Camp Red Cloud Part One

If you don't want to see all the photos or read all the words... in short... it was AMAZING.

Our sweet friends, the Tripps, invited us to our first Family Camp experience at Camp Red Cloud near Lake City, CO. It was about 20 hours of driving each way...
San Cristobol Lake, about five miles from camp.
The back of the Lodge. It sits on an insane amount of acreage. We literally didn't see anyone other than fellow campers for the entire time we were there.
.

Poor Andy got altitude sickness and coughed all night, every night. So he spent a lot of time on Daddy's shoulders. .... with Blank.
mmmm campfire smores


The selling point for me with this camp is that we would have two "hosts" to help care for our kids. It was amazing. Suzy absolutely adored Rebecca and she was my little angel to get some rest from Andy being up all night.
He was a happy camper for the most part. Thanks, Diana, for the matching shirts!
One favorite day we spent just hanging out on the river at the entrance as a family.



Another favorite activity was a nature hike where the kids had to identify various things around the camp.





Some playground fun.
For the talent show, I was talked into breaking out the magic. Suzy decided she would blow a magic whistle instead of a magic word. She made a great assistant.
An unexpected highlight for Andy was a quick trip in the Sysco food delivery truck.
Sweet Friends with matching T's.
Fun around the Lodge.


My attempt at a group bike ride. We didn't make it off the property.
Horse back riding. I just can't believe how LITTLE they look.


The adults got a morning ride for a campfire breakfast while our kids were with Rebecca.


This photo just doesn't do it justice. This is a huge cliff drop off on the way to the American Basin. Even I would be nervous on this road. Four wheel drive was required.
The American Basin is one of the top photographed places in the US. It blooms in mid July. We plan on going back in the next few years... in July.
As a host, Phil, stated; "God can do amazing things. The American Basin is just him showing off."
One family had a picnic lunch up in the hills. The hugeness and beauty is impossible to describe.

Yes, we will be going back. Do you want to join us? We are open July of 2011 or July of 2012. :)

Summer Happenings

We've been having a good summer around here. Nothing huge, just lots of very low key fun with friends and family.

I found this shirt in NY during my travels. I believe it will be perfect for a certain balloon obsessed little guy about to have a birthday....
I was shopping at HEB and found these. As Rob would say, .... "Marketer's Dream!" I sure am! Now, in defense.... (ha) the lady behind me in line had a box also and they sold out super quick. I thought they would be perfect for after the pool. We swim almost daily and we haven't even started our lessons yet.

I joked with the lady behind me. "This will either put a nail in my redneck mama coffin, or people will think they are fun. Either way, they definitely will make a statement." She agreed with me.
Ummmm.. Yeah. Not exactly what was advertised. I'm still using them up. But I'm a little disappointed. Rob further popped my bubble when he correctly identified them as Daisy Dukes. Poor Andy. I bought a big box. And I'm too cheap to waste them.
Suzy has taken a bit of an interest in writing this summer. As she explained, "This is how people in Texas write when they don't know how to make words." Ha!
We've also been doing lots of Play Doh.

And puppet shows. Pardon the onsie.. Post dinner, pre bath. Oh, heck. Who am I kidding.... You've already seen our new diapers.
Lots of swinging in the toy room. Suzy is doing really well with the rope disc swing.
Lots of climbing at our favorite park, the Twin Lakes YMCA.
Nature hikes at the Y.
A big, fuzzy caterpillar. This is what I love about our past month. Lots of little wonders and fun family times.
Some friends came for a sleep over and we made shape pancakes using cookie cutters.
All the recent rain made for perfect muddy puddles to jump in at the park with dear friends.
Andy took a little convincing to join in.
We made another trip back to Morgan's Wonderland. It really is a super fun place. These are the "super heros".
They had the fishing pond open.
Suzy caught her first fish and it absolutely terrified her.
She's been wanting Nala to take rest time with her. I told her to try and entice the dog. So, she decided to make a trail of dog treats. I see a Hansel and Gretel book in our future.
Rob's parents brought a fabulous cake to celebrate my getting older. I had to wear "The Hat."
Andy got caught eating the filling out of my birthday strawberry pie. Stinker.
He also got a big boy haircut.
Lastly, I've started quilting again. :) This is for my sweet friend, Jen, in Michigan. It's called "Stinky Feet".