Fall Fun

 As early as we could manage this fall, which ended up being the 2nd weekend of October, we headed west to see the leaves at Kenosha Pass.

Along the way we saw things like this,

And this, 

And this, 

The lighting couldn't have been better and we were starting to get really excited about what awaited us.

Until we were about 10 minutes from our destination and the leaves really started to thin, that is.  After a little more than an hour in the car, we pulled into the parking area and we were surrounded by tree skeletons.  Not an aspen leaf in sight.

Needless to say the kids were a little disappointed.  But they got over it when I gave them the popcorn and apple juice we had planned to eat amongst the trees.  Instead they ate it in the car and we enjoyed the leaves again on the way back down and I stopped to take pictures.

 There's always next year. And we will be there at the end of September if it kills us, because in it's glory I am sure that place is breathtaking.

My other consolation is that my backyard is home to two big beautiful ash trees.  

So every morning I would wake up, see the trees, say something like, "Oh my gosh!" or "Wow!" and I would take a picture.  

But I'm a weirdo because I took that same picture every single morning.

Maybe it's because I was lucky enough to live in the fall color capital of the world (New Hampshire), followed by the fall color black hole (Texas), that fall here just feels really, really good to me.  Colorado can't even touch New England, but at least there are some really enjoyable and authentic fall things to enjoy here. 

Like leaf wars, 

being buried in leaves, 

Jumping into a pile of leaves, 

And making leaf angels,

Raking is going to be kind of intense, but the enjoyment that's been had will make it worth it.

We went to Anderson Farms this year and it was pretty great. We could have stayed all day.

We explored the corn maze and took a hayride.  And I realized as I remarked how beautiful the mountains looked, that I am really happy to be enjoying fall here, in Colorado, that Colorado is finally starting to feel like home.  And that's kind of a big deal. 

Let Him Eat Cake

It's a rite of passage that I love, and despite my always fulfilled promises to clean it all up, Dan has major anxiety when our kids smash their one year cake.

But Dan was on his own that day.

The rest of us looked on with excitement and screams, 

and Jack didn't seem to have any anxiety at all.

Sand Dunes National Park 2015

We feel so lucky to have landed here in Colorado so near to the Allred's.  Dan and Reid have been friends since their freshman year in college. I'm not saying we're old, but that is getting to be a long time ago.  

They are wonderful people and friends, and have been so good to us since we moved here.  They are also very busy.  So when they asked if we'd like to join them on a camping trip to the sand dunes, we were rightfully concerned with taking the littlest muggins camping in the sand but it only took a moment's consideration to agree.  The sand dunes were on our "list" and getting to experience them with friends we don't get to see all that often sealed the deal.

As we drove down we said prayers that whatever happened, that we would, please, just not regret the whole thing.  

And then a bear ran right out in front of our van.  No lie.  These could be big foot pictures but I promise it was a black bear.

Then we forgot all about regret and just started praying that we wouldn't get eaten by a bear.

It was such an unusual landscape; prairie, sand dunes, huge mountains.  

And then if the bear wasn't enough, we looked out the window and saw this fifty point buck or whatever.  

After setting up camp, locking anything with a scent in our bear locker, and saying more prayers that we wouldn't get eaten, we enjoyed a campfire under a full moon.

In the morning we headed to the dunes.  Up until the end of summer when it dries up, there is a river that runs at the base of the sand dunes.  It was mostly gone for our visit, but there was still enough to wade in and make beautiful designs in the sand.

We rented sand sleds.

And it was pretty fantastic.

Hours of fun were had by all.

Climbing back up the hill after sledding down was the hardest part.

And sand got ev.ery.where.  

Finn and Jack didn't do much sledding, but they did like to play in the sand.

We discovered sand in weird places for the next week.

Before we left, Ava's horse back riding teacher had tipped us off to a fun alligator farm.  They also had plenty of other reptiles.

This girl shocks me.  Of all the things that scare her, she'll wear a snake around her neck without a problem.

Luke wasn't scared either.

This is the closest we got to a group shot.  Grace is missing and Max is hiding.

The little alligator "punched"our certificate to authenticate it.

They had two little baby rattlesnakes born that day.  Can you spot them?

This was the alligator from the movie "Happy Gilmore"

And this was a nasty 80 pound snapping turtle.

This is a not-nasty, super cute, 20 pound smoochy bunny.

And if you were wondering, this is how the smoochy bunny took his naps (read: he didn't). But he did sleep pretty darn great at night so I forgave him.

Deer wandered in and out of our campsite.  

And the sunset was unreal.

We did another round at the campfire.

And made it through another night without getting eaten.  I love cramming all of these people into the same tent and waking up together.  Seriously, it's one of my top favorite things in life. 

Finn's entire scalp was coated with sand, 

And my foyer stayed stacked with camping gear for three days after we got home,

but it was totally worth it.