Camping Trip Cont'd

It's sure nice to just roll out of bed and walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night instead of CRAWLING down from the upper bunk in the small camper!  The perks of having a 5th wheel - and I have found PLENTY of them!

Friday night the rain found us once again.....................we tried to sit around the campfire but soon the rain forced us to our campers.  Evan and Kylan were spending the night in the 5th wheel so we got the bed set up and I made them get into their pj's.  But later on, I heard voices outside and there were the little ones out running around - it had stopped raining and the fire was going great!  So we all went back out to the campfire, turned the music up loud and watched the skies with all the stars for a long time!

Saturday morning I gave the kids the rest of their gift (the night before were the glow wands and the LED finger lites) which was a cute little fan that had lights in it!

The Savages were heading out late morning so they were packing up while I was taking pictures of the cousins!

Nothing beats playing in the dirt with a stick!

Glenn took Jill on a final ATV ride before they headed out and after a while, we see them walking back - did they run out of gas - did they have a flat tire?  No, the ATV just stopped and wouldn't run so Glenn figured it was the transmission...........darn..............Robby graciously drove his car over to where it was parked and helped Glenn pull it back with a chain.  Glenn tore it apart that afternoon and found out it wasn't the transmission at all but a large belt that had broke!  Whew!  I was just glad it didn't happen with Glenn and I when we were on one of our 30 mile trips!!

Of course it rained part of the afternoon - the kids played - Jessi and I read - it was a nice relaxing day!  The 3 kids had fun trying to pull up dead trees by their roots!

We all had to eat in the camper due to the downpour that had soaked most everything outside but we had steaks to eat so who was complaining?  Of course later on, the rain DID stop!!  We had a great campfire again, more marshmallow roasting and enjoyment sitting by the fire!

Sunday morning everything was drenched from a heavy heavy dew - we moved it all out in the little bit of sun we had and by the time we were ready to head out around noon, most of it was dry!

Another successful camping trip - and Glenn and I can't wait to take the 5th wheel out again!

The Annual Family 2nd Year Camping Trip!

It was fun cooking breakfast in the new camper and by late morning, the first of the kids had arrived!  After helping the Keppy's set up, we ate lunch and then the Savages arrived so again we helped them and it was nice when everyone was set up!  The Smiths weren't due to arrive till the next morning since Jaime had to work.

Thursday afternoon was a time of ATV rides, reading, taking walks and just having fun with everyone!  The pictures tell it all!!

If there was ANY fire involved, you can bet Evan was right in the midst of it!!

Although the pop-up camper that we gave the kids still needs some work, it did just fine for the camping trip!

Aleah looks a little puzzled as to why she's on this ATV!!

In between the rain, we did get to have an early campfire with s'mores!

Cell phone service was VERY sketchy and the batteries would drain fast from searching for service so we kept them off most of the time!  But Thursday evening we decided to check them and there's a message from Jaime - CALL ME!  So we did and it wasn't great news - Brad was loading the ATV on the back of his truck and was walking down the ramp when it collapsed - he fell and landed on his foot wrong - the neighbor took him to emergency as Jaime was working and even though it wasn't broken, he had to be on crutches for the next 2 weeks!  So there was no way they could come camping!

Jessi and I put our thinking caps on and figured out a way to get Kylan and Rayna back home if Jaime could just bring them out and after many messages and texts, Jaime ended up bringing just Kylan out the next morning!

Don't Gary and Jessi look relaxed in their new chairs?

After Kylan arrived the guys took all the kids fishing - of course it started raining right after they left but they sat in the car awhile till the rain subsided and got to fish a little bit - Aleah was the only one that caught a fish and she was pretty proud of that!

She kept asking Papa when he was going to cook it for her so when dinnertime arrived and he DID cook it, he told her she had to taste it - but she wasn't having ANY part of that!!  To be cont'd...

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Camping In Style

It's about time we used that new 5th wheel!!!  I've been looking at it for ages it seems but we just didn't have the opportunity to take it out until our family camping trip last week!

I had a great time packing the 5th wheel as I had bought new instead of used to put in it!!  I think it took several trips to Walmart to get everything I needed and it all fit well!

Glenn and I headed over to Tarryall (about an hour away) on Wednesday late afternoon and were happy that the spot we had picked out before was available!  Set up was pretty easy and luckily we were all organized before the rain came that evening.............no campfire that first night!

So here's a look at the inside of our new rig!

Glenn and I both felt like we were in a mansion compared to the little camper on the back of the truck!  The bed was comfortable that night and I slept like a rock..............all prepared for the kids to arrive the next day!!

It's A Jungle In There!!

Glenn's greenhouse is doing excellent!  He tells me soon we'll have zucchini and broccoli - but the tomatoes are not doing as well as expected.  No matter, Colorado tomatoes are nothing to brag about anyway so I'll save my taste buds for the end of August when we fly to Iowa and I'm HOPING there will still be lots of fresh tomatoes around!!

He has quite the system set up - a thermostat to turn on the fan when it gets too hot and a sprinkler system in place so the watering can be done when we're gone!

I'm glad SOMEBODY has a green thumb around here!

Fondue With Friends

It's always fun to eat out - especially when it's at the Mona Lisa Fondue place!!  Once again, I had  purchased 2 Groupons last March and time was running out!  We called friends John and Patti and they were more than happy to go with us!!

 Luckily (even though it was raining) the pass was still open!  With all the rain we've been having, the pass usually closes at least once in the afternoon!

We had the same waiter as last time - and now we know him even better since we had put granite in his house!  He's a lot of fun, very knowledgeable on all the food and just easy to visit with! (and he hunts if that tells you anything...............)

 We stuffed ourselves till we couldn't eat anymore - but of course I left room for dessert - you just can't go to a fondue place and not have the chocolate - dark chocolate for me with all the yummy dippers!!

A great night out with friends and one we'll repeat again, I'm sure!!

Easter Eggs In July

Remember when I went to the 4-H Auction and received the dozen eggs per month for 6 months?  And also the cord of wood that I got such a good deal on?  As it turns out, the egg lady and the wood guy are husband and wife so when he delivered the cord of wood last week, he also brought me 3 dozen farm fresh eggs!!  They are excellent - huge yolks - in fact VERY yellow yolks - I'll probably have a hard time now going back to store bought eggs!

The best part - they're PRETTY eggs!!  Check out the colors in this pack!!

Nothing like a good farm fresh egg!!

An Artist In the Making

Monday morning we headed to Denver for the counter top installation - Jessi had to work but Gary was there till about 1:00 to help Glenn and they immediately started in!!

The kids and I had a great day together - even though I didn't take any pictures!!  I had decided for Jessi's birthday I would clean her house so the kids and I started upstairs in their rooms and the playroom - pretty much a disaster I would say but they dug right in and we got them done and the rooms vacuumed!!

We took a long break and went swimming at the neighborhood pool - it was nice and hot outside so the water felt great!!  And then it was back to the house to finish up cleaning and have rest time.

Meanwhile, Glenn was diligently working on the counter top, hooking up the faucet, garbage disposal and new dishwasher and doing one heck of a nice job!!  By the time Jessi got home from work, the counter top was in, her house was clean (except for the dining room which was housing all the kitchen supplies) and I had fresh flowers waiting for her!!  The counter tops looked great, even though I didn't take a picture of them!

We ate a quick dinner and after finishing up all the little stuff, we finally headed for home after a long day!!  But Jessi did take one picture - Evan had decided he was going to draw a picture of me with the clothes I had on - and he did one great job!! (and I guess you can see the counter top in the background!!)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Jessi who celebrated her birthday on the 10th (driving home from Iowa so not the most exciting day but she did get ice cream - whoo hoo!!) and Happy Birthday to Jill whose birthday is on the 13th (along with mine).  It's not too often that I'm in Ft Collins or she is at my house on our actual birthday but this year was the exception and it was fun to celebrate the day with her!

We decided the guys could handle the kids for most of the day so we headed out to do some shopping and to see the movie "Divergent".  I had just finished reading that book and was finishing up reading the 2nd book in that series called "Insurgent", so was excited to see the movie.  Because it's been out for a while, it was at the cheaper theater (always a plus) so we purchased our buttery popcorn and headed in to watch the movie - it was great!!

 After the movie we headed to Red Lobster - we shared a yummy mango berry daiquiri and I had garlic shrimp which I always order when I go there - Jill had some wood fired shrimp and it was so good that I do believe I'll order it next time!!

 And of course one has to have the brownie delight!

 When we arrived home it was present time!!  The girls gave me money to put towards all the items I had bought to stock the 5th wheel - now I can't wait to pack it!!  Glenn gave me hiking poles and wool socks since I've joined a hiking club so I'm anxious to try them out next Tuesday!

 Robby gave Jill a camelbak which she'll use when she bikes!!

What a great birthday we had together!!  We even told the guys they could go see a movie when we returned and they did just that - enjoyed seeing the new Planet of the Apes!!

Denver and Ft. Collins Bound

It was FINALLY going to happen!  Jessi and Gary's cabinets came in when they were on vacation so we made plans to install her counter top on a Monday following our weekend in Ft. Collins!

Glenn and I were both into work that Friday, hoping to finish up last minute details and we did get some of that accomplished - mainly the inventory got finished!  HOORAY!!  But of course we didn't get out of there when we wanted to and we knew traffic would be bad!!  Bad wasn't even the word for it - it was stop and go all the way to Jessi's house and a normal 1 1/2 hour trip took 2 1/2 hours........

Jessi had a great dinner waiting for us - the guys unloaded the counter tops - and we had fun just visiting until the traffic subsided and then headed up to Jill and Robby's place!

Aleah had a birthday party to go to the next day so I tagged along - it was at a splash park and what a neat park it was!!  I love this picture of Parker - just standing there looking like he SO wants to join in!!

 The best part of the party was of course the food, drinks and the cake!!  It was a "Frozen" birthday party and the cake was sure cute!!

 I still had birthday presents to give Aleah and she loved her little china tea set we gave her!

 So of course we had to have a tea party with REAL water!! 

Late afternoon Jill and another friend hosted a "Nacho Bar" party at Jill's house - despite the rainy weather, about 25 people attended and we all stuffed ourselves with awesome nachos with all the trimmings!!

Let The Birthday Celebrations Start!

What better place to start celebrating than the Cliff House in Manitou Springs?  The church ladies always get together once a month and when it's your birthday month, the other 3 pay for your lunch or dinner!  Since I was the only one NOT retired we usually met in the evenings but now that I AM retired, we could do lunch - and I chose the Cliff House where we could sit out on the veranda!

It's actually a very nice hotel (someday I would love to stay there!) but they have a great dining room and this lovely porch that wraps around the front.  Lunch was delicious - especially dessert!

It was a special day spent with wonderful friends!

4th of July

Happy Birthday to Aleah who turned 5 years old July 4th - ready for kindergarten - where did the last 5 years go?   Also Happy Anniversary to Robby and Jill who celebrated 11 years together!

We decided to head out to camp, even though we knew it would be crazy with the 3 day weekend!  The small camper had to suffice again as Glenn hasn't had time to put the hitch on the back of the 5th wheel for the ATV trailer and I hadn't had time to pack it yet - someday!!

Glenn had an early morning appointment with the buyer at work so as soon as that was done, we headed over to Poncha Springs Pass - we had camped over there years ago in a really neat spot - unfortunately it's all blocked off now and you can't get in there but we found another spot along the same ridge that worked out just fine!  It was actually behind a fence (there were cattle around) so we just kept the atv outside of the fence so we didn't have to open it every time!

After we pulled in and unhooked the trailer, Glenn happened to glance at the tire and went Oh No - that didn't sound good - the wheel bearing was shot and the tire was about to fall off!  Luckily we hadn't driven any further or we would have been along side of the road!  Glenn tore it apart and we headed back into the nearest town to get parts - yes, they had them and he had it fixed by late that afternoon!

We had a great 3 days - lots of good food to eat, even though it rained 2 evenings while we were grilling - new trails to explore with lots of beautiful scenery and relaxation time!!

 There were a lot of butterflies out this time and I waited patiently till I could capture 2 of them in this photo!

 Did you watch Bonanza when you were growing up?  I loved that show and since we were heading into this tiny town, I knew I had to have a picture!!  No services at all offered there - just a few homes and a fire department!

 Beautiful odd looking aspen trees all over!

 Glenn was out walking around and found a treasure - I explained what it was - geocaching!!  So I added a cool looking rubber band and we placed it back where he found it!!  The treasure was planted in 2007.

A great 4th of July weekend - and a quiet one at that!

Campers at LVR

Kylan had his first time at LVR camp this year - Jaime and Brad dropped off both Rayna and Kylan on Sunday afternoon and Kylan was done on Tuesday evening and Rayna not till Wednesday evening so I headed out to LVR Tuesday to pick him up so he could spend the night with us!  He was so excited to see me and to show me around camp - the trail he hiked on, where he ate, where he slept and most importantly, the bathrooms!

I even ate an early dinner with him in the cafeteria - the meal wasn't 1/2 bad but we were late getting in there so had to eat rather fast!  I had forgotten that you had to scrape your plate and put your utensils in the tubs of water - how quickly we forget what camp life is all about!

So here are 3 darling pics of Kylan!

Camps are so much fun for kids and I can't think of a better place to send them than Lutheran Valley Retreat!