Fabulous Fourth!

2013 brought a beautiful fourth of July! We started the day with a 5K run. Why no pictures? Why? It will go down as a race where I sprinted past my dear friend and running partner. I can't wait until our next race together. Now that she knows what I will do . . . . it won't happen again. I am sure. 

We had some fireworks for the kiddos.

And they painted these adorable flag shirts. We feel so blessed to have these good buddies!

One of my favorite pictures of us together. I appreciate friends snapping these, so that Cupcake will one day see pictures with her mother!

Harvest 2013

Wheat harvest is a big deal in our family. It can't pass by without a combine ride from all of our favorite farmers. Here we are with Grandpa Jared.

Next was Grandpa T.Lee's combine, driven by Daddy. There was room for the whole family!

When I told her we were headed to the farm, this is how she got dressed. I am afraid my little town girl has no idea about farm life. But she sure is cute!

With Aunt Annette.

Cousin Dakota.

Long Drive Home

A bag of fuzzy sticks provided hours of entertainment on the long drive home.

So, what's more fun than pipe cleaner glasses?

And finally, a little ice cream to ease the pain of a long drive.

Colorado Random

Thanks to Dad's camera, there are a few with Mom in the picture!

We drove to the top of Pike's Peak. Beautiful, I guess. Too bad I have this horrifying fear of heights! My knuckles were white the entire way!

Big squirrel.

Garden of the gods and Cave of the Winds

The beautiful red rocks were perfect for climbing. She loved it!

I promise that this is not as scary as it looks. She was only a couple feet above solid ground. Her Dad was proud of the camera angle

The pics didn't turn out very well, but cave exploring was very cool.

More Colorado

We re-visited our favorite trail from last year. So, a bunch of the pictures look just the same!

And this is where the trip differed from last time. We made it successfully up and down the mountain with no injuries! Cupcake hiked all four miles on her own two feet!

Colorado Part 2

We took cupcake to the North Pole amusement park. There were tons of rides for kiddos her age. She loved it!

There was a very sweet Santa in the park. She sat on his lap and he asked her what she wanted for Christmas. This was pretty confusing for Cupcake, since she already knows that Mom and Dad bring her presents and not Santa. We told her that some people like to pretend that Santa brings presents. She said "Santa is going to pretend to bring me presents."

Thankfully her Dad was willing to ride most of the "adult must accompany child" rides with her. I can do a few of them, but I am not a fan of heights. Or motion.

This was one of her favorites. It was nice that there weren't really any lines anywhere. 

Fun day!

Colorado Day 1

We headed back to our favorite summer spot this year. A cabin in colorado! But first we took one last picture of our house -- it would be painted while we were away.

Arrival after the long drive. Jacket weather, we adore you!

Ice cream cones in the car, we adore you, too. :)

Camping!

We decided to venture out for our first camping trip as a family. We drove to a lake about 1 1/2 hours away. We even packed for two nights! We had a great time relaxing, swimming, cooking outside, s'more making, reading books, and exploring.

We had hoped to do some hiking as well, but just a few minutes on this trail and we had ticks everywhere. Cancel that plan.

One of our new favorite toys is a package of pipe cleaners. Endless fun.

One of her favorite things was throwing rocks into the water with her Dad.

I take that back. S'mores. S'mores were the favorite thing.