Geneva Creek Camping and a Hike

We missed June on our quest to get in one night of camping a month, but July rewarded us for our effort.  We had our best night of camping yet, by far.  Somewhere around the end of dinner time (hot dogs and brats roasted on sticks and potatoes thrown into the coals), I had the brilliant idea that we should put the kids in a tent together.  That way, they'd keep each other company, but wouldn't be disturbed by an adult coming in midway through the night.  Previously we'd done a girls' tent and a boys' tent, but inevitably, the kids want to sleep *exactly in the middle* of the tent floor, which makes for an awkward night for the adults.
Well, our leap of faith paid off.  The kids curled up like a litter of puppies, and the nearly the first peep we heard from them was a yell of "I'm ready to stop sleeping!!" around 7am.

Amazing.  We felt so good that we went on a 2 mile (round trip) hike into the Mt. Evans Wilderness.  Both kids walked the WHOLE WAY.  We identified flowers and trees, including the kids' first columbine sighting, crossed over log bridges, threw rocks and sticks in the creek, and discussed the ways in which a tree could fall over.

I sense that we may have crossed a threshold of outdoor adventure, and I am excited.

Putting beds together in the kids' tent

Potty in the woods

 After Andrew woke her up at 7, Clara actually asked to go back to bed -- and then did!  She's her mama's (and Papa's) girl, that's for sure.

There's a girl in there

Andrew found this big mushroom

Man and mushroom

July and August

After we got home from Ohio, our family officially started a paleo lifestyle by doing a Whole30.  The results were incredible and we never looked back.  We've had weight loss, less joint pain, more energy, less tummy trouble, less mental fog - it's so good!

The quiet summer travel season gave us some good times at home.

Andrew started to enjoy talking on the phone.  Here he's speaking to Uncle Devin.

Flying a rocket to outer space on a rainy summer evening

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

Nana came to visit!

Then Grandma and Grandpa visited right after!

Grandma's toy horse

Happy 70th birthday, Grandpa!

"That cake was paleo?  I couldn't even tell!"

Sibs

Hail storm!

Hope Springs Eternal

I know now that this house was meant to be mine.  Why?  There were daffodils here waiting for me!!!

My favorite!  They are such a happy flower - it's hard to be sad when you have daffodils.  And they bring such hope.  I found these guys last week poking out from the snow after the last storm.  If that's not hope and determination, I don't know what is.  I've been meaning to snap a picture of them all week (and in better light), but there's 2-4 more inches of snow in the forecast, and I wanted to get them while they were still in their first bold bloom, unwithered by the cruel Colorado spring weather.

It did turn cold when the sun went down - that snow's a-comin'.  My wonderful hubby had a fire burning when I got home:

Ahhh cozy perfection.  And saving on the propane bill.

Before I go, how about some more deer?

This one was from last Thursday when they were chowing down by the propane tank when i got home from work.  They were also about on Saturday afternoon, before Travis got home from his trip.