At Home in the Mountains

Continuing on through July events:  The Barkers, some of our friends from TX, came to visit mid-July. It was so great to see them and spend time together. We did a lot of things and were exhausted by the end but it was a refreshing time too. We went to Red Rocks twice because the kids loved it so much.  We toured the Molly Katherine mine in Cripple Creek. It was a really neat tour. It is a bit pricey but I highly recommend it you get the chance. It is a historical mine, not currently a working mine. The tour takes you 1000 feet below the surface and then the guide gives you a history of mining and the development of equipment to make mining easier and more profitable. It was fascinating. We also got to do a lot of picnicking as we took lunches a lot while we were doing different sight seeing.  We also drove to the top of Pike's Peak. That was really fun. I had not been up there since the ascent in 2010. I want to drive up again next summer and stop at more...

We're not even through July yet, folks! Continuing on:  We visited the splash pad at America the Beautiful park, made a therapy playground for Maddy, and spent time playing with the dog.  Visits to the ranch and more rain. We had miniature pond in the cow pasture for awhile.

Maybe just a catch up with some quick pics:  Fourth of July was beautiful. A bit warm and dry for the mountains which made for great camp out weather. We camped in "Maddy's campsite" on our property. We were under fire restrictions at the time so I made s'mores in the oven. The kids said they were the best s'mores they've ever had. Mom FTW!  We had fun with flashlights, glow sticks, and story telling. On the actual forth we cooked out and went to Memorial Park to watch the fireworks. Aaron and the kids went to Symphony Above the Clouds on the 5th. So we had lots of fun.  The Bios Research Crew came out to visit and we had a lot of fun with them. We cooked out, explored Red Rocks which is basically a much less trafficked version of Garden of the Gods and 5 minutes from our house. We also went to the Cliff Dwellings in Manitou.  It finally started raining in Jul...