Rocky Mountain National Park

We left Denver on Wednesday and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive was beautiful and as we approached the park we noticed the hue thunderheads rolling in. We entered the park and stopped along the road several times to look at the view, the higher up we got the colder it got. I dug out the jackets from the back of the car and we went to the top of the mountain.  We were supposed to met up with Tammy and Kathleen somewhere along the way but as soon as we got into the park we lost cell service. We looked around the visitors center for awhile and saw some elk in the distance. The bad weather was really starting to roll in and so we decided to keep going and see if we could find K & T. As soon as we started to roll out of the parking lot they pulled in, lucky break. Tully and Tessa immediately broke into happy hysterics and as kids started piling out of various cars the rain finally let loose and in minutes we were all soaked and running to the shelter of the visitors center. We left from there and started down the mountain, we stopped and did a nice steep hike on the tundra. The view was amazing and the wildflowers were beautiful!

On our way down we watched pika, and marmots running around and all the kids thought they were so cute and funny. 

We ended the day pulling into our campsite at 9:30 pm!

KOA

OSo, KOA. Awesome and funny all at the same time. It was perfect for what we did tonight, pulled in at dark, set up the tent, set up the sleeping bags etc. But imagine sitting in your camp chairs, staring at the huge Wyoming sky and...... watching the trucks pass on the freeway, while surfing the internet on your computer. Totally strange. It's just like staying in a hotel, without having to adjust

the air conditioning. 
We spent an awesome day at Rocky Mountain National Park, extreme beauty, fun hikes, LOTS of animals, thunder showers etc. Meeting up with K & T has been very fun, the kids are all very cute with each other. I think they are happy to have some help! it is semi- chaos everywhere we go and a quick potty break is not so quick when the kids outnumber the adults so much.:) Still I have to say, very fun and worth it. 
Tomorrow we head out early (yeah right, I am praying to get out of here before 10) to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. Matt has been quizzing the kids all day and both of them can now tell you every president who is carved into the rock. (and he bought a REALLY tacky shirt of Mt.R at Wallmart for $3 that he is planning on wearing all day tomorrow) Should be fun! We are planning on staying at another KOA tomorrow night, we had thought the whole time that we were going to have to splurge on a hotel room in somewhere around Rapid City but you can't find one for less than $100, and that would be a really yucky hotel. For T&K it's fine because they are splitting but for us it make way more sense to camp. 
Good night, I have to go and watch the trucks pass the freeway, while I pretend to be in the wilderness. Lucky for us our noise maker has a 'wilderness' sound! 

Denver!

We finally made it to Denver, CO and GOOSE GOOSE!!!! It took about 9 hours but the kids were troopers. We drove through Wyoming and watched a awesome thunder storm. Tully was trying so hard to see  the lightning but he kept missing it, he is still sad.
Today we did some sightseeing and then went to the Rockies game. It was very fun but VERY hot. We picked up stuff to make dinner on our way home and the kids got a movie. Everyone is very tired. Tully's lips are still blue. Kori and I are about to make dinner. Tessa lasted about 5 minutes before she fell asleep. All and all a good day.

Every day in Tahoe was so much fun. We continued to hang out at the beach, hike and spend time at the pool. We had a really fun beach day with the Clarks, McLeans and Willbanks. We rented paddle boards, (my favorite) and took turns with them. 

We went hiking with Susan and the Clarks up to the fire lookout point. It was beautiful!

On Thursday we were having a relaxing morning and were about to get ready to go to the pool when Marv happened to look at the rental paperwork. Turns out we were supposed to be leaving that day and be out by 10am (it was already 10:15 when we discovered that). They had another family coming in so we all started rushing around packing. An hour later we were out of there! Matt and I had planned to drive to Salt Lake City the following day and had made a reservation on Priceline. We weren't sure what to do and it was too late to drive all the way to Salt Lake. We ended up driving to Elko, NV. Ever been there? It's really horrible. We stayed in a disgusting hotel and couldn't get out of there fast enough! On our way to S.L we stopped and checked out the Salt Flats, the kids thought it was pretty neat but Tully kept asking if we were at 'Salty Lake' yet. Next stop Denver!

a.m. oreo's

I think I have mentioned before that I. am. not. a. morning. person. But of course my kids are morning people. This morning I heard some noises coming from downstairs around 6:20 am. I had a bad feeling that  it might be my children so I stumbled blurry eyed down the stairs. As I rounded the corner I see my kids sitting under the pool table, giggling with chocolate faces. An almost empty package of Oreo cookies by their side. Now, I realized later when I had a chance to wake up a little that I should of grabbed my camera. But at the time I was mad. Very. Mad. I herded them back upstairs making all sorts of empty threats along the way. I put them back in bed (did I really think that 2 kids who had just consumed several oreos each were going to go back to bed?) I realized a few minutes later that this obviously wasn't going to work and I let them get up and play. And so begins day 5 of vacation, let the memories begin.

Tahoe!

We have begun our month long summer trip. Our first stop is Tahoe. This is our 3rd year coming up here with the Clarks and Byerly's (Matt's Mom and Stepdad.) We have been having a ton of fun! Hiking, swimming at the lake and hanging out by the pool. Today we started off the day with the kids riding ponies. Then we met up with the McLeans and went Geo Caching. Lot's of fun, we found 2 of the boxes and the kids were all excited. We spent the rest of the day at the pool and I think the kids are throughly exhausted! Looks like a early night!