Camping at Reverend's Ridge

Last Friday through Monday we took a lovely, restful camping trip up to Reverend's Ridge campground about an hour from here. Wade did really well (MUCH better than last year when he woke up multiple times a night crying), and although he fell down a few times and had a bloody nose and bruised lip from one of those falls :(, he was a little trooper and loved the whole experience! Garrett and Wyatt are old pro's at it from their times with Grandpa and Daddy in a cabin over the past few years. The boys found mushrooms galore to stomp on, big sticks to rake up the campsite with, found a treasure-trove of buried cars in the dirt, made some new friends, loved fishing and crawdad hunting with Daddy, and loved the campfire and s'mores time every night. I was expecting it to be more stressful than it was with young kids, but actually had a number of relaxing events like sitting down to sketch some baby aspens (LOVE those aspens!), listening to the wind swish through the pine needles and aspen leaves, see beautiful views on our nature walks, and even got to lay down on a bench to watch the clouds at one point! We were sad to come back down the mountain. Here are some pics:

It was cold and foggy as we left Broomfield, but we wound up above the clouds and into the sunshine quickly.

 

Little Wade SO happy to finally be camping with the big kids!

 

The boys immediately started gathering sticks for the fire pit.

 

Garrett found a big one and loved making lines in the dirt everywhere.

 

Yay - S'more time!

 

Reading before bed.

 

There's Wade in the big bed. He got to sleep next to Daddy in his "mini crib" by the window.

 

There it is....

 

Wyatt loved "mining for jewels" in the ditch leading to the culvert.

 

Pinecones!

 

Garrett enjoyed transplanting some moss.

 

Peek-a-boo! There's the cutie popping out from behind the tree!

 

There was an easy nature trail that led to a bench with a beautiful view of a hill filled with aspens and other beautiful trees.

 

We headed over to Kriliey's Pond for lots of fishing. The guys caught a couple that Jim enjoyed at dinner. Here's Jim's inventive strike indicator - the cheese puffs that can be seen from far away!

 

There's one of the fish!

 

Garrett really wanted to head over to the visitor's center so we could all feed the fish in the pond.

 

Wyatt giving me one of is very expressive faces for fun...love this one!

 

Beautiful.

 

Fishing again the second day! The boys got to have a very rare soda which was probably their favorite part!

 

We served pancakes in the camper on the last morning...a big hit!

 

And...Jim spotted some toy cars peeking out of the dirt across from our campsite and set the boys to work digging for treasure! They were thrilled to find 3 or 4 cars and had the help of another little boy and gave a car to him too.

 

Camping is therapeutic! We'll have to go again soon.

August trip to California

We were going to meet Mom & Dad at Yosemite to camp together at the housekeeping cabins, but they went a couple of weeks beforehand and called to say it was really hot and really dry with hardly any waterfall activity. That didn't sound too fun, so we opted to go to Mom & Dad's house instead. Honestly, it was a more relaxing option and I was kinda glad. ;-) ... It took the boys a little longer to adjust to not going to Yosemite after our big buildup (getting library books about it, talking about it, planning for it, etc.) They were very happy to get to go to Gma & Gpa's house though and were excited to see Anders, Lars, and Oliver! Having the Jensen's right next door is so fun and it's great for the kids to have ready-made playmates right there.

...And we're off! We made good time and got off Friday afternoon.

 

Truck stop leg-stretching.

 

Did you know that in Baker, CA there is the world's largest thermometer?? We walked over it after lunch and it made a big impression on the boys. Garrett thanked me profusely for taking him to see it, so I think we hit a nail on the head. ;-)

 

A dust storm was blowing in, making it all the more adventurous...

 

Yay! In 'n Out!

 

We're at Gma & Gpa's!

 

Jim showed the boys how to whittle, using some of Poppa's old pocket knives.

 

We had a nice "wittle" fire in the driveway and Gpa let the boys tear up some old chairs to use in the fire!

 

It was nice to see Lars and Wade enjoying time together and connecting for the first time now that they were at an age to notice each other better.

Garrett got to join Gpa and Anders at Granada's boys adventure night. There he is playing hockey. I was happy to hear him say later that he just did his best and that's all he could do.

 

It was so nice to have brunch with Grammy and Poppa!

 

Poppa showing Wyatt the pocket knife he is giving Wyatt (which we'll pull out at the appropriate age). It's SO nice of Poppa to share them with the boys - they are super excited!

 

Holding the pocket knives together.

 

Mom made some amazing cupcakes that were something I could eat!! Oh. My. They were good. Thanks Mom!

 

Mom had a "Teddy Bear Picnic" with the boys. They sat for probably 5 minutes and then were off to kill ants, etc. Such boys!

 

We got to go to Nick's Pizza, Jim's all-time favorite pizza place!

 

 

and then had a day riding the ferry to Balboa Island and back, riding the Ferris wheel, playing at Newport Beach, and having dinner at the Crab Cooker. Fun!

 

One really enjoyable activity was helping GG create a restful, pretty space in her backyard with Mom.

 

And saying goodbye...What a fun time we had!