Fall Colors, Ruby Horsethief, Texas

Ok folks, got an hour? Yikes, this is a long post with tons of pics. So go get a cup of tea, a nice blanket and curl up by the fire, this could take a while. The first pics are of Eli's birthday party up at their ranch. Trevor doing his rehab, just kidding he really shouldn't have been doing that. All the kiddos loaded up their bikes and went on a mountain bike ride from the top of the ranch back to the house.

Cousins after they finished the treasure hunt. Dylan got to hold the map, he felt very important.

Double flip. They are both getting very brave on the trampoline and can do normal flips and knee flips.

Next birthday was Finn. He had a racing birthday and this is Colter and Eli trying out the three legged race. Another beautiful day to play down valley with all our friends. Dylan and Vivian are so cute together, another one of his little girlfriends!  

Colter has been riding quite a few trails in our area this summer. He is doing really well on his mountain bike and gaining confidence with each ride. This is the Meadows Trail through Lawson Hill on our way down to gymnastics.

We had a really fun sleepover with Eli this fall and the boys did everything from play at the skate park to hours with legos to a massive mountain bike ride with Tim and Tracye. They left from our house, rode down the Meadows Trail to the Valley Floor, across the Valley Floor single track to town, up the gondola and then rode down the Village Trail and Jurassic Loop home. It took them several hours and everyone was completely exhausted. Eli has been doing a bike camp this summer and has been riding with the 9-14yr olds. He is doing awesome on his bike!

And another bike birthday at Town Park this time with Cole joining the 7 yr old set. Another beautiful fall day!

Dylan played on his first soccer team and did a great job. He is a good listener, has a positive attitude and is showing more athletic skills every practice. His famous Mommy coach is the reason he is so good, I'm sure of it. He loved soccer and is looking forward to playing again in the spring. Colter also played another season and also helped me coach Dylan's team. I wish we had better weather for longer seasons, I love playing soccer with the boys.

Ruby/Horsethief was a great idea!  We came up with this plan right after Trevor's surgery so that he would have something to look forward to. The weather was beautiful, the kids were great and I was able to feed my new addiction-stand up paddle boarding. Colter and Eli kayaked all three days and did awesome!

Dylan and Daddy spent most of their time together on the "pirate boat" and had lots of laughs, naps and time rowing. Dylan and Gideon are enjoying spending time together this year and they had lots of silliness on this trip.

Oh yeah, love the SUP! The boys are already planning my Christmas present.......  We had about 20 people on the trip including us, Rob's crew, Kathleen and Everett, Modee and Pappy and John Smiens x 4. Lots of kids and somewhat controlled chaos. The kids had a great time jumping from boat to boat and the big boys enjoyed the freedom of captaining their own vessels.

This was by far one of my favorite moments this summer. I loved being on the water with my kiddo, just paddling and talking. It is so amazing to me that he is big enough to do this. At 7 he is very confident and capable on the water and the two cousins had a great time exploring the shore and talking about the waves and rapids. The pirate hat helps of course.

The convoy of boats and attachments continues to grow with the family size. Dylan, Everett and Brooke loved being in the tag-a-long duckie, it was warm enough for water fights!

Ah yes, we did have Pirate Day on the river and Trevor the Peg Leg did it with style.

Colter would look mildly apprehensive at the top of the rapids, but did awesome every time and would be laughing at the bottom. Yes those waves were coming up over his kayak and he loved it!

A little piracy from the kayakers is always expected. He figured out that he could carry his water cannon in his kayak and sneak up on people. Daddy and the boys take over the boat. Trevor loved this part the best.

Love these pics! There was a jumping rock at our second camp and the boys must have gone off it 100 times. That is Eli leaping out and Colter doing a 360. There is nothing better for a group of boys than sand, rocks and water!

I think John is going to find some more girls to go along next time, he was having visions of teenage boating trips and his daughter being the only girl........ Brooke got a lot of attention from the 3-5 year old boys and I think Dylan was in love, at least for the day. Daddy made a great paco palace on the boat and Dylan loved to lounge on the front.

Way to much fun! I did swim one time following Colter through some waves, but overall did great for my first SUP river adventure. I had only been on flat water ponds and the ocean in SoCal last spring.

Everett and Dylan are fishing buddies. I can see them boating and fishing for many years to come telling stories of the good ole' days.  Napping on the river is something that all my boys do really well, including Trevor.

If you can zoom in on Colter, it is a great shot! Kathleen was making a really good recovery here and did not swim, although she did have great commentary while going through these waves. She also commented on the fact that being on the water with Colter in his kayak, Dylan and Everett in their "fishing/pirate" ship and her on the SUP was one of her favorite things! We all boated and travelled together for years before having kids and talked about how amazing it would be to someday be on the river with our families, everyone big enough to paddle their own vessel and enjoy playing on the beach and rocks at camp. Although we have been taking the kids boating since they were tiny babes, this was the first trip that we felt like they were choosing their own adventure and it was a big milestone for all of us. I am already looking forward to next summer!

Fun last minute photo op near our house. Mostly goofy shots with a few really cute ones mixed in. The colors were amazing and the boys look so grown up!

 
The boys and I went to Texas to warm up during off season and spend some quality time with Mimi, Bonnie and Lester. Dylan swam everyday even though the Texas folks thought he was crazy to swim in 85 degree weather.....Colter and I joined him most days.

We went to the Texas History Museum, toured around and watched Born to be Wild in 3D on the IMAX screen. That was pretty cool. Colter kept trying to reach out and pet the monkeys and elephants. He did figure out that "Texas is very proud of itself" while we were there and made a bus load of nursing home folks smile by saying that very loudly while looking at the carpet that had pictures of Texas all over it. Very funny kiddo. We enjoyed all the weapons, history and interactive movies.

 

Colter's favorite activity at Mimi's house was smashing pecans on the sidewalk and Dylan's was swinging in the backyard.

 Our favorite Michael showed up from UT and went with us to InnerSpace Caverns. It was a great tour and they want to go back when they are 8 and do the Explorer Tour.

Colter went with Bonnie and Lester out to the deer lease and learned about sitting still (kind of) in tree stands and all kinds of other hunting goodies. I think he will be our hunter when he grows up and bring us yummy wild meat. Thank you for taking him Uncle Lester!

Ah yes, animals to love on. These particular animals are missing their boy Michael who just went away to college and they were very happy to have two little boys around.

 We walked down to Boemer's house and checked out the garden and the banana tree that has been around since before Pappy was a baby at that house. The drought is awful in Texas this year and very few people have lawns left, much less gardens. It is always a treat to test out fresh herbs and okra.

 Homeschool while travelling is fun. Colter loved Cali cat and tried to get her to lay still for a portrait session. Pumpkin painting is much more fun outside in 80 degree weather!

 We also went to Sweetberry Farms and did all kinds of fun stuff. The boys made it through the maze and rang the bell all by themselves.

 These people had a great since of humor and had stuffed tons of scarecrows to make all kinds of scenes for the hayride. I love this one and the pirate scene.

 Flowers in October? Beautiful ones at that.

 

Back to Fort Collins/Loveland for a week or so of family time and Nana's service. Good to see all the family. The boys were trying to train the giant grasshoppers at Grandma and MacMac's to stay on their shirts like parrots.

 Another pumpkin patch, but this time with all the cousins. They had a good time running, jumping and playing. I love the picture of Rob and Grace, she is so cute!

Driving the golf cart is still the boys favorite activity at Nana's house and they did a good job getting around the neighborhood and finding their way home. One day I found them with 4 10 year old girls just talking away about how cool the golf cart was....oh yeah, it is starting!

 The boys helped Grandma and MacMac decorate for Halloween...more Halloween pics next time.
Thank you and Good Night!