Weekend Photos

On Saturday the kids got to attend their very first parade for the Corn Roast Festival. Rowan was initially pretty scared, being sure that there were going to be cannons. But there were of course no cannons, and even the marching bands turned out not to be too loud for him. I think the loads of candy that were thrown at the children probably helped too. Niamh's dance studio had a float in the parade, and Niamh was thrilled to see her teacher in it. After the parade we made a quick stop at the festival itself, but it was too hot for anybody to get much enjoyment out of it. We will have to try going in the morning or evening next year.

Then on Sunday morning we got up bright and early to watch the hot air balloons being launched. So beautiful! And much more pleasant than watching hot air balloons in the bitter cold!

Fishing: Round Two

On Saturday we went back to Trout Haven Ranch to try our hand at fishing again, this time with the Metcalfs. For the first two hours or so we were almost completely unsuccessful.

The fish (and there were a lot of them) swam past most of the worms without any interest.

But not always! They were really good at taking the worms off the hook and hardly having their mouth touch it at all. There were a couple of times when a fish was hooked and even out of the water, but still managed to wiggle away (see above photo). Using the worms John was the only one of us who caught a fish. We were just about to give up and go home with only one, when Jen saved the day and asked the guys inside the shop for help. Before that they had been very hands off. But when asked they not only gave us corn as bait instead of worms ("corn is like a steak dinner to the trout"), they also came out gave us pointers on actually catching the fish.

I unfortunately have no photos of fish being caught, but we did walk away with nine between us, which made the children very happy.

One of the nicest parts about fishing the easy way is having someone else clean the fish.

That evening we all convened back at our house for playing and a delicious, if bone-y, dinner of grilled trout. John did most of the cooking and he did a really great job. I think we all agreed that while the experience was worth it, the trout had entirely too many bones to make eating them very enjoyable, even if they were tasty.

There are a few more photos from our day up on Flickr.

Cowgirl in Pink

Bug Hunting

The kids have been enjoying hunting for bugs a lot lately. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they enjoy helping me hunt for bugs, which is not quite what I envisioned when I got them the nets and bug "houses". I really don't like bugs. I've found lady bugs pretty gross ever since my dorm room in college was invaded by swarms of lady bugs one autumn. And every time one of the grasshoppers we've got jumps I've have to work hard to suppress a squeal of disgust. Guess what the most common kind of insects are we've been finding? Yep, ladybugs and grasshoppers. Also a few roly-polys, and some sort of little hopping/flying beetle that lives in our grass. We almost caught a month/butterfly once, but it got away at the last second. Anyway, I'm really hoping with some more practice that this is something the kids can do somewhat independently!!!

Backyard Sprinkler Fun

There were no thunderstorms yesterday afternoon (somewhat unusual), so the kids spent some time in the backyard playing in the sprinklers.



For some reason Muriel is not very fond of sprinklers in our backyard, though we go to a spray park with sprinkler-like things, which she likes quite well. The sprinkler in the first two photos waves back and forth, and she would not go near it. The one in the last photo doesn't move around, so she'd play in it a bit more...but not much, as you can see from the photo.

But all three were up for popsicles afterward!

Saturday Morning at Horsetooth Falls

On Saturday we were out of the house by 8:15 for a hike to Horsetooth Falls. It was a really lovely hike, and just about perfect for the kids. Short, but still long enough to feel like a real hike. The weather was a bit cooler than it has been, and there was small, clear pool at the end for wading. I think this is one we'll have to do again, especially in the spring when the falls are more of a waterfall and less of a trickle!

Muriel 7.21.10

Colorado Train Museum

Is anyone surprised that we went to the Colorado Railroad Museum last Sunday, on our second weekend here? Or that we bought a year membership? It was a big hit with the children, so I think we'll be putting that membership to good use.

Rowan's favorite engine, though it was frustrating to have to share it with other children who wanted to play on it. Especially because he was too shy to play in there unless he was alone or with one of us. There was a rope you could pull which rang a bell on the outside of the engine.

this was through the window of an train car that held stacks and stacks of old bound copies of the Rocky Mountain News.

Rowan Makes it to the Rocky Mountains

Okay, so actually we all made it to the Rocky Mountains last weekend, but Rowan was the most excited about it. This is how the hour long car ride into the park went:

Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are just the foothills.

five minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are still the foothills. It's going to take about sixty minutes to get there.

three minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains? There are a lot of rocks!"
Pat/Emily: No, still the foothills, Rowan. We will tell you when we get to the Rocky Mountains okay?

two minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?

Needless to say, he was thrilled once we finally got there. Even though we were out of the house by 9am, it was very crowded by the time we got into the park, and finding a parking spot at a trail head was difficult.


We ended up doing a very short "hike" (walk) on the Alluvial Fan Trail. It was crowded, but the river was beautiful, regardless.




We even spotted some wildlife, though it wasn't the Bighorn Sheep Rowan is dying to see.

After our hike and a snack we decided to head back into Estes Park for some fishing at Trout Haven Ranch. We were completely unsuccessful despite the vast numbers of fish that could be seen swimming around the pond. The children, especially Rowan, were quite disappointed. Luckily we live close enough that we can go back often, perhaps on a day when the fish haven't already seen a gazillion worms.

Niamh, Our Little Dancer

Niamh has been dancing up a storm (thanks to Zoe Elko and Angelina Ballerina). She often goes outside to do her "ballet".