Summer adventures with the niblings

 Paul, Sarah, Orion, and Aurora came out to Colorado this summer and we had some adventures! Here's some of the highlights:

Paul and the kids went to family camp with Mom Dad all week. I came down towards the end, and Adam, Brian, and Sarah joined us at the very very end. This is at the talent show, Orion is not at all interested.

A short hike on Dakota Ridge outside Canon City. Photo by Sarah

Looking over the Royal Gorge

Driving through the San Luis Valley. Photo by Adam

Binoculars at Great Sand Dunes National Park- photo by Adam

The whole gang at the Sand Dunes - Sarah, Adam, Paul, Craig in back; Cindy, Orion, Laura, Aurora, Brian in front

Adam out on the dunes

Brian, Orion, and Paul getting the sand sled ready

Aurora on the dunes- photo by Sarah

Sand sledding! - photo by Adam

Sarah and Aurora getting ready to sand sled - photo by Craig

They made it up to Zapata Falls! Photo by Craig

We stayed a night in Pagosa Springs, and wanted to give Paul and Sarah a date night, since we had 5 adults available to babysit. The kids were not thrilled with this idea.

But they had fun!

Adam taking a picture of a friendly chipmunk in Pagosa Springs

The friendly chipmunk

We went on to Mesa Verde National Park- and our car stopped to pick up dinner for everyone. We may have had a little margarita, french fry, and ice cream happy hour while we waited for our order.

Family dinner at the Far View Lodge at Mesa Verde

Everyone looking out at Cliff Palace. Photo by Sarah

Cliff Palace in the morning- just before our guided tour

On our tour of Cliff Palace

After the Cliff Palace, Adam and I took a hike along a mesa starting at Spruce Tree House. The walk out was interesting, lots of cool rock formations. We got to see these neat petroglyphs.

Me in my nook in the rocks on the hike. The way back was on top of the mesa and it was a million degrees.

A view of the mesa- photo by Adam

In the evening, Adam and I did a driving tour of other sites. This is Square Tower House, one of my favorites.

Orion and Aurora snuggled up at Far View Lodge

On our way back to Denver, we stopped in Ouray, and walked in to Box Canon Falls. Photo by Sarah

Also did a bit of letterboxing in Ouray.

More adventures back in Denver! We spent time at the library.

Aurora and I did embroidery

We beat an escape room!

Orion and I went out for birthday donuts

Pool party at Phoebe's house for Orion's birthday!

Here's the 3 generations of Eley men photo, with some additions.

We did crafts!

Paul and Sarah went to a reunion in Wisconsin. Orion and Aurora had a sleepover at my house!

Pool time at my condo in the morning

Pool time with Grandpa Craig at Phoebe's in the afternoon

'Bring your family to lunch day' which I organized at work

Aurora got to play vet at the Lone Tree library

Time for micro machines with Adam

And both kids learned to ride bikes while they were here! I didn't get a photo of Orion on his bike cause he was too fast!!

More videos!

I took a few videos at Thanksgiving. Here is Orion and Paul discovering a bug on the kitchen floor. Adorable.

Orion mostly playing with his food at Thanksgiving dinner.

 

And, Orion watching Papa through the window!

Toddler Time!

For Thanksgiving I went to Vermont and had a lovely little holiday with Sarah, Paul, and Orion. Here are some videos of lil' O doing his toddler thing!

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

Did you get to see the Great American Eclipse?? We did!! We'd been planning it for months.

We got reservations at a camp near Ft. Laramie, Wyoming for Sunday night, August 20th. This reservation had enough room to sleep 16 people and included dinner, breakfast, and lunch. It was excellent. Paul and Orion were able to come out, too! 

Our eclipse viewing spot

So on Sunday morning, Mom, Dad, Paul, Orion, and I loaded up the car with lots of provisions, and drove about 3 1/2 hours to the camp.  The camp was pretty basic, but perfect for us. There was even a little petting zoo.

Loading up!

We had a lovely evening, hanging out, exploring the area, eating dinner, and playing some games. 

Orion loves corn on the cob and Nana.

Late that night, my uncle Cliff and his girlfriend Susan came up, too.

In the morning we had breakfast, got dressed, and got ready for the eclipse. There were lots of other people at the camp, but not so many that it felt crowded. We set up a nice spot outside our cabin, and pulled out Orion's pack and play so he could nap while we watched the eclipse.

All the eclipse-viewing garb.

What a show! The sky turned dusky, like twilight. There was a sunset look for 360 degrees. The diamond ring came out, and then we took off our glasses and looked at the corona of the sun around the moon. It was very cool and much too short.

I know it's not the best picture of an eclipse, but I had to get a shot of my own.

After the total eclipse was over, we hung out for a while, watching the partial go away. Then we got lunch, caught a quick nap, and hit the road.

Those are some post-eclipse smiles!

Traffic was terrible, but we were on the Southern end of the eclipse path, so it was much better for us than for others. We got home that night about 10pm.

Epic Road Trip Part 2: Baby Time!

August 18 & 19

Lovely days in Vermont. Blue skies, warm weather.... Mom and Dad and I spent time at Paul & Sarah's, helping them around the house (dad mowed their huge lawn, and he is still talking about how big the lawn is), running errands with them, and holding the baby. Mostly I held the baby. Holding that baby is awesome. We did go to a nice dinner at Salduci's, the nice Italian restaurant in Montpelier.

We're both quite content

Chatting with Grandma Cindy

Just like an Anne Geddes photo!