Pumpkin Chuckin', Halloween fun from the Mountains to thThe Th Desert

And the next part of our warn and dry fall went like this.........

We went to Moab for some fall fun and the pumpkin chuckin' festival. The boys and I packed up our "homeschool" and took it to desert for 10 days of hiking, biking, four wheeling, sand dune climbing, swimming and music park time. Trevor came down with us the first weekend for a camping/four wheeling weekend of dirty boy fun and then the boys and I stayed in town at the Roufa's until everyone else showed up the next weekend. This year we were joined by our friends the Aplins, Grandma and MacMac and Modee and Pappy. We also saw many of our Telluride friends out enjoying one last weekend of warmth before we all settled in for the winter. The weather was sunny and only a little chilly, we still went swimming at the outdoor pool at the condo.

Ella giving Colter pointers on how to properly launch the little pumpkin at  her brother Jackson, I mean at the target.

The  Aplins are another homeschooling family and we enjoy getting together with then several times a week.

I think Jackson and Colter were designing their own mega cannon . Watch out! One of these air cannons set the world record for shooting a pumpkin over a mile.

There is always a learning opportunity if you keep your eyes peeled.

                             

Colter picked up a Halloween cookbook while we were at the store and was so inspired that we made an entire Scary Dinner Surprise for Daddy, Grandma and MacMac when joined us in Moab. It was so much fun to make and mostly made from healthy fruits and veggies, including Colter's new favorite Jicama. Colter was the main veggie carver and foodscape designer. Dylan helped out by setting the table, giving good ideas and taste testing everything. 

Boys and their toys! This is Colter on the OSET electric motorcycle. It doesn't have a seat, as it is a trials bike, so the boys learn incredible balance.

               

They wnt on a couple of longer rides with Trevor and spent the rest of the time riding around the camp area.

                         

OUCH!!!!! Dylan landed right on this cactus. He was very patient as Trevor tweezed out hundreds of little bits.

Of course a handful of Newman-O's helped him feel better.

I love these pictures and memories like these. Both boys look so happy and I love the "leap of faith" approach.  I am proud of my boys for being so adventurous and glad that they will generally try anything once to see if they like it.  Colter told me the other day about a mom of one his new friends who had never skied, never rock climbed and didn't want her boys to climb to high up an easy hill. He was blown away that a mom would "train her kid to be scared".  It was a great chance for us to talk about differences in parenting styles and living life based on fear vs. living life based on love and trust. Also pretty funny to me that he is just realizing that most people don't get to do all the cool stuff we do all the time.

Yeah for my happy boys! They have a very cool Dad who plays hard with them. We love to go climb, run and jump on the giant sand dune just across from the Arches entrance. This year the boys started trying front flips with me. The slope is very steep and the sand is so soft that it is easier to flip around then it is to stop the rotation in time, but it doesn't really matter because it is a nice landing.

The Blakney's out on the prowl for candy. Any guesses on  Rob's costume? Remember the old Christmas Classics cartoons with Rudolph, the Abominable Snowman (Noah) and Yukon Cornelius? Only about 5 people around town got it on their own,  others would point and say "oh you're the guy from Rudolph......ahhh...I can picture it, what is his name?

Modee and her crew. It is fun to have everyone so close by for  events like this. From the left- Grace (2), Noah(4), Gideon (6), Eli(8), Colter(8) and Dylan(5)

Sir Colter the Goofball and Sir Dylan the Drummer Boy sit with Modee the Spider Witch.

All of us except Pappy (who is taking the picture)

Cute family pic in the middle of main street. I love Halloween in Telluride!

Gideon and Dylan

Eli and Colter

Yukon Cornelius and Bumbles

 

These last several posts have been "back blogs" I fell behind last summer and have been attempting to catch up in chunks. Although I love having the pictures posted and small captions, it is my intention to catch up and then move forward with more writing and detail. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I love looking back over the years and reading how we were feeling, what we liked and what we learned from different phases and experiences. 

Fall colors, field trips and Westwater Canyon

We enjoyed another beautiful fall full of hiking, playing at the park, camping, rafting, kayaking, SUPing and playing on motorized toys. The leaves were extra special and spectacular this year and the weather was warm far longer than it should have been. This last part made us very happy, but has led to a moisture issue for our skiing endeavors. It has been the driest winter since we moved here with only about 76 inches of snow so far this season on the mountain (and I am writing this in January).

This was supposed to be a serious going into battle picture, but the birthday boy just couldn't stop smiling!

Colter's birthday bash at Go Bananas!

Full of wet and wild fun! Laser  tag is still the favorite.

SUP race at Trout Lake

Beautiful fall day hiking around Woods Lake with Grandma and MacMac

We had a few great visits with Grandma and MacMac this fall and one of them was at the peak of the leaves this year. It was four days of  "Ooooohing and Awwwwwing" and taking way to many pictures. Colter found this cool old cabin to explore at Wood's Lake. Only about 15 minutes from here, but I think we will go camp there next summer.

Yeah, what a cute picture!

Will have to plan ahead for a photo shoot next fall.

Beautiful colors on Wilson Meas

Apple orchard field trip to Paonia. with  the cousins.

Westwater Canyon, Utah. Colter and Finn's first big whitewater trip. Colter kayaked the first half and did awesome! I SUPed and did better than average:)

I love being on the water with my little buddy!

Melissa was an awesome leader for Colter! We will need to do more boating with her and their boys.

You tend to have a worried expression on your face at the top of the rapids and a huge smile at the bottom!

You and Dad checking out the old miner's cabin before the rapids.

Finn and Eric, as well as the Plantz's, shared this day with us.

Here I am using all of my skills and balance to get through the wave trains. I only fell of once and didn't even get my hair wet. It was a great day!

Scouting the first big rapid, the boys are thrilled, but Trevor looks a bit nervous!

Skull Rock, we had a very clean run.

Mark's boat had a much more exciting ride than we did through Skull!

They did not flip and everyone stayed on board.

We smirk in the face of danger, ahhh ha ha. This would be the Room of Doom.

Happy boys after our overly exciting run through Last Chance. Actually thought we were going over on that one! It  was a great end to the rapids and gave the boys a story for years to come.

I love this picture! He looks so grown up. This is the face of true happiness. The afterglow of a big adventure when all works out as planned and life is GOOD!

Ahhhh...beautiful Westwater! We shall see you again soon.

What a cool day that was! 

We love every stage and age of our kids development for various reasons and love our boys unconditionally no matter their interests in life or choices they make. But it sure is fun to share our passions and interests with them as they grow and see the excitement in their eyes as they embrace at least some of what we love about the world. This is just one of many "milestones" we hit this year as far as adventure and travel go, and it was a big one. Colter said "this was the best day on the river EVER!" He and Finn talked about it for weeks and like all good river guides their stories just got better and more exciting with time.