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.

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…

May 28

Lil’ Family Adventure

Memorial Day Weekend, my lil’ family decided to take a scenic drive along mountain roads to a music festival. We listened to music while rock climbing, playing on rocks near the river, climbing trees, watching kayakers, eating amazing food, throwing sticks to our lab in the river, and marveling at my son who stopped along the way to write everything down in his journal. We even threw in a little bike riding, shopping, and some ice cream. After the festival, we found an amazing little campsite and enjoyed a camp fire while gazing at the stars.

We ended up camping near a 200 year old cemetery and visited an old mining town before heading to another small mountain town for lunch, more bike riding, more rock climbing, more kayak watching, more throwing sticks to our lab in the river, all while surrounded by beautiful mountains.

I thought I would share just a few pictures from our amazing two days. I will most certainly be sharing more.

Did you add some memories to your memory bank this Memorial Day Weekend? Please share.

Apr 10

AdVeNtUrE Time last year (#2)

Adventures with my family make me happy. Memories of these adventures make me smile. So, I decided to start a new series each month called “AdVeNtUrE Time last year…” I will load this post with pictures/memories of my family’s adventure this time last year. Hope you enjoy this second post in this series.

In April 2012, my family and I went camping in the Pisgah National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains in the western part of NC. We enjoyed some hiking, fly fishing, bouldering, and just playing in the river.

Hiking our first trail

Hiking the yellow blazed trail

A huge rock face that we encountered on our hike

It was Peregrine Falcon mating season, so access was restricted in some parts.

One lonely flower

N bouldering. We hiked two different trails looking for a bouldering field.

Enjoying some fly fishing on our 2nd day

Can’t wait to share another “AdVeNtUre Time last year” post. To reminisce just makes me smile. Sometimes, it is the little things.

Mar 27

Shavano Mountain

Just wanted to make a quick post today because I have some skiing in my near future. I plan to throw in a glass of wine while sitting in a hot tub and enjoying some good food morning, noon, and night. These pictures are from a camping trip I did with two of my favorite guys, the hubs and my N. We decided to check out Salida and Shavano Mountain in Colorado. I hope you enjoy.

Make today beautiful!

Mar 20

HaPpY SpRiNg

So, today is the first day of SpRiNg!! That, along with cleaning out my flower beds yesterday, has my nerve endings pinging for warmer days. I thought today I would share some images with you that speak “spring.” Spring makes me anxious for blooming flowers, scurrying animals, hiking and camping, growing vegetables and herbs, fly fishing, watching nature, grilling out, living outdoors, etc. I hope you enjoy!

Releasing ladybugs

Hiking to new destinations

Planting sunflowers and watching wildlife

Just enjoying the outdoors

Spending time on the beach

Finding baby bunnies

Blooming flowers

Nature

Lush, green garden

Herbs to use when grilling out

Being outdoors and fly fishing

Hiking with the family

Outdoors

Sipping a glass of wine while enjoying a beautiful campsite

Have you started cleaning out your flower beds and making plans to bring them alive again? Do you plant a garden or grow herbs? Please share. All of these things just make me smile because sometimes, it is the little things.

Mar 13

Keepin’ Track of Our Adventures

This day is a journey, this very moment an adventure. (Rebecca Pavlenko) My little family enjoys adventure. I love leaving the routine behind and letting the dust settle on the furniture without a care. So far, we love camping, hiking, backpacking, biking, bouldering, fly fishing, etc. Since moving to CO, we have added skiing, sledding, and snow shoeing to that list. When we moved to CO from NC, we hooked up our Coachman camper, packed our supplies, and headed cross country, enjoying adventures along the way.

To keep track of our travels and adventures for N, we purchased a map soon after moving to NC. Since that time, we have been pinning the places and storing away the memories.

N’s Travels

Here is a close up to show you the actual pins.

Pinning N’s Travels

N enjoys coming back from a trip, grabbing the pins and his Daddy and adding one more red dot on the map. He gets excited that he has been to about 10 states already. We plan to add at least 2 more this summer in our travels. Of course, we not only have the map, but we have millions of pictures. I always tell N that his entire life is documented. Here is one of my all time favorites!

Does your family love adventures and do alot of traveling? Do you have a way that you document your travels for yourself or your kiddos? Where is your all time favorite place to visit in the U.S.? Sleeping under the stars makes me smile. Sometimes, it is the little things.