Thursday, August 18, 2011

Eldorado Springs



Here are some pics of our visit to Eldorado Canyon State Park - our closest state park..... about 20 minutes away.


 This park was stunning right from the entrance.  You pass through Eldorado Springs a small, old mountain town and then enter the park.  It's really cool.


You're in this big, steep canyon, so pretty much the only way to go is up.  So this is the kids before the ascent.

 Just too cool.


Amelia ready to climb. The kids were all eager to go up to test their playground skills.


Cora had a lot of fun hanging out on Daddy's back.


This is a shot of us going down after we made it as far as we safely could go with such little legs.


The views are just unbelievable, probably even more so in person.  This will be the park to hit in the fall.  It will be four years since we've seen the leaves change.  We are excited about it!


All of us hiking it on the trail that runs along the creek.


We never did make it to the top of that one though.  Maybe next time.


Shots of the creek along side the trail.


This is Boulder creek running through, and there are more small water falls here than in Boulder where the creek passes.


The kids had to get a closer look, and they are always looking for their chance to spot some gold.


Cora doing a little rock climbing of her own.


Cora just being cute.  She'd keep right up with the kids and their climbing too, if we'd let her.

--B

On Top of Mt. Evans



A couple weekends ago we drove up 14,000 to reach the top of Mt. Evans...the highest paved road in North America. 


We met this friendly Mountain Goat on our way up.  He seemed to have no problem with us being there in his territory.


 Even Grandma made the trip with us on her first ever mountain excursion.




More Mountain Goats showing off their agility.  It was amazing seeing them walk around on the rocks.  This is the first time we've seen them...besides sighting them in the zoo.

On our way down, we stopped in Idaho Springs for  lunch.  Everybody hung out on the rock watching the white water rafters float by.

--B

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Gross Dam Reservoir

This weekend we put the canoe on the top of the van and headed up to Gross Dam Reservoir.


We ALMOST went canoeing too...until we realized hiking a canoe DOWN to the Lake was nearly impossible. And we probably would have left it there if we would have had to hike it back UP to our van.


But, with or without the canoe, this has made our top most beautiful mountain location so far.


Lots of kid photos by the water. Can you tell we are BIG water fans?











Cora wasn't quite as good as the rest of us at maneuvering the sandy mountain terrain, so she kicked back with her sparkling water.








The kids doing some minor mountain excavating. After wading around in the water, we came out covered in gold dust!





This is where we were having one of our don't look down moments. You can see Boulder Creek gushing through the valley.


Just can't resist a train along the hillside.


And this is what happens after a mountain excursion...times two.


-B

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Two Nicks




Nick doesn't enjoy sitting still for a full hair cut, so we usually have to buzz him. He also looks like a completely different kid afterwards.



Looking pretty sharp, though, for an almost four year old!

-B

Cute Pic

Nick and Cora taking it easy in the hammock.






- B

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Mountain weekend fun :-)

B got her blog post up first.... But I had to get my favorite pics up too! Great weekend in the mile high...









Great Nick pic!







Amelia on pride rock....







Nolan trying to get in a quick nap...



And Cora.....



Just being cute!



And hey..... Gold! First time I've seen gold dust in a stream and it was pretty cool looking. We'll be back with some pans(?) next w/e.



This was yesterday. Kids on the beach fishing and me.... The orange spec on the right getting my sailing fix. Great pics B :-)

DigoryDad

What A Weekend

We crammed a lot in this weekend. We spent Saturday walking around downtown Denver. Sunday morning we hit the Denver Zoo until the little legs got tired, and then we took a picnic up into the mountains for the afternoon. You can't resist following a mountain stream as gushing as this. It was beautiful!























-B