Estes Park

Mom has had this trip on her mind since we moved to Colorado. She saw the Elk in the "Rutt" on the Internet in downtown in Estes Park and has been dying to see if it is "real" ever since. I'm so glad we did it!

We stayed here...

In this adorable little cabin...
And had this just a few steps from our front door.

We spent lots of time fishing.

And even a little time in the water.

This is what we came up with the first day. It was Caden's very 1st fish and he was so excited. He struggled a little when Grandpa gutted the fish, probably due to lack of explanation, and even cried a little. He is a tender little guy and I'm not sure he knew what happened after the fish was out of the water. After a little explanation he couldn't wait to eat it for dinner.Kamrie wanted to be part of all the fun too, although she wasn't sure how much a part of it ...the next day Grandpa had a fish on the line and let her reel it in. As it came out of the water the "flipping" scared her and she threw the pole and took off.
Kamrie caught a pet butterfly she named "Rosa" and kept it in this cage until she realized it could fit through the spaces.We took a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park and ended up on a really high mountain where we had a picnic and waited in line to use the bathrooms with "everyone else in the State of Colorado," as my dad put it. It was beautiful a beautiful drive and crazy how high it was.Another day of fishing and playing by the river.

Avery fell in love with this little cowboy decoration and loved on it every chance she got.After being out all day the kids loved going back to cabin and making a fire in our real fireplace.We got lucky and planned our trip right around "Elk Fest" a big celebration in Estes Park. They had Native American Dancing...All kinds of cool animals, booths, food, and one of the best parts... a bugling contest which I thought was quite humorous, especially since Avery still bugles from time to time.No this is not just a dog, it is a WOLFF!
And even fun little games for the kids made out of antlersCaden tasting his very first self caught (with a little help from grandpa) fish.And, yes we did find what mom was dreaming of... One night driving through town we saw a crowd of people and found a few herds of elk right in the middle of town, on the golf course. We were able to get super close and just watched them do their thing. One bull even stole another one's pack of women, which usually causes a fight, but this guy gave up easy.

Even more fishing and playing by the cabin...Another herd of Elk on a different golf course this time...complete with golfer and balls flying at them.

We had such a fantastic trip. We are so glad Grandpa and Grandma got to come with us and can't wait to go back again.

Caden's New Passion

At Kamrie's soccer game a few weeks ago Caden had the camera...this is what I found later when I was looking through the pics. They aren't so bad, maybe he got some photography blood from Gpa Robbins and Aunt Whitnie! It doesn't hurt that his subject is simply adorable.

Child Labor?

We were on our way to the car wash after soccer one day and Caden asked if we could just wash the car in our backyard. Fabulous Idea!!! We couldn't quite get to our backyard but they loved it. Is it still called child Labor if they ask to do it?


The car probably would have gotten much cleaner had we just gone through the car wash as planned, but where is the memory-making in that. These are the moments we will always remember.

Kamrie's Soccer Debut

Who knew! About a year ago we were playing soccer in the back yard and Kamrie showed some attitude and aggression. Brady commented that we might need to put her in soccer. She loves all things girlie and is busy with dance and gymnastics but she said she wanted to try soccer, so here we are. She is loving every minute of it, and she is pretty good too. She has a great coach who really wants them to excel. We are so excited to see her get better and better.

Caden took most of these pictures because I spend the entire game struggling to keep this little terror off the field. I should just get her some cleats and let her go!

Colorado Rapids

The kids got free tickets to a Colorado Rapids Soccer game through a reading program this summer, so we roped some friends into going and hanging out with us for the evening. We could have planned the night a little better but aside from being stuck in what we like to call "little Mexico" while the game was starting, it turned out to be an awesome night.

The kids loved the game and actually sat and watched most of it. While I have never known much about soccer and have never been interested unless one of my children or my husband is playing, I have to say this game was very entertaining.

Caden saw a few guys without their shirts on doing the"die hard" fan thing and decided to join them, he was disappointed that he didn't get on the big TV...maybe dad will have to take his shirt off next time and see if that helps.