Mountain House in Conifer

We spent the weekend in Conifer at a friend's mountain house.  It started out really great.  We got there on Friday night, got settled and then went out to a local bar & grill for dinner.  There was a 45 minute wait and Mattea was losing her mind because she did NOT like being there.  It smelled like a bar, but there wasn't anyone even smoking near us yet she held her sweatshirt over her face to keep the offending smells away from her.  She BEGGED Jeff to take us somewhere else, but it seems the more she begged and whined, the more determined he was that we would stay for dinner.  We finally got seated and the food was delicious... even Mattea was happy!  After dinner, we headed back to the house and just relaxed for the rest of the night.  There was a sweet massage chair, so I got my book out and completely chillaxed for a few hours.  It was heavenly!

On Saturday, we all slept in, had some breakfast and then headed out for a hike at Staunton State Park.  We started off on what we thought was a 4.5 mile hike and it was mostly good.  Alex was quite vocal with his dissatisfaction of being on a family hike, so I am pretty sure he was doing everything in his power to be annoying to the rest of us.  He had a hey day throwing pine cones at everyone in front of him, picking up logs and tossing them (which, of course, made Cody think there was an animal he should go after) and picking fights with Josh.  We took frequent breaks to take pictures and let Cody splash in the creek crossings, but we continued to trudge on and climbed higher and higher.  Finally, we started to go back down and everyone's spirits seem to lift a little bit until clutzy Mom rolled her ankle and went down.  We had some people stop to help out and one woman, who was a wilderness aide, helped us make a homemade splint using big sticks, a belt, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt.  Since she was on a bike, she promised to send the park ranger our way once she made it back down. 

Jeff gave me a piggy back for awhile (it's a good thing I'm down 17 lbs!), but that wasn't working well since his belt was on my ankle and not helping hold up his pants!!!  We stopped and Jeff made a different splint that worked a lot better and allowed me to hobble along with help from him and Alex.  We alternated with the hobbling and piggy back rides until the park ranger and EMT finally met up with us.  We had to hike a little bit more to get to where they had parked their ATV.  It was at that point that we realized we still had 3.1 miles left before we got back to our car.  So, our 4.5 mile hike was actually a 7+ mile loop!  I think everyone was grateful for my unfortunate injury because it meant we all got a ride back down the mountain!  Needless to say, my clumsiness put a damper on our fun weekend in the mountains, so we decided to head back home.  We picked up a late lunch, went back to the house to eat and RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) and then we packed up and headed for home.  I am so glad we got a bunch of great pictures before I went down because the park was absolutely beautiful!  The golden aspens and green pine trees against the gorgeous blue skies and puffy white clouds were just amazing! 

Gold Aspens in Colorado

I told Jeff that we HAD to get into the mountains this year as the aspens turned gold because we had never done that before and we've lived in Colorado for 6 years!  Alex had plans with a friend, so Jeff, Josh, Mattea and I headed west after breakfast for a day trip.  We took Highway 285 instead of Interstate 70 in hopes to avoid the heaviest traffic.  We made a pit stop in Fairplay since that is the town from which the cartoon South Park is based.  We took some pictures in front of the South Park signs and then got back in the car to continue our drive. 

When we hit Kenosha Pass near the Colorado Trail, there were tons of cars parked doing exactly what we were doing.  The aspens were spectacular!  Both Josh and Mattea were so mesmerized by the beautiful views that they were sleeping, so we didn't get out to take any pictures.  Jeff slowed down and I took a few while we were driving.  I was mostly there just for the experience, but of course, I was hoping to get a few really great shots.  It would have been even better if Alex had been with us because I would have loved to get some family pictures.  Maybe next year!

We called Terry to see if he was around and he was (kinda stranded at home anyway because of his stolen truck), so we stopped in Dillon for lunch with Uncle T!  He took us to Butterhorn Bakery in Frisco and the food was so good!  I had the most amazing chicken caesar salad wrap and Jeff had the best turkey rueben he's ever had!

We stopped at the Frisco Adventure Park to check out the bike track.  Josh begged us to rent bikes, but we didn't have time, so he and Mattea ran around on the track for a bit since there wasn't anyone there at the time.

After we dropped Terry off, we headed back home.  It was a fun day and I was so glad we took the time to explore the beauty around us.

Super Saturday

This morning, I did the Dirty Girl mud run with my friends.  We drove about an hour north to Erie where the run was being held at The Recess Factory.  My friend, A.J., put together our outfits of pink camo headbands, hand-tied green shirts and funky socks.  We didn't put too much thought into it since we knew we would covered head to toe in mud before long.  There were some creative outfits and it was fun to see them all.  It was a beautiful day for a run and I absolutely loved doing all the obstacles and getting dirty!  SO MUCH FUN!  Totally doing it next year!!

After I got myself cleaned up, I went right into Mom mode since Alex had several friends coming over for pizza before the Homecoming dance.  I told the boys that if I fed them, they had to let me take some pictures.  We both held up our ends of the bargain.  They all looked so handsome, but of course, I think Alex was the shining star.  Seriously... he looked amazing and as Aunt Julie said, he totally rocked that bow tie!!! 

Linkin Park

Tickets to the Linkin Park concert for Jeff's birthday were pure genius on my part... especially because he didn't even realize they were coming to town again.  We had taken the boys to see them a few years ago when they were in Colorado and it was a great show!  Josh was bummed that he wasn't able to go this time, but since it was on a school night, Jeff and I had date night while the kids stayed home, attacked their chore list and did homework.  We got all decked out in our Linkin Park t-shirts and went to the Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre for the concert.

30 Seconds to Mars was the opening band.  Their lead singer is Jared Leto who is also an actor.  We aren't huge fans, so we were anxious for LP to hit the stage.

From the minute LP came on stage, they sang and played their hearts out.  The crowd was engaged and totally rocking out from beginning to end.  It's obvious that the band has been around for 20+ years because they absolutely know how to put on an epic show!!!  They played for almost 2 hours and it was hands-down one of the best concerts we have ever attended.  Jeff said his ears were ringing when we left, so that is always a good sign since he likes his music loud! 

Camping/Jeff's Birthday

*****WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!*****

Without Jeff knowing, I booked a campsite so we could spend his birthday camping.  We hadn't been camping since our trip to the Royal Gorge over the 4th of July and we were all anxious to get out a couple more times before the weather turned cold.  We went to Colorado Springs and had such an amazing weekend!  We made it to the Springs around dinner time on Friday night, so we got the camper hooked up, had some dinner and watched a movie.  (No, we don't really rough it when we camp!) 

On Saturday, we were up early and since I had bought Jeff's birthday present at least 3 months prior, I was super excited for him to open it.  I am pretty sure he opened his card around 7:30am (I had waited long enough!).  His present was 2 tickets to see his most favorite band, Linkin Park.  The beautiful parts of the gift were that 1 - he was surprised and hadn't seen the charge come through and 2 - the concert was only 2 days away!!!  He loved the gift and I got major cool wife points.  Woot woot!

After breakfast, we wanted to go exploring or hiking or something.  We had planned to go to Seven Falls, but it was closed due to the wildfires from last year, so we ended up at the Cliff Dwellings.  The kids were excited to go back since they had a great time there a few years ago with Grandpa Pete and Grandma Carol.  It was a cool place!

 

After exploring the cliff dwellings for awhile, we headed back to the camper for a quick lunch.  Alex ended up with a headache, so he stayed at the camper while the rest of us headed to Cheyenne Mountain State Park for a hike.  Since it was Jeff's birthday, he picked our hiking trail.  We did a 3.5 mile loop, but in order to get to that trail we had to hike over 1 mile to get there and then another mile to get back afterwards.  It ended up being a really great 5+ mile hike, but somehow we didn't manage to wear the kids out.  There was a little grumbling along the way about being hungry or this hurts, but other than that, it was the perfect hike!  Josh was a total trooper, too.  Before we even started on our hike, the kids wanted to play for a couple minutes at the playground near the restrooms.  Josh took off running and scaled this curved ladder to get to the top of the playground, but didn't notice the horizontal bar that was in his way and he about concussed himself.  Poor thing.  He powered through the hike with a big goose egg on top of his head! 

After a busy day, it was time to cool down.  Everyone enjoyed the pool and hot tub.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize the pool would be so warm so I hadn't even reminded the kids to pack swimsuits.  The boys were fine, but Mattea had to make do with her tank top and shorts. 

After swimming, we enjoyed dinner at the camper followed by yummy homemade cupcakes in the flavor of Jeff's choice... yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting... just like always!  For fun, I brought along some candy eyeballs and lips and we decorated the cupcakes with funny faces!

After dinner, we spent some time at the arcade at the campground.  They had tons of great games, old school pinball machines and a pool table.  We had a great time doing what Jeff loves to do!  What a fun weekend!!!