The End of Summer

The end of summer for us is marked officially with a trip to the mountains over Labor Day weekend. For several years, we took our camper & stayed in the great outdoors, at one with nature, including bears-yikes! In fact, every year except this one has included an encounter with a bear, some closer than others.

Last year, we had a tiny newborn & for once I wasn't up to the adventure that is living in a cramped space where everyone trips over each other & you can hear the slightest noise so we rented a cabin...well, this year is de ja vue-we had a tiny newborn & I wasn't up to the adventure...you get the picture. We also decided somewhere in there that hubby has a MUCH better time when he doesn't have the stress of hauling/setting up/maintaining a camper so we sold it to some friends that happened to be in the market.

We love our little cabin-it has great views, a very spacious deck, and plenty of room for the kids to run around & play. It has all the amenities you need on a Labor Day trip-microwave, dishwasher, nice bathroom, & most importantly a TV that gets some college football!

We took walks and naps, played in the rain and in the tall trees, and ate S'Mores...but we also said farewell to Summer, got out our sweatshirts and started looking forward to Fall.


Jack helped make French toast the first morning. Now, I have to stop & tell that we got into our cabin late at night, around 11:00pm...but the kids were so excited to be there that they were up the next morning at 5:30am!! Remember me saying something about the cabin being little? The bedrooms are side-by-side with the bathroom, so EVERYONE was up then-no sleeping in on this vacation!



These are pirates, by the way...pirates that have eaten WAY too much bubble gum! (see big bulging cheeks!)



Our view from the deck.


Ava was all smiles...guess when you are kid #4, you just naturally go with the flow.



The night we planned to have S'mores it was raining, so we made them in the microwave. If you have never put a marshmallow in the microwave, you need to! That is quite a little science experiment! The kids were very impressed. We decided that S'mores are even more messy when cooked this way instead of toasted on the fire!

Highlights from the Hike

These are pictures from our hike up West Spanish Peak. We were the most ill-prepared ever for a hike, to name a few things-we left at noon (when you should be coming DOWN the mountain), we took no food, and the clouds looked like they were going to dump at any time. Because of all of this, we took the overlook path instead of heading up the mountain-the kids loved it, they thought it was a true hike & were ready to go by the time we got to our destination.

I was disappointed with myself because we started off the hike in the trees so my camera was set for a shady exposure, when we got to the top I forgot to change it, so most of my pictures are over-exposed & I'm not smart enough (yet?) to figure out on Paint Shop how to fix them better. I've played around with some, but they just aren't the best...also, you can tell that Fall is on it's way because the grass was all dead!

Notice Jack's backpack...Macy insisted on carrying the smaller pack, so he was stuck with it all the way up-I swear it weighed half as much as he did! He was a trooper though. Lily loved the hike-of course who wouldn't when you get to ride like the Queen of Sheba! Ava never knew any different...just snoozed the whole way. The air was cool & crisp & it never did rain on us.

A Hiking We Will Go, part 2

In these pictures you can see that Macy has a fear of heights!


This was the view we came to see.

A vintage look to the picture...

Lily was full of funny faces!

LOVED the hike!

A forgotten one

I found this picture from summer the other day-it had somehow been overlooked. I just love it! It is a rare time when Macy either forgot about the camera or didn't know I was taking pictures & she's just being sweet-not posing!


These are a perfect example of what I'm talking about...the girl cannot keep her head on straight when she sees the camera!



Wonder what she's "being" here...


Oh, forgot the camera again...or hasn't spotted it yet I think is more accurate.

First Day of School

Here was Macy on the first day of school.

And, this is lonely Batboy, forced to keep the neighborhood safe all by himself...it was a pretty sad morning, but he recovered quickly & was ready to fight crime (really just his sister) when she got home.




This is Macy & Jack on his first day of Montessori.

Smile mugs

Sweet little Ava smiles-makes you just want to cuddle her & kiss her little cute face!





I always have plenty of help with Miss Ava...

Singing (or splashing) in the rain

A fun afternoon rain to play in before school started. Lily wasn't too sure of it & stayed on the porch!