My Cute Buddy

One of the benefits of Colorado...not having to wear seat belts when driving on the dirt roads through the neighborhood. :) Love this cute little face. :)

Playin' in the River

We love having friends that live here in Pagosa! They introduced us to something new today...the Hippy Dip on the San Juan River! SO fun. The Hippy Dip has naturally occurring hot springs (very hot...like a hot tub) adjacent to the free-flowing, freezing cold river. So the kids went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...from hot to cold to hot to cold to hot to cold again. Very unique, and very fun. I sprained my toe falling down the stairs yesterday (very graceful, I know!) and the cool water felt SO good on my foot. The hot water made it sting! I thought that was interesting...I would have thought that I would have experienced the opposite effect. 

Lainey's climbing out of one of the hot springs.

Natalie, Tucker, and Lainey

jumping into the FREEZING river

These four play SO well together. Tucker is the big brother that Walker never had!

Walker spent a lot of time throwing rocks. See Thomas? He came with us, too.

Thomas didn't like getting dirty. 

Natalie :)

These two outlasted the city kids. They could have done this all day long!

Tucker and Natalie are 11 months apart. The sweetest little - ahem...big - kids. 

There are always more rocks to be thrown.

See our friendly friend the snake? :)

And a tiny snake! We figured they must be related. ;)

Colorado Randomness

Hi, Horny Toad. Sorry you're getting smooshed. :-/

A no-pants walk down to the end of the cul-de-sac.

Lainey keeps picking up pieces of granite rock. However, she calls it "granick." I don't correct her because I think it's funny. :)

We love having our friends here in Colorado. This is Lainey and sweet Anna. The big kids were all tubing down the river!

We've played the game Sorry a couple of times since we've been here. A couple things to note: 1) we never make it through a whole game and 2) my kids get a little grumpy when their pieces get moved back to the "home" space and 3) Walker keeps referring to the game as "Thank you." Ha!

A Beautiful Morning

Ben heads back to Texas today. We'll miss you, Daddy!

Putt-Putt Golf

Today we experienced a first...putt-putt golf. We disregarded 90% of the rules...and just had fun. And, to be playing putt-putt golf at 2:30 p.m. on a July afternoon...well, let's just say we can't do that in Texas this time of year. ;) 

Lainey requested that I take a picture of her as she posed like this...apparently one can express oneself artistically while holding a golf club. 

AND, never missing out on an opportunity to dance, Lainey busted a move right there on the course. She is performing her Superdocious routine (using a golf club instead of an umbrella). :)

Walker initially didn't want to play golf. He said, in the car, "I not gonna play golf. I not gonna laugh." He eventually decided to have fun and told us that he loved putt-putt golf. :) Walker has also taken to loving "liquors" this trip. He means "licorice" but always ends up saying "liquors." Ha!

And, Ben played horseshoes with the kids! Dangerous game, I tell ya.

The putt-putt golf course also has a park attached to it and the kids had fun swinging and sliding and playing in the sandbox (which was filled with dirt and toys...very fun for Walker and his trains). 

Right after I took this picture, the wheels started to fall off the bus. Lainey put her horseshoe down too close to Walker and Walker returned the favor, and smashed her finger in doing so. 

Mini Zip Lining

We had dinner with our sweet friends the Mashues last night. They live here year-round in Pagosa, and they are just so gracious and kind. It was wonderful to spend time with them. They have a little zip line that is perfect for the kids. I wish it had been big enough for me!

Some of This and Some of That

Daddy and Tuck took these two to the Wildlife Park this year. Emmy and I went shopping! We got the better deal. :)

Their favorite animal - again - was the house cat. They also liked the porcupine because he was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

On Friday (yesterday), Ben and I took the kids to lunch and then to throw rocks into the river. We do it every year, and it never loses its appeal. The kids love it. This year we had to watch out for people tubing, though...they don't need any rocks to the head.

Ben gets the prize for capturing this shot of Lainey. It's most similar to the picture below...taken in 2010. We haven't yet been able to perfectly recreate the picture, but this year, Ben got pretty close. :) 

After throwing rocks into the river, we went to the Pirate and Renaissance Festival in Pagosa. It was interesting. Lainey got her face painted, so that was fun. :)

And Ben shot a real bow and arrow. He shot the arrow into the target on the third try. I think he did well!