Sunday, October 30, 2016

September/October Hiking

Hiking is a lot harder with four kids--we have only hit the trails a handful of times since our family most recently multiplied. And we completely missed the fall colors in Estes Park. But we have gone on two notable hikes since school started: Lake Irene back in September and Well Gulch in early October.

Lake Irene was rather windy on Labor Day, but we were just barely tough enough to go through with the hike.
October 8th was a perfect autumn day to hike Well Gulch in Lory State Park.
Sunglasses proved to be both functional and fashionable for this excursion--the girls struck several glamorous poses in the sunshine.
Ramona wanted me to get my picture taken with the cautionary poison ivy sign:
Thank you, Colorado, for such lovely views--our family loves you!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

A Taste of Fall

While Uncle Dan was in Colorado visiting at the end of September, we all went to the "Taste in Timnath" Fall Festival in Old Town Timnath.
There we did some pumpkin decorating . . .
. . . bouncy house jumping. . .
. . . tasting . . .
(this was the weekend Paula kept repeating: "Nom, nom, paleo," an inexplicable phrase from a T-shirt we got in a back of hand-me-down clothes.)
. . . and waiting in line for balloon animals.
We loved having Uncle Dan in town. With all of our family out of state (and his current residence all the way in Indiana), it was a very rare treat to close some distance between us.
In early October, we got another fun taste of Fall at the Bethke Elementary Fall Social. This event took place at the Northern Colorado Corn Maze, and involved more bouncy-house jumping.
It also involved me climbing into one of those inflatable structures to retrieve this polar bear ring after Ramona lost it, failed to find it on her own, and burst into tears. I hope it is the last time I have to accomplish such an awkward task!
Our little Wylie guy hung out in the stroller most of the time.
We paused for some snow cones after bouncy-time. It was a little chilly for frozen treats, but the girls were not deterred by the crisp autumn air.
Next we headed to the corn maze, where we wandered around among some rather scrawny stalks (corn seems much more robust back in Illinois).
 Finally, we visited the playground and petting zoo before heading home.
Mmmmm....Fall.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

BFF + DIA

Here are some pictures of me with one of my high school besties, Britt. I was able to meet up with her at the Denver Airport for a few hours last week before she caught a shuttle to Steamboat Springs. We had not seen each other for almost a year and a half so I was thrilled that it worked out!

I have known this lady since I was five years old. I guess we have changed a lot since then, but I feel like I can be extremely genuine with her because we have experienced a lot of those changes together. She knows where I've been and she knows what I'm trying to become. She accepts me for who I am and always builds me up with her sweet words.
So happy I got to catch up face to face and give her a few big hugs before she went off to do some interior design work! Friends are the best!