Camping at Coletto Creek

It's been a long time since we have been camping especially with everything still in storage its hard to gather all of our camping things together but since we haven't been camping since Grayson was still a baby we figured it was time.  Kelly and Kevin invited us to try a new spot that is only an hour from home and it was perfect.

We are troopers and still do tent camping but both nights were very comfortable for sleeping and even had to pull up a sheet both nights.  Getting Grayson to sleep was a little challenging but nothing a long walk to the boat ramp in the stroller couldn't take care of.

Saturday we hit the water early because it got hot early.  Konnor and Grayson are at the age where if one looks at the other funny either one or the other are screaming so that was entertaining but all in all the played in close proximity pretty well.

 Jillian loved playing with Kenzie in and out of the water.  The highlight of the trip was probably getting Jillian's bike fixed.  She has been having trouble riding hers b/c she kept spinning out.  She tried riding Kenzie's which is bigger than hers and Kenzie has her training wheels raised b/c she is determined to get rid of them when she turns 5.  Jillian did well with that and we figured out that she was having difficulty b/c her training wheels were too low.  With a little fixing she was riding around the loop at the campsite like a big girl!  Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of that!

 Can't say that this boy isn't smart.  He didn't want to sit in the sand (who wants dirt in your diaper) so he pulled up a Frisbee to sit on

 While we were holding down the fort Jillian went on a boat ride with Kelly and Kevin and the kids.  I returned to from the campsite and James informs me that I missed Jillian's first ride in the tube.  Luckily my camera was in the boat and Kelly was kind enough to capture her first ride for me.  Of course she wouldn't do it without Kenzie.

 But on the 2nd trip out in the boat she ventured out in the tube all by herself!

 Grayson of course did not but he sure did enjoy pretending to drive the boat

 Well by afternoon the clouds were starting to look ominous and we knew the rain was coming but kept optimistic that it would pass us.  Eventually we decided it was time to come out of the water and we tired to prepare the campsite.  We put up our 2 pop canopies in what we thought would be the best place and we put what we could under cover.  Well the rain did not miss us and it rained for about an hour and a half, HARD!  Luckily Jillian and I were in dry clothes but everyone else was still in wet clothes and freezing huddled under the canopies that were leaking water everywhere.  All in all it could have been much worse, eventually the rain stopped and everyone was able to get dry.  The tent fared fairly well and our beds and blankets were still dry.  

What is the best way to entertain starving children at a muddy campsite while they wait for dinner?  Bubbles of course!

 We figured there was no point in putting clothes on Grayson when there was mud around so he got a bath in the water faucet outside old school and he got to play in the mud in just a diaper.  These pictures do not do him justice because he was filthy!!! but very happy!

Annual Port A Trip

We made our annual trip to Port Aransas with James family a few weeks ago.  This was the first year that we had access to a boat as Chris brought his boat down.  Well having access to a boat meant we had less access to Daddy.  None the less the women packed up all the kiddos and gear and headed to the beach both mornings and the kiddos had fun playing in the water and the dirt.

 Having access to a boat also meant that Chris was nice enough to take the kids out on a ride for a little fishing

Grayson was fascinated by the water

Jillian got to go fishing for the first time

And she caught 4 fish

Even Mommy caught one too

We enjoyed the trip as always and look forward to going again next year

Colorado

We had a wonderful summer vacation this year!  At the end of June our family along with my mom and dad loaded up our two cars and headed to Colorado!  We left early on Monday morning and drove to Levelland where we stayed with my cousin Carrie at a nice half way point.  The next morning we made the rest of the trip to Denver, Colorado.  Our first stop was the Botanic Gardens.

 They had a hill that we were told was great for the kids to roll down.  They didn't quite understand what we were telling them to do or were surprised that we were telling them to roll in the grass so grandpa quickly demonstrated.  Jillian eventually tried it but grandpa rolled much better and faster

 Checking out the fish

 They had a little kid area on the top of the parking garage and the kids enjoyed playing in the water

 We stayed at a hotel and the next morning we left and drove up Mt. Evans.  This is Echo Lake at the bottom of the mountain

 About 3/4 of the way up and the view is already gorgeous!

 Summit Lake with the melting ice from the mountain

 view from the top

 On our way to Colorado Springs we stopped at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and it had beautiful stained glass windows

 We made it to Colorado Springs where we had rental a little cottage in a quiet neighborhood that was perfect for us.  The next morning we took the Cog train up Pikes Peak and again saw beautiful scenery.  The view from Pikes Peak inspired the song America the Beautiful

The best part about taking the train up Pikes Peak was not the view though, it was watching the kids on the train.  They loved it!  On the way up Jillian kept looking out the window and on the way back down Grayson joined in and got a little brave by standing on the arm rail and leaning on the window.

Our next stop was Garden of the Gods.  We drove through most of it while Grayson napped but he woke up just in time for some pictures at the Balance Rock

 Next stop was 7 falls and James and I braved the 224 stops to get to the top and man did it take a LOT of effort for this out of shape mama!

 It was beautiful though and well worth it

 The next morning we took a tour of the Olympic Training Center

 Then we went to Santa's North Pole.  It was a wonderful place for young kids and Jillian enjoyed riding all of the rides and Grayson enjoyed a few rides as well as a nap in the stroller

 Our last stop was a mine tour where we went down underground to tour and old gold mine.  We even got to wear our lovely hard hats and provided jackets.

We had a wonderful trip and hope to go back again to see even more things because unfortunately our time there was too short