Labor Day Camping

In my last few blog posts, I shared individual photos from a little family camping trip we took over the Labor Day weekend. Today, I share a few more memories, along with a few stories. We decided to camp at South Fork campground outside of Silverthorne, CO. We ended up with a beautiful, secluded campsite with all around mountain views. As we were setting up our campsite, my lil’ guy spotted a butterfly that was injured.

As he gets older, his heart gets bigger. He truly is becoming my budding environmentalist. Before cooking dinner, we decided to take a quick stroll around the campground to the South Fork River. On our lil’ exploration, we spotted bees visiting flowers, red berries, mushrooms, and wildflowers.

The fire ban had been lifted in CO, so we were able to build a fire each night. S’mores was enjoyed by all. My lil’ guy was so proud of himself for learning how to cut firewood.

This was a perfect camping location for my husband to do a little catch and release. When he catches the fish, my lil’ guy always wants to hold them and then release them back to their home. My husband caught about 50 fish on this particular camping trip.

We did some hiking and some more fishing and some more exploring which I will share with you in another post, but for now….

get out, decompress, and enjoy your weekend.

Sep 9

just relaxin’

Sep 3

Daily prompt // help

Today’s daily prompt on The Daily Post is help.

My husband is an amazing father. He has so many tales of adventures that he has had both as a child and as an adult. He has learned many lessons through these adventures and is always anxious and willing to help his lil’ guy experience some of these same adventures.

He helps him learn how to manage the terrain on a mountain bike ride…

helps him learn how to mountain board…

helps him learn how to snow shoe…

helps him learn how to ski…

helps him learn how to boulder…

helps him learn how to rock climb…

helps him learn how to catch and release…

and this past Labor Day weekend on our camping trip, he helped him learn how to cut firewood…

Aug 21

fort // Minecraft club

My lil’ guy loves forts. Outdoor forts, indoor playroom forts, forts above his bed, forts built in the closet with cushions, etc. So, my husband spent a few weekends building an outdoor fort underneath our deck for him and his friends. I won’t get into the step by step, since we are by no means professional contractors, but will opt to show you some before and afters.

First, the BeFoRe…

Now, for the AfTeR…

We purchased a $5 door in the scratch and dent section at Home Depot. I applied 2 coats of chalkboard paint. The hubs added molding that I had stained and hung it with some hardware from the plumbing section. Add wheels on the bottom, a handle also from the plumbing section, and you have a sliding chalkboard door.

We painted the outside to match the outside of the house. Looks like I still need to caulk some nail heads and do some more painting…

This is what it looks like now that my lil’ guy and his friends have been playing in it for a few months.

Yes, my lil’ guy is just a wee bit obsessed with Minecraft these days, so the fort is currently home to The Minecraft Club.

We added a bell and a peep hole (lil’ guy circled it in the photo above), so no one gets in unnoticed…

Here is a quick peek inside, which as you can tell, still needs some DIY love. The hubs added a ladder with a bed in case the lil’ guy decides to camp outside one night, and two chairs that can be folded up when not in use, some prayer flags, and more chalkboard wall for “the writing of the rules.”

As you can guess, this fort has seen a lot of love already. Hope you enjoyed this tour of The Minecraft Club. And of course, it is not complete without a welcoming mat.

Jul 31

Daily Prompt // success

Today’s prompt on The Daily Post is success, patting someone on the back, being proud of one’s accomplishment. When my lil’ family went on our extended camping trip a few weeks back, my lil’ guy amazed me, made me proud, accomplished something he didn’t even know he was capable of doing. He hiked the majority of the Shavano Mountain trail – a gain in elevation from 9,700 feet to 12,200 feet and 4.4 miles EaCh WaY.

I was one proud, albeit tired, mama.

Jul 29

Colorado Free Ride Festival

This past weekend, my lil’ family once again headed outdoors to enjoy a camping adventure. This adventure was a bit out of the norm for us. Instead of camping by a lake or a river or in a meadow among the mountains, we camped in a parking lot. Instead of hiking to the top of a mountain or to a waterfall, instead of fly fishing, we rode our bikes. For 4 days, Winter Park ski resort hosted the Colorado Free Ride festival. I was in awe of the skill level of these riders. At what point do you decide that you want to do 360’s in midair and flip upside down? At what point do you have the courage to try that first one? I just kept thinking…this is way out of my comfort zone as a cyclist. I did not take many photos, but thought I would share just a few.

Wildflowers were blooming everywhere. We rode one of the mountain bike trails at the resort and then rode along the greenway with my lil’ guy and one of his friends. This little flower was growing right along a creek where we decided to stop for a snack.

Winter Park had numerous activities set up for the kids. One of which was free face painting…

Camping in a parking lot leaves one in need of sleep, but what an amazing weekend we had as a family. Sometimes, it is the little things.

Jul 22

Agnes Vaille falls

When my lil’ family went on our camping trip a couple of weeks ago, we went on several hikes. You can read about our hike at Independence Pass here. For our next hike, we decided to do the short .5 mile hike up to Agnes Vaille falls, located in the Chalk Creek Canyon. Although the hike is only about 1 mile roundtrip, it does have an elevation gain of approximately 450ft.

Once we arrived at the top, we scouted out a place among the rocks and had a nice lunch.

Jul 18

catch and release

In sharing my family’s recent 6 day camping adventure, you read how my lil’ guy became a budding environmentalist and how we decompressed camping at Twin Lakes and hiking along Independence Pass. We then packed up our camper and headed to Monarch Pass. The pass crosses the Continental Divide at an altitude of 11,312 feet. For this post, I would like to share photos that capture my lil’ guy being mentored by his father on how to “catch and release.” Some of these photos were taken on several beaver ponds that were located at Monarch Park where we camped and others were along the Arkansas River.

Looking at these photos of special moments between my son and husband just make me smile. Sometimes, it is the little things…

Jul 16

decompressing at Independence Pass

Once again, my lil’ family headed to the outdoors to “decompress.” We started our 6 day adventure after celebrating the 4th with neighbor friends. The first stop was at White Star campground near Twin Lakes, the site where my lil’ guy became a budding environmentalist. These naturally formed glacial lakes are surrounded by mountains, including Mt. Elbert, at over 14,000 feet elevation.

Since this first destination was also near Independence Pass, one of the highest paved passes in Colorado, we decided to take our first hike here. Wildflowers were blooming and snow still made it’s presence on some slopes and peaks.

Stay tuned for where my lil’ family headed next…

Jul 12

My budding environmentalist

My lil’ guy loves to be outdoors. He is always asking me to go on walks with him to help him find “treasures.” His collection mostly consists of rocks of various sizes and sticks. He takes great pride in his finds. While camping at White Star campground near Twin Lakes at the foot of Mt. Elbert, we took one of these walks. Amongst the many tiny pine trees that were stretching their little heads up to the sky, he found one that he declared “the cutest little tree.” So, he proceeded to collect rocks to gently and strategically place around the tree so as to protect it. We took this walk for 3 days straight to check on the lil’ tree. When we left the campground to head on to our next adventure, he asked me to take a photo, so he could remember it forever.