Rocky Mountain High......

On our ride into Estes Park today I tried to burst into song ( John Denver classic Rocky Mountain High), but Coley kept telling me to quit because I was hurting his ears! We traveled today from Colorado Springs to Estes Park. It is beautiful up here. The temp is probably about 65 right now. It is nice. It was cloudy and raining when we arrived, but it looks to have cleared up. I am sitting in front of the "lodge" (fancier sounding than it really is" because the wifi is really weak in the campground. I felt like a nerd until another couple came by and said they had pulled their car up into the parking lot to use their computer. The local Rotarians are having a shindig inside with a keg, and it is quite a wild sounding group. Coley has the kids at the playground. Keeg has been a bit miffed that we would not take him swimming. It is too cold to swim to us, but there are people in the pool. Since it is heated we will venture in sometime this week. He informed us this morning that he really liked the big motorhomes that were parked across from us, and he would like for us to buy one. Ha- we tried to explain to him why that was not possible. He was also miffed that we agreed to eat at McDonalds tonight, then we discovered they did not have a playground! This area is over run with tourists. Tomorrow we will venture up into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP as the locals call it), then we will go back into Denver on Saturday. Coley wants to see all of the places they just drove by on the way to rodeos all of those years! He has never been into Denver so we are going to the zoo, etc.... I will probably not post for a couple of days since I have to desert him and sit in front of the lodge like a goofball to do so!

Some things we have discovered on the road so far:
-All Walmarts seem to be nicer than ours! (see photo)
-We have already seen the "elusive " big horn sheep twice and elk several times
-Serena can watch the same movie over and over if she has on her head phones.
-Our trailer may not be the fanciest, but it is not the worst looking one!
I can't remember the rest at the moment!

I even had pics to post with this, but something happened and the post did not even go up on Thursday when I attempted to post it!

Mountain Sunshine to Mountain Storms

Coley says I am way too corny with my post titles, but I am ignoring his commentary as I am writing this, so who cares. We had a busy day. We started out at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Research Museum ( or something like that). Keeg thought it was really cool. Serena did not see the value of holding our hands and not touching delicate skeletons. She was on a bit of a tear. I am breaking out the tether at our next stop like this. Then we drove out to the Florissant Fossil Beds and took our "nature walk" for the day. We went almost a mile, but we had to leave to get in the important stuff like lunch and filling the truck up with diesel before our Cog Railway reservations. The weather was beautiful-breezy and pleasantly cool.
Keeg was all fired up to ride the Cog Railroad up Pikes Peak, and we thought the good weather was going to last. Serena passed out and slept for most of the hour and twenty minute ride up (thank goodness). As we approached the summit at 14, 110 feet, you could see the clouds moving in. When we got off it was way windy and looked like it was starting to snow. By the time we walked through the building to the other side to take a picture it was worse. It started to sleet the biggest sleet I have ever seen. We got our pic taken and hightailed it back in. Apparently it was a pretty bad storm. They were hustling everyone that had driven up off of the mountain because conditions were deteriorating. We later found out they turned the next train back because of a tornado and they closed the mountain down after we left on our train. It was pretty bad. Serena was awake on the way down, and she did truly appreciate the beauty of the mountains. She did not understand why she could not hang out of the window. Keegan thought the whole thing was cool. We made it down safely to find drifts of sleet as we drove through town. We missed quite a storm apparently. We tried to wear the kids out on the playground tonight, but it took them awhile to wind down. I am proud to report that they are perfecting the art of tormenting each other. Tomorrow we are heading off to Rocky Mountain National Park. We are going to take our time to miss Denver rush hour, and we can't get there before check in time. No telling what we will find on the way. Enjoy the pics.



Want my sister?


Family portrait on nature walk


On the way up Pike's Peak-note the sunny day and clear view.


Getting our picture done before they ordered everyone inside the building.


Keegan racing back to catch the train. This was the worst "winter" storm he has ever seen in June.


Are they tired yet? Serena loved yelling "all aboard" while playing on this toy train.

On the Road Again.... Volcanoes, Cowboys, and Rocks

We are off again on another grand adventure or 3 weeks of family torture in the truck and trailer. We left yesterday about 7:45 and went as far as Capulin, New Mexico. We made much better time than we had thought we would. We even stopped at the WalMart in Amarillo ( much nicer than ours). We stayed at a nice little campground that was about 3 miles from the extinct Capulin Volcano. We ran up there yesterday afternoon, and Keeg thought that was a really cool. We drove to the top on a road that did not have a guardrail. I could not look out the window because it freaked me out. Unfortunately, Coley also has a thing for heights. We made it to the parking lot at the top, and after spending the day in the car, we decided that we all needed a little exercise. There was a trail around the rim of the volcano that was about a mile. The distance was not the problem. It was uphill! Serena walked halfway by herself, then we carried her. She has amazing stamina-I think she may be the toughest one yet. Keegan had a great time, and I was afraid I would have to be airlifted off of the thing!
We got up and about fairly early this morning. The sun comes up bright and early mountain time. About the time we crossed the border and were driving up Raton pass Serena declared that her eyes had quit working. She was rubbing them and refused to open them. We are not sure what was going on. She was also unhappy with the movie in the dvd player at the time so maybe she just did not want to watch it. Keegan has been a wonderful traveler-Serena has been a bit of a princess.
After unloading the Puma in the campground we ran up to the PRCA Hall of Champions to show the kids Quail's exhibit. It's not exactly a museum for little kids. They enjoyed it, but it did not hold their interest very long. We still had lots of afternoon to kill, so after finding a Sonic and getting our fix, we drove out to the Garden of the Gods. We once again decided the kids (us) needed a little exercise. We did not let the clouds coming in over the mountains or the thunder deter us. We found the parking lot and off we went on the nature trail that wound amongst the huge red sandstone monoliths. We walked almost a mile up and down, and Serena trudged along the whole way by herself. We had a good time, and even got to pull our raingear out for the first time. We ate at Culvers tonight, and thought of our Chicago friends, Dawn, Dan, and MiKayla, who introduced us to Culvers in Branson last summer.
The kids are in bed, and I am worn out before 10 pm! Tomorrow we have dinosaurs and Pikes Peak on the agenda. Keegan played his first game of mini-golf tonight at the campground, and he had a big time. He informed me that I can't call it putt-putt. He is just hoping the weather improves so he can go swimming!


Capuling Volcano in the distance-I am actually driving!



The first of many self family pics on the trail around the rim.


Can you tell how steep this was? Keegan was examining something interesting, and Serena was mad that I would not carry her down. I had images of both of us rolling downhill.



Keeg in front of Granddad's exhibit while Serena refused to stand still for a picture.


Garden of the Gods

Redneck Child Abuse

What a catchy title for a post. That is actually how the clown refered to the kids doing mutton bustin at the rodeo last night. Keegan had a short but tough ride. He walked away with the Hard Luck Award and gets a free pair of Justins! He was proud of himself for being brave and going further than he did last year.

Serena has had a great time at the rodeo. She loves all of the animals and watches everything very seriously. She told me last night that the clown was crazy and silly.

I am trying to get the rest of the cleaning of the house and getting ready to be gone stuff done. I was on a roll this morning, and my vacumn died. It is under warranty, but I was not finished with it when it croaked. The kids helped me take it apart, and then when I called the helpline, the lady told me there was nothing that could be done to fix it.

We are hitting the road on Monday morning, so our next entry will come from the road. Stay tuned for our great adventures. We are already talking about DisneyWorld next year. Anyone want to come along?

So much for getting a nice picture of them together. Keeg was tormenting her as usual, so she does her new favorite thing and stuck her tongue out.

Not the greatest picture, but that person below the sheep is Keegan. He will proudly show his bruise on his leg where he got stepped on. There was no lasting damage.

Serena and her cousin Shelby. Both of the kids love Shelby. It does not seem that long ago that Shelby would perch on my lap like Serena does now and watch the rodeo.

Washing the Puma

Last night we took the time to clean up the outside of the trailer since it got mud on it when we pulled it out from where we were storing it. The kids had a blast playing with the package of sponges that I bought at Dollar Tree. I think that is their favorite store! The rodeo starts tomorrow night, and Coley is in Rodeo Mode. Keegan does mutton bustin on Friday night, so stay tuned for pictures of his wild ride-if he stays on long enought for me to get any! We leave on Monday for our trek. Everyone is excited, and I am trying to get a little done each day.

All a girl needs - her morning "coffee" and Bon Jovi on the Today show!

The new kittens have made themselves at home.

The perfect way to spend a hot Texas summer day.

Keegan looks like he is up to no good.

Fixing to wring his sponge out on his sister's head!

All wet

Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to say a few words about what a fantastic father my husband is. He is always willing to pitch in and help with the kids. While others complain about what their husbands won't do, I have to talk about all of the things Coley does do. When we clean house- he cleans the bathrooms! There are times during the year when his work hours are really long, but he does everything he can to spend time with the kids and to help out when he isn't busy. I get frustrated, but I know him not beind home is not a choice. Our kids continually surprise us and entertain us-I could not ask for a better partner in this crazy adventure.

Coley and Keegan "do lunch" on Keeg's 5th birthday.

Reading bedtime stories put them both to sleep.

Keeg and Quail at this years Kindergarten Rodeo-Next year will be Keeg's year to be in it, and it will be the 30th annual.

My dad, my brother Shay, and his two boys Sam and Sean hunting eggs in the snow at Easter. Shay has been Mr. Mom and dad to his boys this past year. He has done a great job during a very trying year.

Serena really wanted to play video games with dad.

New Family Members

We woke up early this morning to do one of our favorite Saturday morning activities-we went to garage sales. We did not do too much damage, and thought we would come home without any great bargains. Keeg did manage to finagle an armful of free pinecones-which are still sitting in my car. Our last stop was a sale at one of the local churches. Our library aide from school was working it, and she was trying to give away two kittens. I was the sucker this time who said it would be ok. So before we knew it we had increased our pet population to two dogs, 2 frogs, 1 cat (Rowdy Alena), and 2 kittens ( Meagan and Meow-meow). We even bought the nice little cage they had them in for $5 to help protect them from the other animals. The only snafu in this whole thing is that we will be home this next week, then we will be gone for 3. We now have to find someone to socialize with our kittens while we are away! The kids are thrilled, and Rowdy Alena is ticked off. Serena told Nana that we had

gotten 2 baby Rowdy's

Meow Meow likes to eat, and Meagan is a little more timid. They look just like Rowdy!

Fun with John Deere

Several years ago Keegan got a John Deere tractor for Christmas. It has a little trailer that it pulls, and he has ridden it in several Fourth of July parades. Coley charged it up, and we got it out last night while we were outside putting finishing touches on the fence. Serena spotted it first and hopped on.

Hey-Bring my tractor back!

Got you!

My turn.

Not giving up without giving chase. Oops!

Compromise. They are both posers when you pull the camera out. She rode around on his lap for awhile, but he said he could not "drive safely" with her in the way.

Lazy Summer Mornings

I had to tell Keeg today that when we go on our trip, he could not sleep until 10 a.m. and keep his pj's on until lunch. He wanted to know why, and I said because we might actually be doing something! We get so lazy during our time off during the summer. Coley and I tend to stay up until at least midnight, and Serena even sleeps until 8 or later. When I get up with Serena, we like to have a morning cup of coffee. She has started getting her own little cup with lots of chocolate creamer.

We both like our coffee. I think back to Guy and Debbie, and they always had a pot of coffee on-now I understand why! Of course, I like mine so sweet with lots of creamer-so does Serena!

The kids have probably been watching way too much morning tv, but that will all change in a couple of weeks when we hit the road. At least they are doing it together without arguing some of the time.

Notice they both still have on their new pajamas, and Serena decided she needed her tennis shoes on as well.

There were several great photo ops yesterday, but I did not have my camera with me. The first one was when we went out to grandparents to fix the vents on the trailer that had gotten broken during an earlier hail storm. It rained a couple of inches yesterday morning, and before I knew it the kids were playing in a giant mud/water puddle. They eventually shed all of their clothes and had a great time splashing around. I am sure our neighbors were wondering why we were bringing our children home naked! The other was was last night. The kids walked around the yard holding hands just having the best time. It has been nice to watch them together. Serena has learned so much from Keegan. He can tell you how to spell words by listening to the sounds of the letters. Serena can put together any puzzle, identify all of her letters, and now she is counting. I love catching her "reading" a book to herself. They both remember anything you read or tell them.

The sunflowers that are growing behind the fence line. The kids love to go out there, but they have gotten so tall we make them stay out.

What are they doing now?

Backyard Fun

We are making progress on the fence. This is one of the more labor intensive projects we have taken on, but as Coley said last night-the labor has been cheap! We had some help with demolition and carrying away the old fence, but we have done the rest of it ourselves. The kids have gotten to spend lots of time bonding outside in the evenings. It also actually looks like we have grass in the yard due to the more than usual rainfall we had this spring. Unfortunately the grassburrs are still there! Posting pictures and getting captions under them is still eluding me. I am going to put up some pics to show what the kids have been up to while Coley and I have been putting up steel. They are both fearless and think of themselves as acrobats. Keegan just tells me he is practicing to be a fireman.

Coley has been trying to clean up the junior high boys locker room and move 3 classrooms into one at another campus. Summer vacation is so nice!

Two Peas in a pod.

.

Practicing to be a fireman.

Absolutely fearless!

Fun on the trampoline.

Not exactly the Berlin wall, but it does seperate West and East. The first section to be completed seperates us from our neighbors whom we have been "sharing" a yard with for a month or so. Now we just have to get the rest done!