We have had quite the interesting Winter this year!! I know it's been crazy all over the country (and I'll forgo my usual climate change soapbox rant here) but us in Colorado can't really complain too much. Unless you are a Skier - and a lot of Colorado is! The weather has been so warm, like late April warm! Usually we get a few days like this throughout the winter, I have many of the kids over the years in January or on Valentine's Day playing outside in just a t-shirt or a light jacket, but never this many! Cam has been outside painting parts for the Jeep, the boys have been running amuck non-stop either on their bikes or on the trampoline. We've taken trips to the park almost weekly lately, and Riley's aversion to wearing pants is becoming more prominent. ;)
In fact, it's been so warm that our trip to go "Snow Bashing" in the Jeep was very unsuccessful! Since getting the Jeep just before Christmas, Cameron has been itching to take it out! So we planned it out with some friends to go wheeling up Bunce School Road in the St. Vrain canyon. We did it many years ago in the old Jeep and it was a lot of fun, lots of deep snow drifts to plow through. But this year, not so much. We met up with them, and headed up, but finished the trail (to the gate) before lunch time. So after a long lunch break where all the kids had a blast sledding and playing in the snow, we back tracked a little to a couple of off-shoots to find some more trails to do. One of them we found had a nice little lollipop loop at the end of it. After attempting to go up the clockwise side of it, and failing, we tried the other direction. The first side was icy under a couple inches of light snow, so it make the slope pretty slippery. The grade seemed just right for us to get only so far and then slide back down in reverse. There are a few funny pictures you'll see of our friends literally sliding to turn around (unintentionally) and go back down!
So going up the second time on the other side of the loop, Cam went first, so we could pull Seth up if need be. And we definitely needed to. Trouble was, after we backed down the hill halfway to hook up, we no longer had the momentum that allowed us to get up the first time! A lot of spinning tires, a stalled and flooded engine later, and our buddies getting stuck trying to back down, we decided that it would be best to unhook, Cam finish the loop and come up behind them so that he could pull them loose and we could all get down and head back. Trouble was, even unhooked we still couldn't acquire the momentum needed to get back up to the top! And slowly, and then quickly started sliding backwards into our friends!!! Luckily no one was between us when the trucks collided, but at least we were able to knock them loose so they could back down the hill again! ;) Gotta look at the bright side when damage occurs. Cam is really bummed out that he has broken parts to his new Jeep now, but that's part of 4-wheeling! We all take that risk. Luckily the damage was confined to the tailgate on the Jeep, and the front driver's corner on their bronco. Obviously the Bronco is a beast, and came away fairly unscathed. A bent bumper, broken headlight, and a chip in the grill. Better than what it could have been! All in all though I think everyone had fun just being out and about. (At least I hope so!) And of course Cam is already planning his next trip for this weekend! ;) Here's a bunch of photos from the trip:
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| the ONE big drift the whole time |
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| Lunch Break |
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| MUST make it up! |
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| Made it up . . . but can't make it any farther! |
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| So sliding back down . . . |
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| still sliding . . . |
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| not really the direction he thought he was sliding . . . |
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| sliding sideways now! |
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| Guess I'll just go with it and turn around! |
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| Cam's Turn! |
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| The predicament |
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| the end result. |
Valentine's Day isn't something we make a big deal of in our family, and I kinda like it that way! We usually exchange cards (sometimes bought, sometimes homemade) and usually some sweets, but nothing major, or bank-breaking. No fancy dinners, no expensive flowers that will soon die, no big deal! We know we are loved, and try to show it every day, not just Valentine's Day. So this year we decided to make it a family affair, and not just Cam and I. An Excellent decision that I hope to repeat as long as the kids will let us! With all the warm weather, Riley had been bugging me all week about going hiking (man I love that kid!!) so we thought going on a hike would be a great way to spend the day together. Another great decision! Our favorite family hike is to Horsetooth Falls, and even though I knew that was the one Riley wanted to do, I was in the mood to change it up some. So we hiked up to the "A". If you aren't familiar with Fort Collins, there is a big A painted in white on the ridge behind CSU's Football stadium (Hughes Stadium) in remembrance of the the Aggies, the former mascot of the original name for CSU - Colorado A & M. It's a great little hike from the stadium up the ridge and around it to the A. About 2 miles up. You don't have to go all the way though (and we didn't with the kids) because the trial also meets up with the road on the other side of the ridge, the one that gives a scenic drive around Horsetooth Reservoir. So we just hiked up to the little parking/picnic area at the top and then back down. The kids loved it and did amazing! It was a chilly start to the morning, but there was little complaining. The boys hiked the whole way - a First for Jayce, and even ran most of it, competing with each other as to who gets to be in front! Oh boys!! Amara even hiked a lot of it herself, just putting slowly along and not complaining much either! I was so proud of all of them! They did amazing! It was nice to have a little picnic lunch at the top too, and they kept wanting to go all the way down to the reservoir. (but knowing we still had about 1.75 miles to head back to the car Cam and I wouldn't let them).
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| Hiking to the A |
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| Prairie dogs checking us out |
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| big hill for a little girl |
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| Daddy will Help! |
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| Made it to the Top!! (and she hiked most of it herself!) |
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| Picnic lunch over the reservoir |
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| Yes, Jayce is throwing rocks at his sister. :( |
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| In Front of the A |
After getting home and cleaning up we headed out to a new favorite restaurant in town. Fuzzy's Tacos. Great little taco shop, fish and shrimp, burritos, quesadillas, and "really yummy rice" according to Riley! It was crazy busy, but we still enjoyed it. I'm so happy that we have such a loving family, and we can have fun spending time together! I can't wait until this summer when we can do more things like that together.
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| Gorgeous sunset on the way to dinner |
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| At Fuzzy's |
Riley had his spring conference at school, and is still doing really well. He's having trouble staying on task and getting work done that he's supposed to, rather than doing fun things with his friends, but I think that's a challenge we all have to learn how to do at some point. He's still making great progress in Math, and now in Writing as well. He loves to read, and has taken to reading bigger chapter books over, and over, and over!! I'm hoping this will come in handy this summer on a couple road trips we have planned for vacations!
Jayce is loving preschool, and learning a lot! I think he's going to be mathematically inclined like the other two men in the family. He knows his numbers really well, and can count almost to 20 already. Letters aren't coming to him as quickly as they did Riley, I remember Riley at age 3 already knowing how to recognize letters and make their sounds. Jayce could really care less. However, after being required to write his name on all his Valentine's for preschool he has now learned how to not only spell his name but recognize those letters and write them with surprising accuracy! I'm really proud of all the progress he's made in preschool! We registered him for next year too, and I know he will learn so much and be prepared for Kindergarten in another couple years. Man where does the time go!
Amara is growing and learning too! Her vocabulary expands everyday, and while we may not always be able to understand her, she knows how to get her point across, and loves "talking" with us. even if it's just repeating the same words over and over that she knows we understand! One of her favorite games is naming all the body parts on herself and you. It's always interesting when she comes up out of nowhere and pokes you in the eye saying "EYE" as loud as she can, then laughing! lol. She loves playing with her brothers, and frequently follows them into trouble. (not always a good thing) and Jayce is quite adept at blaming things on his little sister already. This is going to be fun! We've started . . . . somewhat potty training her. I'm not really pushing it, but we bought her some undies, and she wears them occasionally. She hasn't gone on the potty yet, but she does quite well holding it. So much that we CAN'T get her to go on the potty. She hasn't quite figured out the meaning of that one yet! She's also a wonderful girly-girl!! She happily takes after her mama in the fact that she loves twirling her dresses, wearing hair bows, and showing off her new stuff for Daddy, but she also (like Mom) isn't afraid to get in the dirt with her brothers and make a mess of that dress! Love it!! She's showing of a hint of her dramatic side already, and I know that she will be a nightmare in a few short years, so we are trying to treasure this time while we can!
That's about it for us right now. We are settled into a familiar routine for the spring, school, MOPS, preschool, weekend. But I'm already planning fun stuff for summer! Can't wait!
