Reebee cooked up some yummy coke chicken the first night.

Grant brought his new hammock and hung out with Baby Will.

Our trip fell on Rob's birthday and mine was two weeks earlier so we brought each other presents.  We both decided on Swedish fish, but somehow I got out-presented...

And of course, Will was the cutest.

Oh, and the dirtiest...

Uncle Reebee taught Bubby how to hit sticks together.

It quickly became one of Will's favorite hobbies.

We hiked the next morning.

Past the lake...

through a meadow...

and up to a big rock pile.

Will got some killer splinters that got infected.  There was some serious screaming when we finally pinned him down to get them out.  Bleh.

But splinters aside (as well as the torrential rain that kept us tent-ed all evening), we had a fantastic time.  Will loves his Aunt Katie & Uncle Reebee!

Devil's Head

A few weeks ago, we headed out for a hike up to Devil's Head, home of the last working fire lookout station in Colorado.  

It was 2.8 miles round trip and Willister hung out in the backpack most of the way up. He likes it pretty well, (no screaming or fighting), but sure doesn't mind when it's time to get out!

We had Grumsie, Uncle Matthead, and friends Monroe & Lisa for climbing buddies.

At the top of the hike there is a 100+ stair climb to the top of the lookout tower. The stairs are anchored into the rocks and it's pretty steep, but Will was up for the challenge.

Cute baby butt.

He made it!

There was a nice old forest ranger in the tower.  He lives up on the mountain and has been working the lookout tower for some 20-odd years.

The 360 degree view was gorgeous.

And Will was definitely all tuckered-out by the time we got down. We love our day hikes, but they sure do mess up regular nap times-- boo for that!

Christmas Tree Cutting

We headed up to the mountains this weekend to cut down our Christmas tree!  We haven't had a real tree for a few years so we were really excited!

Will wore his big boy coat.

We hiked in about a half-mile, checking out all the potential trees on the way in.  We wanted a big tree.

The trees weren't very full, but plenty tall.

We settled on one.

Grant chopped it down.   Will cried.  A true environmentalist :)

We tied it to the trailer.

And drove that puppy home.  On the hour-drive home, we couldn't help but check out other people's Christmas trees tied to their cars.  They all looked fuller and prettier than ours and we wondered if we would still like our tall skinny tree when we got home. (I guess the trees are always greener on someone else's car...)

But we got home.  And our tree is THE BEST!  Pictures coming soon.

Hike to the Compass

We've established some new goals for our family lately.  One goal is to have a recreational family activity once a week.  While we usually spend a fair amount of time together, we tend to spend that time on home projects and television... not the most productive.  It has been great for our family to set that time aside, and to know that Saturday afternoon, the saws and sewing machines will be put away for a bit.

So this week, we headed out on a hike to "The Compass".

Will loves his new carrier backpack.  We got it at a friend's garage sale for $10.  Woot.

The Compass is a little under 2 miles from our house and you can see all the major landmarks from it.

There is a literal 'compass' on the ground with arrows that point to places like the State House, Red Rocks, Roxborough State Park, and various reservoirs.

There are also telescopes (that are really just metal rod; see above) that point to the 14ers visible from that spot.

This is looking out NorthWest from where we were.  In the middle of the picture is Will's future high school and middle school.

Cutest baby in the world.

Oh, and I got this excellent picture of his "swagger."  He's quite confident in his walking skills these days.

Sometimes we can't believe we live in such an incredible place.  I'm THANKFUL for being healthy and happy.  (Gotta throw in a holiday reference...)