​We headed up to Denver to ride the Cherry Creek Trail with the girls. We somehow made it to 7 miles before we stopped the first time for Madeline. Then we rode another few miles to the lake and played for a while. We knew the way back would be a little harder for Madeline, so we made sure to take lots of breaks. She really got the hang of her new shifters which was a game changer for her. We stopped at Kneaders on our way back to break up the ride and to eat lunch. The éclair was just the energy boost that Madeline needed to finish the last few miles of the ride to the park. It really was a fun day with the girls and an impressive long ride for Madeline.

Andrew came to visit for a few days before heading back to school for the fall semester. One of the things he always requests to do when he comes home is to go shooting. We decided to make it a family afternoon adventure. Since not all of us can fit in Mike's new truck we had Andrew drive the 4Runner. We made our way up Mt. Herman road to the top to find a good spot to go shooting. Everyone loves shooting and the older girls usually end up shooting the rifles the most, but today's adventure found them trying out the handguns and loving it. Of all us girls, Abby made it closest to the bullseye with the handgun. Madeline just stuck with Grandma Candace's rifle, and she became really good at loading the bullets all by herself. After we were done shooting we drove to the end of the trail and enjoyed the amazing view. Then we stopped by the coolest playground in Woodland Park to let Madeline run around for a while. It was the perfect way to end a fun family adventure in the woods!

We are so lucky to have such an amazing pool only 7 min away from our house. Since Flying Horse is a club and smaller than Lifetime or Villa, there seem to be less people even during the summer months. We always find lounge chairs available which is awesome. During most of this month we tried to go as often as we could, inviting friends as our guests to come and play and seeing other friends who are already members of the club. This was a time when Madeline really learned how to swim, and she became proficient at holding her breath under water while doing handstands and other tricks. She also spent a great deal of time going down the big slide. She loved playing with daddy, but she was not fearful of making other friends her own age at the pool. The older girls occasionally accompanied our many trips to the pool. Our 4th of July at the club was probably our favorite swim excursion in July! We all loved being together and frequently enjoyed eating by the poolside. Some of our best memories were taking off when Mike would get home from work and heading to the pool in the early evenings to swim and eat a casual dinner by the pool. 

There is nothing better than spending a pleasant Colorado evening outside with the girls. Mike and I sat on the porch while Abby entertained Madeline by blowing bubbles so that she could pop them. Madeline was excited by the bubbles but also by showing us her amazing cartwheels. She was right in her element jumping from one activity to another. She loved riding on her belly on the longboard. These are the moments I savor. The innocence and simplicity of it all makes me smile. One thing is for sure…summer evenings in Colorado are simply the best.

​Madeline and I headed to the Denver Zoo to meet Andrew and Alex while they were visiting for a few days. The Denver Zoo is amazing. First, we saw the penguins and then we strolled around the zoo seeing all of the big animals like the lions, zebras, giraffes, bear, and sea lions. Then we stumbled upon the Tropical Discovery house where we saw lots and lots of fish, turtles, sting rays, lizards and snakes, many different kinds of frogs, alligators, bats, and other land and water creatures. This place was awesome, and we spent most of our time exploring this amazing place. Afterwards we headed around to the other parts of the zoo, but not before stopping to eat some Dippin’ dots for our treat. After filling our bellies full of goodness, we saw the rhinoceros and elephants, and monkeys swinging across the sky-high ropes at Gibbon Island. The black monkey was having a ton of fun while the white monkey just sat and watched. We weren’t able to see all of the animals at the zoo today but what we did see was so much fun. We will definitely need to come back to this zoo and see the other animals!
 

It was great having the boys home for their Spring Break. Sometimes it’s just nice having the family back together, getting into the swing of things, and just doing stuff together. Today, Andrew (Madeline’s buddy) went with us to Scheels (Madeline’s favorite store on earth). She really likes playing the Jurassic Park game. Interestingly enough, Andrew didn’t do as well with her as I usually do. It made me feel good about my gaming skills. Andrew did ride with Madeline on the Ferris wheel, which was great since that’s not something that I like doing. She was a little nervous at first, but then had a great time spinning around the room with Andrew. I stood on the second floor and waved to them as they went by.  
 
After Scheels, we went to a German restaurant for dinner. It was fun to see how excited our kids were about it. Since Andrew lived in Germany, he definitely loved it and made sure we got good food. Peter and Emma were totally into it, and we all ate way too much. They had a lady playing the accordion who came around and sang for the table, and she was funny, and the kids really enjoyed that. Dessert was certainly the highlight, and I’m pretty sure we overdid it a little, but it was worth it. It was a lot of fun to be with the kids, have a tasty meal, and just enjoy an evening out.  
 
Written by Mike

​Ever since I have been under the weather we really haven’t done that much as a family on the weekends. We decided it would be fun to try and go bowling since I was feeling decent. First, we ventured over to The Summit, but it was so full of people and the wait was too long. Then, we decided to drive over to the AFA and try the bowling alley on base. There was hardly anyone there and it was way cheaper to bowl and eat there. The girls had such a great time bowling. Even Madeline was able to get into it. Halfway through our bowling session the neon lights came on and we bowled under the coolest lights. I half to say that this family bowling night at AFA might become something we do more often in the future.  

​The boys both flew to home to Colorado to visit us during their fall break. We were so excited to see them for an entire week. They spent their week playing board games, video games, shooting guns, hiking, eating good food, and going to the zoo with Madeline. It was a fun filled week of adventure, laughing, and relaxing. 

Deer Creek Reservoir is just up the road from Provo and is a pretty great body of water. The views from the shore are spectacular with Mount Timpanogos towering over the northwest shoreline and Park City to the northeast. The water was pretty temperate.  When we got there, we saw one of the giant inflatable obstacle courses like we did in Mexico, so we sent the older kids off to do that and got the rest of the kayaks and paddle boards set up.  We also rented a jet ski, which was a lot of fun.  We only crashed it once, but it was a lot of fun for Mike to go flying in the air with the girls and pretend they were seagulls.  Madeline loved the Jet Ski and went out multiple times.  We would have people paddle board out, trade out for the person on the jet ski and go off into the lake.  It’s crazy how fast those things go and just so much fun.  No wonder people like going to the lake!

Driving to Utah is a bit of a slog, so it’s nice to be able to break it up. We got up early and, on our way out of town, stopped at the big park in Grand Junction. It was pretty amazing.  There were dozens of slides, zip lines, ninja warrior stuff, and all sorts of fun stuff.  Madeline had a blast, and the older kids proved that everyone loves playing on a cool playground. Thank goodness it wasn’t too hot!

​Packing and hauling bikes for seven people cross country is quite a chore, but bike rides like this make it all worth it. Right off the Interstate is a bike path that follows the river as it courses through Glenwood Canyon. The roaring water and the towering rock walls are spectacular. There are parts of the canyon that are only accessible by the trail, so It’s worth the ride. Of course, sometimes even the best laid plans have their hiccups. The plan was to start at the top of the canyon and bike downhill to Glenwood Springs.  Instead, we started about half way down and biked up and then all the way back down. Of course, to do this, we had to leave a car in Glenwood and one in the Canyon. While in Glenwood, renting the Burley for Madeline to ride in, Peter somehow knocked the stem off his tire, thus creating an unfixable flat.  Fortunately, after Mike used some choice words, they found a bike store and got a new tire put on. It only delayed things by about 30 minutes, so not the end of the world. Once the gang was all back together, we headed up the Canyon. It was breathtaking, both visually and physically. It’s hard to pedal uphill with kids in tow! When we got to Hanging Lake, we saw a marmot just hanging out by the trail. We turned around at Hanging Lake and headed downhill to Glenwood Springs. Of course, it wasn’t totally downhill. In fact, there were some big ups, and it was super sunny and hot. There were some grumpy comments, but once we made it to the bridge over the interstate, it was pretty easy. We ended up at a park down by the river in the shade with ice cream.

​Our first day at Steamboat Springs was spent on a family bike ride with the kids along the Spring Creek trail. We rented a Burley trailer for Madeline and attached it to Andrew’s bike and headed out on a fun adventure together. We biked along the most beautiful trail that rang along the Yampa River. It wasn’t a very long trail all the way to the end from where we started but no one was complaining about that. After making it to the end we turned around and ate lunch at a park along the trail. Madeline was super happy to get out and play on the playground. We ate lunch and relaxed for a little bit before heading back on our bikes down the trail. On the way back we saw that the Alpine Slides were open, so we stopped and bought tickets. Each of the kids got to do 2 rounds on the slides and Mike and I each took a turn with Madeline on the slide while the other one kept an eye on the bikes. I wasn’t sure if Madeline would like the slide or be afraid of it, so I was pleasantly surprised when she screamed in excitement all the way down. I personally loved it too and enjoyed the beautiful views on the way down.
 
After getting back on the bikes, we rode along the trail but stopped briefly to check out the botanical garden we saw at the beginning of our ride. We parked our bikes and put on our masks and entered the Yampa River Botanic Park. We did a big loop around the park, just enjoying the pretty flowers and beautiful landscape and fun paths in the wooded areas. Then it was back on the bikes to finish out our biking adventure. When we got back to the hotel, we got on our swimsuits and headed to the pool for our reservation pool time. We were a little sad that the hot tubs were closed but the kids still had a blast swimming in the pool and fooling around together. The older kids took turns playing with Madeline which was nice. The pool was a great way to cool off after finishing our ride with the kids.

​We headed to Fox Run Park this afternoon for some good old-fashioned family fun. We brought the hammock, frisbees, balls and some snacks and enjoyed spending time together in our small little section of the park. The kids took turns swinging in the hammock while the rest of us played frisbee. Madeline was our runner who just ran where the frisbee was being thrown. We made sure to throw her the frisbee often so she would feel included. She loved playing with us. After quite some time playing frisbee we got out the small plastic bat and enjoyed watching Madeline hit ball after ball. She really was quite good at hitting the ball. Every time she would get ready, she would ask, “Am I standing the right way?” We would position her with one foot in front of the other and fix her hand positions. We thought it was so cute how she wanted to be in the right position to hit the ball. This afternoon’s adventure taught us that we can still get out and have fun together outdoors without worrying about getting COVID19. We are so blessed to have each other to hang out with during this time of social distancing.