ESTES PARK

On Saturday morning, three days after all the kids have been quaranteened for Whooping Cough, we were getting a little stir crazy. With nothing going on and no church assignments, we decided to hit the road. Chris booked a hotel room for us in Estes Park, we threw some clothes in backpacks and were outta here.

 The drive was a beautiful and one we hadn't taken before. We knew it was going to be a good time when we saw this little black bear on the side of the road. We also realized Chris really is the Wildlife Specialiest he claims to be since he spotted this guy. Too bad our car startled him and he took off!

 After we checked in at the YMCA of the Rockies, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park. We found this beautiful lake and spent an hour of so walking around it. Little Kitty was the biggest hiker in the family. She wouldn't ride in the backpack for anything and those little legs walked miles by the time the weekend was over.

 It was getting close to sun down as we left the lake and the Wildlife Specialist was sure there were elk to be found. We came to this strange little unmarked dirt road and he said, "Right here. I need to turn here." I was thinking he was a nut case until we came around a bend and there was a little coyote near the road. The van exploded with excitement. And just past the coyote was a huge heard of elk. Seriously. He didn't need encouragement. Now the kids think he is magical.....

 We had dinner in town at a great little place. We were starved after hiking and all ordered cheeseburgers. The lady brought us a brand new bottle of ketchup when our food arrived and it wasn't even ten minutes later and the bottle was empty. These guys eat ketchup on their ketchup! After dinner we found an ice cream shop and then headed back to hit the hay for the night. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and the kids signed up for all kinds of adventure classes. That is what is so great about the Y...all these fun things are included with your room! Ben is crazy for crafts and loved his rock class and an animal tracks class, Nick and Liv did Archery and a compass orienteering class and then they all met up for a survival basics class.

 In between classes, we grabbed lunch and played a round of mini golf. Nick was in heaven.

 After wailing that tiny little ball several times, Dad stepped in to help Livi with her swing.

 And Kitty just hopped from rock to rock, swung her plastic baby golf club all over and picked up our balls a million times.

 Later on we spent some time at the playground, where mom amazed the family with her skillz on the playground bars. Still cameras were not allowed at the performance.

 We found out Kate loves beavers. Especially ones that don't move and let her rub her hands all over their fur. And eyes.

The happy camper crafter let me know early in the day that he would need a picture by this thing.

It was amazing....we were only gone 24 hours but it felt like a week-long vacation. Everyone was happy. It was adventurous and relaxing and just what this crew needed. We drove home through the park and saw some amazing views at nearly 13,00 feet! The mountains were absolutely breath-taking and we can't wait to get back up there soon!