Swimming in Steamboat

If you are going to swim in Steamboat, (and not freeze your tail off) chances are you are going to find yourself at the Old Town Hot Springs. This is the perfect place to swim if you plan on getting in the water when the outdoor temperature is 80 degrees or less. They have 8 pools ranging in temperature, some as warm as 103 degrees. They even have 2 HUGE slides that are 3 stories high that you could pay extra to slide down. I think Cooper racked up 18 trips down those slides! Cooper and his infinite charm was able to talk all 3 of us adults into experiencing the slide. He even got Mary to go down twice. Once was enough for me, thankyouverymuch.

They also have a rock climbing wall that you can do. Here is Cooper trying to master it and me not even getting close:

www.oldtownhotsprings.org

Biking Along the Yampa River

We rented bikes on Monday so we could bike along the Yampa River on a designated bike path. We drove to the Ski Haus and took some bikes for a test run. We ended up with Grandmother on a mountain bike with Cooper behind her on a 'half wheeler'. Mary rode a mountain bike and I chose a mountain bike to pull a trailer with Natalie and Luke. Now this is my kind of fun!!! I had no idea how easy pulling a trailer was. I thought it would really weigh the bike down and work against me, but it was not bad at all. The guy at the bike place was right, you really do not notice it behind you. Here is what our bike parade looked like:

In Search of a Park

On Sunday afternoon we went in search of some parks. We stopped at the Little Toots Park first. It happened to be raining, but that doesn't stop my children! Nope! They play until someone gets hurt... in this case it was Luke. He slipped off of a slide and got a strawberry on his bottom. Once he recovered from that, we followed the bike path along the Yampa River in search of another park. After stopping by the river beach to look for snails, we found a park with some interesting (and stinky) landscaping...

(A 72 degree sulfur spring--- hold your nose!)

Brunch on the Mountain

After church on Sunday, Grandmother made reservations for us at Hazie's on the mountain. This was especially exciting because we got to ride the gondola to get there. Luke chattered all morning long about riding the gondola, riding the gondola, riding the gondola. We had a fantastic meal and an even better view. Since we were already up on the mountain, we thought we would hike a little. We tackled a ski run named "Tower". The kids love to hike. They love to run up ahead of us, point out every little thing and come up with some of the most perplexing questions. It is a whole different experience to hike (or do anything for that matter) with 3 curious, inquisitive children. (In a good way)

Chasing Sheep

Grandmother took us all to the rodeo Saturday night. It is quite a production there! They had a band, a playground and a barbecue dinner where we all got to eat some BBQ chicken, baked beans, potato salad and a big hunk of watermelon. The kids zipped through the eating portion because they were way more interested in getting back to the playground (equipment with a country/western theme to it). After an hour of play for the kids, the rodeo started. It was very entertaining, with not much of a slow down in the action. They even had a rope trick performer who was swinging a 35 foot rope and jumping through it, while he was standing on his horse. The best part of the evening was when all the children 5 and under got to run out to the arena and chase a sheep! The idea was to be the first one to untie the red ribbon from the sheep's belly.

Just ask Luke what is favorite part of the rodeo was: "Chase dat cheep!!"

Downtown Steamboat

The Saturday after we got to Steamboat, there was a festival downtown. It is always fun to go to those things in a small town. You never know what you might see: a one man band, various animals, hand-carved furniture, fresh baked bread, various species of jerky and so much more! On the ranch side, we had the thrill of sitting on not one, but 3 different tractors!!! That is always good for 30 minutes of down time. They also had a bunch of 'ranch' animals, so the kids got to pet three alpacas, a chicken, two ponies, a Clydesdale, two newly sheared sheep, a long-haired bunny and some kids (goat variety). I got to get a 10 minute chair massage that could not have been more wonderful. :>)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We just spent a week in Colorado with my mom-in-law, also known as Grandmother. We (me, Mary, the three kiddos and Bubba) all headed out to fly to Denver. It took multiple forms of transportation to complete the trip to her house.
First of all, we had to clear security. After only 11 bins to place all our shoes, backpacks, food, electronics, purses and dog carrier, we made it through. I think they just wanted us to move all of our stuff out of the way vs. mess with giving us a pat down. That is just fine with me.

The plane ride itself was uneventful (always a good thing), then we got to ride a train to get to baggage claim, then take a bus to get to the rental car place. And finally drive 3 1/2 hours to get to Grandmother's house. Thank goodness for DVD players and naps...

Funny

Watermelon Swim Thursday

We swam twice today, because what would Thursday be without Swim Thursday at Ms. Mary's? I brought a colossal watermelon that was a big hit across all the age groups. Some of the kids even wanted to eat their watermelon in the pool...why? Does it taste better if you are surrounded by water? Even the 18 month old was eating the watermelon, now that is "stinkin' cute"! Also, as a change in dinner preparation, we veered away from the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers and had some good ole grilled chicken. Wow, was the chicken good! I put mine on top of the yummy salad that Jamie made and it was great!

Picnic by the Pool

We all met at the neighborhood pool today to swim and have a picnic lunch at the pool. Two of us brought lunch and the other 2 families ordered pizza. Wow! Just the smell of the pizza made me want to throw my cheese sandwich in the trash and ask the pizza guy to come back...what is it about swimming that makes your taste buds pretend they have never had food before?

Here is a picture of the 4 families - yes, there are 4 adults and 11 kids (one didn't get near enough to the pool). It looks like were the teachers of a day care field trip. Nope, they are all biological children of the women you see pictured!