What a beautiful morning for a hot air balloon ride! This picture was taken from my parents' driveway. (I'm taking the picture, not riding in the balloon, by the way.)
hiking with our wonderful Colorado friends...Tucker and Natalie
(Their mom, Sarah, has known Lainey since she was an infant!)
I am always in awe of the deer that I see from my parents' balcony. They are so beautiful!
AND! Walker spotted this skunk from the balcony! It turned out to be a family of skunks...a mom, dad, and (I think) babies! They live in burrows. I am not sure I knew that fact about skunks!
This skunk has his tail WAY up. He's very threatened by us!
The tetherball set is such a hit...the kids loved it!
I love this picture of Walker. True happiness!
Emmy was a great competitor!
Oh, Sofi.
Sofi is the most unique dog I've ever met. She is the BEST with kids (she's very tolerant), she loves treats, she eagerly demands attention (on her terms), and is the best companion for a lazy day. She might sleep about 22 hours a day. Not kidding. ;)
We saw this bunny at the Wildlife Park just before we went horseback riding. She/he reminded us of Belle! :)
horseback riding
Walker did SO well controlling his horse, Dolly. She was super sweet but she liked to stop and eat constantly!
After the ride...Lainey loved her horse, Nitro.
Look at Walker! Guiding his horse to the trailer.
Lainey loved being in charge of her horse!
After eating lunch at one of our favorite Pagosa restaurants, Kip's, I took the kids to the river to take a few pictures! Walker was slightly less-than-enthused.
It was really sunny!
Walker is trying hard not to squint!
Tuck administered an "eye dominance" test on the kids. They are both right-eye dominant. This is helpful when hunting, given that they are both right-handed. :)
Fun times at the river!
dancing in the river
Natalie and Tucker are much braver than our kids when exploring the river!
Waker and Tucker have a sweet friendship. Tucker, even though he's 13 years old, is very kind and helpful to Walker. He is also very conversational with adults - he's a good kid to be around!
Natalie found this stick for Lainey! It was huge but did the job!
We finally took out Lainey's braids from the cruise. She had them in her hair for 16 days. The braids would have lasted longer but I insisted that we take them out. THIS much hair (and more) came out when we removed the braids!
I had to take some "impromptu" headshots of Lainey for some upcoming dance events. I don't even know what consists of a headshot. But here are some sweet, natural, everyday pictures of Lainey. ;)
***
We had a wonderful, relaxing, fun trip to Colorado. Thank you for the memories, Emmy and Tuck! :) We missed Ben and it wasn't quite the same without him, but he did well at home without us! :)
AND, this was the temperature when we arrived back in Dallas. Too. Hot. !!!
