Vacation Part 2

On Thursday during vacation, Ryan and I decided to go on a bike ride while everyone else fished.

The trail we rode took us to the Moose Visitor Center that was a couple miles away from the campground.  The Center has a giant stuffed moose in the middle of the room and lots of information and pictures about wildlife in the area.  Apparently, the area is considered the moose country of Colorado and as I was mainly interested in moose (because I had only seen one moose in my life from far away and that was on the second day of this trip), I took a picture of what their scat is supposed to look like to help me in my moose hunting.

They weren't lying about it being moose country because we found some moose scat right on the bike trail!

Later that evening, we all decided to go moose hunting.  Several area guides and campers had told us where the best places to spot moose were so we all piled in a vehicle and took off.  We loved the beautiful scenery but still weren't seeing any moose.

Here I made everyone pose like they were about to fall in.

And here I actually about fell in.

We drove by a tree that is randomly decorated with Christmas ornaments.  We asked the owners of a local shop about the origin of it but they said people had been decorating it since before they moved there.

We saw some deer.

And finally we saw some moose! 

We actually ended up seeing several moose that night!  We were getting tips from all kinds of people on where the moose were and we drove all around to see all of them.  I didn't get many good pictures with my camera but I'm hoping others in the family did.  It was so amazing to see them!
The next day, we played games, fished, and relaxed.

Later that night, Amy and Dion came up to try their first camping weekend with Lily.

The next morning we decided to go horseback riding.  We went super early in the morning hoping that we might see more wildlife.  We didn't see any but the ride was beautiful and we had a great time.

That afternoon we played games, barbequed, watched a movie, and napped. 

The end of the week came much too quickly and we were all up bright and early the following morning to head home.  We were all so wiped out, but I can tell you I wasn't ready for the week to end.  I had so much fun camping with the family and it was such a beautiful area with so much wildlife.  I feel so lucky that we got to have this experience and also that I not only married such a wonderful person, but that I married into such a wonderful family. 

Family Camping Vacation

After Ryan and I got home from KC a week ago Sunday we started preparing for our week long family camping trip. 

On Monday we headed up to Ranger Lake campground in the Colorado State Forest.  The drive was beautiful and the further northwest we travelled, the more the temperature dropped.  Definitely a welcome change after hot Kansas and Colorado weather.

Snow!

Beautiful scenery (minus the car that drove right in front of my camera as I was taking the shot.  hmpf.)

Linda and Vearl unfortunately had some trouble with T-Rex (Vearl said he named the camper that because it is enormous and ancient) on the drive out from Kansas so the family caravan was a bit delayed and Ryan and I were the first to arrive at the campground.

Right after we got set up we got hit with a huge storm (including hail) so we stayed inside for a bit.  I cuddled with the minis and read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Mojo pouted.

We got so much rain in such a short period of time that the entire fire pit area flooded and Ryan had to scoop all the water out in order for us to build a fire.  Too bad he put in all the effort because it started pouring just a couple hours later.

Rob, Jaime, and the kids made it late that night after moving on without Linda, Vearl, and T-Rex and we were able to have a late dinner together.

Here brother and sister are sharing a laugh about something.

The next day we got to enjoy a lot of different activities.  We went for a bike ride, played dominoes, played checkers, played with the dogs, and visited.

Also, Ryan and Rob helped a couple ladies break into their own car.  I love the picture of both of them in the trunk trying to spring the latch to the back seat.  (That, by the way, was actually how they got into it eventually).

Ryan got to use his new axe to chop wood. 

We made s'mores using the largest marshmallows I have ever seen in my life.  I think Kylar had a hard time fitting all that ooey gooey marshmallow into his mouth. 

Finally Linda and Vearl were able to make it Tuesday night (minus T-Rex).

The next day we all filled to the fullest.

Kylar and Ashlynn got Mojo to play with a Frisbee for the first time ever.  We've tried to get him to catch Frisbees before but he never took an interest with us.  He sure does love those kids.

We played catch (and Ashlynn got her softball stuck in a peculiar spot).

We hiked, took in the beautiful scenery, and met some new people.  Kylar even caught a fish on our new acquaintance's line!

Here I forced everyone to do the "JCPenney" pose.  JCPenney pose pictures make me laugh every time so you can bet if you're on vacation with me, I'm going to make you do some ridiculous poses.  (Yes, I am very easily amused).

We also spent a lot of time just visiting with each other.

Dump Cake!  (Sounds terrible, tastes delicious)

Ryan bellying up to the table.

Me reading again (shocking).  I did finish the book during vacation and it was really good.  I'd highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

We had a really great first few days camping and were so glad everyone could make it safe and sound even though there were a few hiccups along the way on the drive from Kansas.  I'll post about the rest of the week later.