Grand Lake, Colorado

When we go to Estes Park, we always like to try to cross over the mountains on Trail Ridge Road to get to the other side and the town of Grand Lake. We didn't see any moose this time, but we still had fun. Grand Lake is more of a village than anything, and in the winter, they have lots of snow mobiling. They have a truly "Grand" Lake and have lots of those beautiful polished wooden boats, too. If you ever get the chance to visit, it's a beautiful place! We ate lunch there and spent the afternoon strolling the street and playing at the playground. Robert and Jennifer were with us there too.

I can slide!!

Emma, McGinnis, and Grumpy walking on the 'sidewalk'.

Emma

Emma at the wonderful park in downtown Grand Lake!

Mac and Jennifer

A relaxing ice cream break

More, please!

Dancing on the sidewalk again!

Our beautiful girl!

I am a big boy-- I can play, too!

McGinnis

Emma and Robert

Just hanging around!

Cub Lake

Emma hiked 5.6 miles from the Cub Lake Trailhead to Cub Lake and back! She was so proud of herself, but the next day, she said she would only go on a hike if it was short. Crazy girl. We went hiking with Robert, Jennifer, and Grammie.

The group with Grammie snapping the picture.

The beginning of the hike.... Amazing scenery!

McGinnis had the best seat in the house! He rode in a carrier on Robert's back and loved every minute of it. Of course, hiking to the top of really big rocks and playing in the woods is every boy's dream!

The boys in our bunch....

Split Rock -- this was actually a pretty steep climb from the trail, and Emma did that too!

What a poser!

McGinnis would have loved to get the caterpillar off of Robert's glove!

And, Emma did get the caterpillar!

More of God's handiwork.

The crazy chipmunks at the lake clearly picnic often with hikers. They were not shy at all.

Elk wading in a big mud lake.

We made it!!

Estes Park

Here are a few pictures from Estes Park. More pictures to follow of our hike and our trip over Trail Ridge to Grand Lake.

Yee Haw!

Emma just loved this pink cowgirl hat while we were in Estes Park. She knew right away that she wanted the hat to be a souvenir of our trip. She likes it so much, that she has changed her mind from being Tinkerbell for Halloween to a cowgirl. Now I must get to work on that costume!

McGinnis's Milestones

Mastering the Stairs

If you aren't around McGinnis, here's a glimpse of his funny crawl. He looks like a little monkey, but he can carry things around with him. Just for the record, he can crawl the right way, but does this most of the time. And, he's fast!

McGinnis is now growlinig. He growls instead of screaming like a girl, which is a good thing! So, if you ask him what a tiger says....... GRRRR!

Mac is WALKING!! He is still in the staggering stage, but it's so adorable! He gets irritated when he falls down, and usually jumps right back up. My life will never be the same......

Zoo Trip

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with Emma's school on last Monday. The kids, of course, had a great time. Emma hung out with her buddy Connor. This was McGinnis' first visit to the zoo where he actually realized that we were looking at animals. He LOVED the giraffes, so, Aunt Terri and Uncle Rick, thanks for the giraffe shirt!

Emma and Connor

Ems

Our first animal sighting!

We have to hug the giraffe leg every time we go!

Is this thing Jabba the Hut or what??

Emma weighing herself to see what kind of an ape she is.

War Eagle!

So, you can take the boys out of Auburn, but you can't take Auburn out of the boys! As seen in the pictures, there is a stadium in Iraq named Jordan-Hare Stadium! The origin of the name is a little unsure, but they are thinking the guys that built it were Alabama boys who were poking fun at Auburn. But the Auburn guys there now sure are proud!