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!!