Thursday, August 19, 2010

Estes Park

I made it my goal this summer to get out and do stuff with the kids instead of wasting the summer in the apartment. While we didn't do as much as I would have liked, we did enjoy the Cave of the Winds and the Garden of the Gods, and a couple of days ago the Stanley Hotel and Lake Estes in Estes Park. What a beautiful way to spend one of our last full days together before school starts next week.

Before we headed to Estes Park, we watched the Ghost Hunters episode of the Stanley Hotel. Amanda was fascinated with the ghostly activity that the hotel is famous for, thanks to the movie and book The Shining. When we arrived she kept exclaiming (quietly but repeatedly), "WE ARE AT A HAUNTED HOTEL OMG OMG OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!"



After peeling them away from the awesome hotel, we went to Lake Estes where the kids spent hours wading in the water, bent over looking for tadpoles. Brandon was confident he could catch a fish with his bare hands. I took a ton of pictures, mainly because I wanted to get one or two of them without their booties stickin' up in the air, facing me.


Amanda agreed to take a few shots of me so that I would have some evidence of me being there. I tried to teach them how to skip rocks...

"This is how you hold the rock... no put your finger he... here, there you go... no leave your thumb there... wrap your finger this way... now you go ahead and skim it... " *plop!*

Playing in the little river that runs alongside part of Lake Estes. They were pretending they had been stranded forEVER and by digging they finally found water. "WE FOUND WATER!!!" I will never tire of their pretending, becoming lost in time with their imaginations working together.



After dinner at Penelope's where we feasted on a burger and a foot long chili cheese dog, our goal was to return to the lake. We got sidetracked along the way by another part of the river.

Heading back to the lake!
"Fishing."

A photo of the three of us, thanks to my long arms. ;)


Still playing as the sun began to set...

Just the three of us. Perfect.

Still bent over, enjoying the beautiful calm lake...

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.
:)

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