Colorado 2019

A few years ago we told the girls that the summer they graduate they get to choose our summer vacation.  As crazy as it was to think about, this summer was Rachel's turn to pick.

Now, a few things about Rachel: she's not much of an outdoorsy gal, she's not big on hiking and if she's spending time outside, it's to work on her tan, not enjoy nature.  Despite all of that, Rachel’s choice was Colorado.  We were more than a bit surprised but she was gung ho on going!

We flew out on a Saturday morning and had a little rough go on take off. We were trying to beat some storms that were coming into the area. 

These two were all smiles while Emma and I were freaking out in the seats in front of them. 

Meanwhile this was Emma and I.  Both of us hate flying, so there was lots of sweaty hand holding...

Rachel tried unsuccessfully to calm us down.

Once we were in the air, all was good!  The flight was short and sweet and we were so excited to see the mountains.  We flew into Denver around 10, which was nice to take the day to sight see on our way to  Estes Park.

Estes Park was beautiful, seeing the mountains was breathtaking!

We stopped at this river on the way to the resort.  A few people were swimming but gosh the water was COLD!!

We loved the Estes Park Resort. It sits in front of a man made lake and had the most gorgeous views.  Brad and I came out each morning with our coffee.

The first morning we asked the hotel person the best place for breakfast and she recommended a little cafe down the street called the Estes Park Pie Shop.  It was a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant but the breakfast was amazing!

As were these views every morning.  Colorado truly is a magical place to be.

Our first full day we decided to drive the Rocky Mountain National Park. We had read that you needed to get there early to get into some of the hike areas, but apparently early meant 6 am not 10.  So we looked at our options and decided to hike to Cub Lake. 

We stopped so many times before we got to our hike to soak in all the views. The weather was gorgeous, not too hot and just enough of a breeze. 

They say I’m a little over dramatic....

The hike was a 5 mile there and back. It was gorgeous but definitely a good hike!  We were exhausted.   My favorite part was the hike back, we listened to thunder most of the way.  Thankfully we never got rained on, but it was so peaceful listening to the rumbles.

It storms nearly every afternoon in Colorado, which I actually really enjoyed.  Kind of gave you an excuse to chill out and relax.

Day 3 brought more morning views and coffee.

Brad and the girls really wanted to take the gondola ride in Estes Park, but I opted out.  As fun as this looked, I figured it was safer for me to be on solid ground.  I'm terrified of heights, people.

While they gondola'd, I drove into town to shop.  We had been in town everyday and couldn't believe how busy it was ALL THE TIME!  I actually ended up finding a bench near a river that flows through town and people watched.  It is really a beautiful downtown area.

After they were done, we sadly packed up all our gear and headed out to our next destination, Keystone.  

Of course we stopped quite a bit on the way and did some sight seeing.  

It's just so beautiful.

We made it to the top of a summit and stopped to have lunch while taking in the views.

We made it to Keystone late afternoon and picked up our keys for the condo we rented for 4 days.  Now, as much as I loved Estes Park, I loved Keystone SO much more!  Our condo was on this lake which had paddles boats and canoes for rent.  The girls took the paddle boats out one afternoon while Brad and I relaxed on one the benches.  They also had shopping, restaurants and a Starbucks.

The condo we had was awesome!  It had three floors: the girls sleeping area was in the loft, bunk beds, queen bed and a full bathroom and walk in closet.  Our bedroom was on the lower level with our own bathroom, so nice and quiet!  We made a couple meals and then ordered pizza the other days as we found two amazing pizza places.  Most nights we played cards and were in bed early from all the walking!

Every morning Brad and I would get up, make coffee and take a walk around the lake.  One of my favorite things about our resort was the river that ran through.  No better sound than that!

I researched different hikes in or around Keystone and found one that overlooks Lake Dillon.  It had INCREDIBLE views!

On Thursday we decided to drive in into Vail and that was one of our favorite days!

Vail was absolutely beautiful, kind of made you feel like you were in a different country!  There were so many shops which of course the girls were all over.  Seriously by the third shop that was selling the EXACT SAME THINGS, I was over  it. Haha!  We had supper at a great little burger place and enjoyed a couple drinks.  We absolutely adored Vail and can't wait to come back!

Our last day in Keystone we had booked a horse back ride in the mountains.  Now, it you know anything about me, you would know that A. I hate clowns.  They are not cute, funny or even remotely something that should be allowed in public.  And B. I am TERRIFIED of horses.  Terrified.  I have no reason to be, have never been traumatized by them, it's just that they are too large for a human being to ride on.

So, after Rachel announced where she wanted to go for her trip, she then announced those horrifying words, "I want to go horse back riding in the mountains!"  Uhhhhh.....shit.

I couldn't back out either.  I was a sweaty mess all morning just thinking about it.

Now the funny thing about all this was that their "instructional" time was literally a 30 second, talk about how to steer them and get them to stop.  I'm sorry, what exactly do I do when mine takes off full board??????

So off we went, after I asked about 50 questions (most of them relating to, "are you SURE she won't take off running??").  It was an hour ride up and through the mountains and I can honestly say I was 100% sure this would be my death.  I was so freaking terrified it was unreal.  I think I started to relax when we had about 2 minutes left.  I'm so glad I did it, but will never do it again, haha!

Everyone loved it, especially Alayna!  Our guide was awesome and would ask questions which Alayna would promptly answer.  #teacherspet.

Our last leg of our trip was spent in Colorado Springs.  It felt like the drive from Keystone to Colorado Springs took forever.  We got there after lunch and once we checked into our hotel, we decided to check out Manitou Springs.  I actually really loved Manitou Springs!  Lots of cute, quaint little shops.  My favorite shop there was Anna's Apothecary.  They had all kinds of herbs, tinctures and all natural beauty products.  I literally could have spent days there.  They even had fresh kombucha, soooo good!

Our last day in Colorado we spent at the Garden of the Gods.  It was so freaking hot, and honestly, by this time we were all walked/sight seeing'd out.  It was probably Brad's favorite part of the trip!  It really was so beautiful.

This vacation was absolute perfection.  The weather was amazing, people were amazing, food was amazing and the views....amazing!

Summer 2019

Summer sweet summer, where have you gone?  I can't even believe it's the middle of July already.  June was spent getting ready for Rachel's grad party and celebrating all of her friends too.  We enjoyed so many fun grad parties and of course all the yummy food.  So sad that I have to actually cook on the weekends, ha!

July 4th is one of our FAVORITE holidays.  On the third we went to my bil/sil's house to grill and enjoy some cocktails.  They were in the process of packing up the house as they bought a different house, but they still managed to host all of us!  We grilled and enjoyed fireworks later on in the evening.  Typically we walk uptown to enjoy all the festivities, but it's gotten SO huge that it's not that much fun anymore.

The 4th we headed uptown for the parade, the weather was a little iffy, but we thought we were in the clear.  Towards the end of the parade it down poured and we were all soaked.  Thankfully I got this pic right away!

It's so fun sitting at the parade because my mom and her husband and Brad's parents are there too.  I love seeing all of us there, such a fun tradition!

After getting soaked at the parade we made it home just in time for the rain to stop and the sun to come out.  Brad's family always comes over to swim and chill and eat.  One of my favorite traditions!

Everyone left around 8, so we cleaned up and chilled.  Rachel was working until 10, so we waited up for her then proceeded to stay up until 2.  Way too late for this mama, but we had such a fun time!

It was so nice to have a 4 day weekend, my company was closed on Friday and we really had no plans which was awesome.  We were completely lazy which was incredible after being non stop busy for months.

The next weekend we headed up to my dads for our Mineer "Christmas" which was a ton of fun!  We celebrated our 21st anniversary too with ice cream cake, my favorite!

It was such a nice time just hanging out and visiting with family.  

My dad and his friend Steve had a concert for us, it's always the highlight of the weekend!

Such a fun weekend, always so nice to get away from the day to day stuff!

So that's a little bit of what we've been up to.  I'm really wishing that summer would slow down, because that means we'll be taking Rach to college and I am NOT ready for that yet...

Red, White and Blue!

Wow, look at me all posting so much in a week!  I can't even begin to tell you how good it feels to have the last few months be over with!  Way too much stress and things on our plate.  Between doing major updates in the house (painting the main floor, carpet, new furniture), landscaping, Emma's accident and getting ready for Rachel's grad party, this has literally been Brad and I every night in June.

 I am believing that the rest of 2019 is going to be amazing!

And to get that off to an amazing start is my second favorite holiday, July 4th.  The 4th is always a super special day for Brad and I, as it is the day he proposed to me, at our local parade.  We were married on July 11, so July is always a special month for me.

I especially love all the red, white and blue decor.  I have a huge bin that I haul out every year and of course add more things.  

The only new thing I added this year was this tiered tray from Hobby Lobby which we used for the cupcakes a t Rachel's grad party.  I still need to tweak a few things, but love it!

We always head into our town on the 3rd for our church festival.  The festival started out very small, maybe a few hundred people and has grown to over 20,000 people now.  It's kind of sad though because we don't go up for long anymore as it's just too many people.

Back when we lived in town, we would have all of our friends come over for a fish fry on the 3rd and then we'd walk up town for all the festivities.  We would hire a babysitter to watch all the kiddos, some years there would be 8 kids!  I seriously don't know how we did it though.  Then we'd be up by 6:30 to start making a huge breakfast for everyone then walk up town for the parade.  We would be exhausted by the end of the day.  And that was with little kids!

Funny that the girls still love to go to the parade, that is one thing we'll never be able to give up!

Since we live outside of town, we don't have the 3rd festivities anymore, but we do have everyone over in the afternoon on the 4th for swimming and food!

We love finding new snacks and apps to make.  Rachel wants spinach artichoke dip this year and we'll have the meat and cheese tray again and rice krispy bars.  I'm loving all the red, white and blue charcuterie boards I'm seeing, so I might whip one of those up to!

Garvin and Co

When the girls were smaller, we enjoyed all the fun crafts...

Citronella candles

Uncle Sam faces

Cotton swab fireworks

I do miss doing these fun crafts, I can still get Alayna to make some stuff with me, which is great!

Hope you all have an AMAZING and safe 4th of July!!

Linking up with Kellyann

What's Up Wednesday

Hot damn am I proud of myself!  Last night the girls and I laid in my bed at 7:30 and I knocked out some blog posts that have been sitting in my drafts.  There just hasn't been much time these days...

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK:
I was really hoping we would have a ton of food left over from Rachel's grad party, but nope.  I had a half a pan of my moms lemon bars left over and I've been rationing them so I can enjoy them, haha!  I may have hid them...

WHAT I'M REMINISCING ABOUT:
Well, with having Rachel's grad party this past weekend, I've been doing a lot of reminiscing about her school years, and just how fast it goes.
Just look at these babies....





WHAT I'M LOVING:

NOT PLANNING FOR A GRADUATION PARTY!!!  Ya'll, I LOOOOVE planning parties, I really do. I just love hosting, but this one was a lot of work, lol!  I am soooooo exhausted.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO:

So here's the deal.  The last 2 months have been so busy not only getting ready for graduation, but we also had many other things come up.

Rachel had Baccalaureate at church, they did such a nice job for our graduates!

April 23 our sweet Emma celebrated her sweet 16, on the 24th she got her license, and by that night she was in a major car accident.  I still can't look at all of the pics I have without crying.  I did write a blog post, but mainly for our records.
Bottom line is that the accident was not Emma's fault, and we are still waiting for the possibility of charges against the other driver.
My Acadia (thank God she was driving it) was totaled so we've been dealing with our insurance company in getting a new one.



Rachel had her honors banquet where she received the highest honor cords.  SO proud!

Memorial weekend we had Brad's family over here for a cookout and bonfire.

Last day of school for these beauties!



Alayna's last day of 7th grade.  Emma was at a friends house, so no pics.

On June 3, Brad and the girls took Josie back to the kennel where we got her for 2 months of puppy training!  They will do behavioral and hunting training with her (praise Jesus!).  I am hoping this helps with her ridiculous sock addiction...



We got the pool cleaned out and filled up early this year!  And then proceeded to have cool weather, so haven't used it much.

And then the weekend before Rachel's party our 4th level flooded.  The pressure valve on the hot water heater burst spilling hot water.  Emma noticed it Saturday night around 11:30, so we were frantically sucking up water with shop vacs and carpet cleaners.  We were able to get the carpet pulled up and tons of fans blowing. Funny enough we were scheduled on Wed to get new carpeting upstairs, so we had him check the basement carpet and re-lay it for us.  We are hoping the crisis was diverted and everything is ok. 

WHAT I'M DREADING:

I'm really just trying to enjoy our summer now and not think about moving Rachel up to Bemidji in August...

WHAT I'M WORKING ON:

Nothing!  Haha, just trying to relax now.  House and garage are clean and organized, planning is done!

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT:

We are heading to Colorado this summer for our family vacation, can't wait!

That's about all I've got.  I haven't really been reading much the last couple months, hence not time.  But, I have found Dance Moms and I have to say....obsessed.  Seriously.

Happy Wednesday everyone!