Colorado Adventures: Lair o' the Bear

In keeping with our family goal to enjoy where we live a little more, we headed out to hike the first of a lengthy list of easy, kid-friendly trails I had gathered from friends. We started out at Lair o' the Bear today, savoring a warm winter day.

The paths were a little snowy, icy, and muddy, but it was an adventure, and we had a blast.

If it weren't for the snow/ice/mud, it would have been a super simple hike, which is a major plus for when Colette is hiking along with us rather than riding in the carrier.

Bear Creek runs through the park, and the girls were fascinated by the sparkling, crystal clear water.

Once she knew there were Lara Bars tucked away, Anni made sure to let us know that she was "weeewwy hungwy". She felt like waiting for a bench to sit and have our snack took waaaay too long. Other than that, she was a trooper of a little hiker.

Near the end, we let Miss Lettie down for a little hiking of her own. She ran along in her adorable toddle yelling, "Wun wun wun wun wun!" as she chased after Daddy and Anni.

Yep, ridiculously adorable.

Happy Adventuring!

Seven Quick Takes Friday: Volume VI

-One-

Hiked at Red Rocks last Friday.  It claims that the trial is only 1.4 miles long, but with Colette strapped to me (happily sleeping very peacefully despite forgetting the pacifier), very little wind and, apparently, being incredibly out of shape, it felt like at least five miles.  You wouldn't know that I once walked across the country by how relieved I was to have made it through that little hike!  Still, it was a blast, and Anni yelled as we neared the end (and ice cream and water!) "I did it all myself!"  Never mind that her Aunt Tinie and Grandma did have to take a few turns carrying her near the end... she really was a little trooper.

-Two-

After several weeks of sad, limp ponytails as I tried to figure out what to do with my postpartumly suuuuper thin hair (I have pretty thin hair anyway, so it's just bad right now), I finally dashed out one night and got it cut.  I haven't decided how I feel about it yet (apparently I need to invest in a blow dryer, especially if I want to come close to what it looked like after they cut it... one step at a time, people!)

Bad cellphone photo, sorry!

-Three-

After having family here for so long... I miss them!  While I'm not super excited about the 8-10 hour drive with road-trip hatin' Colette in a few months, I can't wait to see our whole family together again!

-Four-

Anni is loving the views in our house.  She can actually watch for Daddy to come home through the big window (yes, she sits perched either on the top of the couch or in the window) and wait, giggling hysterically, at the door. 

-Five-

I am very tired.  Poor Anni spent way too long watching Daniel Tiger yesterday afternoon (evidenced by the repeated use of the phrase "meow meow" in conversation last night) while I passed out on the bed as baby napped.  Today is going to be all about sucking it up for the good of the family.  Now if I could only get my body to understand that determination. 

-Six-

You can tell Aunt Tinie has been here, because Anni keeps asking for ice "to eat".  Then she licks it and looks really confused as to how in the world Aunt Tinie bites it.  

-Seven-

Happy Friday!  I think I'm going to go indulge in Anni's recent favorite activity when the house is quiet: lying on the couch and reading the cooking magazines Aunt Tinie left... the best!

Find more Seven Quick takes at Conversion Diary.

Babies and Boulder

Our baby loves her baby.  Last Thanksgiving, we meant to bring the baby, but somehow left her forlorn in our little apartment for the few days we were gone.  We didn't know how attached she was until she saw her cousin's doll and picked it up, saying, "Baby?  nooooo, baby!"  It was similar, but not her baby.  When we got home late at night, I brought her baby to her while she was taking a bath.  Her face lit up and she nearly lept out of the tub, shouting, "Baby!!!"  Baby has been at her side nearly all the time since then. 

She likes for the baby to do all the things she does and all the things she sees me do with the baby we watch.  She rocks her, carries her around in her overalls (not that I do that... think of it as baby wearing ;-)),  puts her in the high chair and shares her snacks with her.

She even brought her with us when we went to Boulder yesterday to visit a friend.  We weren't able to stay out long, because Anni has a bit of a cough that got nasty when she got worked up, but she loved, loved running up and down the hill while we ooh'd and ahh'd at the mountains (er... rock formations, supposedly these aren't technically mountains?  I'm not sure.)

Afterwards we settled in at Miss Sarah's house for a cup of tea and some music listening.  We really do have a good life.

I've got friends... (and Anni has a costume)

Once upon a time I was in college (above), and I had lovely friends.  I still have lovely friends, but we're pretty scattered now.  Luckily, sometimes one of those friends (right) needs a break and decides to take a spontaneous trip to Colorado.  I couldn't be happier about that decision!

 

We spent a lot of time talking about dreams, and our pasts and our futures.  Oh, and putting my hair into a faux-hawk... maybe...

Then, because it was a beautiful fall day, we attempted a hike... after stopping at the overlook by my husband's office... because it is awesome!

And by attempted a hike, I mean... I failed at finding a place to park by a trail... so as our time was dwindling until we needed to head down the mountain, we pulled up by a hill in the mountains and just hung out for a few minutes.   

Yep, just hanging out on the hill.  Anni loved it!  She had just woken up from a nap (after destroying an entire cereal bar in her seat... it still hasn't recovered) and reveled in the many small things to be sorted and examined. 

It was a good fall moment :).

Then we went on to visit our sweet friend Jill.  Amanda and Jill were roommates in college (at a different time than when Amanda and I were roomies).  

Then, while we watched all of these sweet little ones trick-or-treat and eat chili (alas, my yummy chicken chili did not win anything), the snow started...

See my sweet little doctor (St. Gianna) in the front row?  She loved holding her little doctor bag - it was a lot of fun.  Since her grandpa's a doctor, we think he'll enjoy this year's costume :).  There were some amazing costumes at the All Saint's Day party... I think John the Baptist wins for most creative (far right).  They were all so adorable!

But, back to that snow.  It snowed all night and through the next day.  

 
I had some hopes that Amanda's plane would be delayed, giving me more time to convince her to move here.  Unfortunately... no such luck.  We did make it through the snow to stare a little more at the mountains and go thrift storing (in which she bought Anni an adorable dress and I found a little kiddo chair for $7... score!).  It's a good life.  We miss you already Amanda!