The Mountains

We decided to take a quick trip to the mountains this year. The last time we were up in the mountains was when Tom and I were dating, and I was 12 . . . or apparently looked like I was 12.

So, you know, it's been a while. Plus the girls have never seen the mountains; and by mountains, I mean the large and very beautiful piece of land Tom's family owns near the New Mexico border.

It is nice now that Tom finally has a job that lets him take time off to go on adventures like this. Summer was really slow for the medical writing but now it is picking up quite a bit. Still we just worked a little harder at the beginning of the week and took Friday off.

I packed the car late Thursday night and then we all hopped in first thing in the morning and headed off.

The first part of our adventure was swimming at Hooper, or rather the Sand Dunes swimming pool which is heated by the hot springs. It really is out in the middle of no where but I've never been to anyplace like it. The water is so warm, it is almost too warm. So you mostly just want to sit there and soak, even though the pool is set up for swimming laps if that's what you really want to do.

We were all set to have Ana and Constance show off their swimming skills for Grandma and Grandpa but I think the warmth of the pool and the new surroundings kind of threw them off. In any case, we all had fun. And when it was time to go, neither Ana nor Constance wanted to go.

But we had to leave if we wanted to make it to the cabin by dark. We drove up to the corrals in two cars so the kids could ride as far as possible in their carseats, then we braved the rest of the way in one car with Grandpa driving. I forgot how bumpy the road gets at some parts.

As soon as we arrived at the cabin, Ana saw the horses and immediately fell in love with them. She ran over to visit with them and kept on waving her hand and telling them "Hi" over and over again. It was hard to pull her away from her new friends.

Ana also waved and squealed hello to every cow she saw. She became very upset if you got between her and her animal friends.

Constance met one of her second cousins while we were at the cabin the first night. At first he was extremely shy and didn't want to talk or play with the girls. But Constance persisted and kept telling him about Rainbow Dash, princesses, her sister, swimming, and every other topic that came to her mind until he warmed up to her. The next thing we knew, they were running around the cabin chasing each other and squealing. The next day, he showed her how to look for worms. When Constance left to walk down to the creek with Tom, Ana, and I, he was very disappointed to see us go.

Tom took us down to his old fishing grounds and told us the tales of how when he was young, he and his brother and cousins would get out at the creek and go hand fishing then race back up to the cabin before dark. We didn't actually do any hand fishing, but we did look for fish . . .

and bugs . . .

and flowers . . .

 and rocks . . .

And both Ana and Constance inspected the quality of the mountain dirt.

But then both girls didn't want to walk back up to the cabin. Luckily I had a package of fishy crackers. So I used it for bribery. I walked ahead a little ways, then took out some crackers and showed it to the girls. Ana would come running and Constance was slightly more motivated to take a few steps once she saw there was a reward. Inevitably though, Tom and I ended up packing both girls back up to the cabin.

It was hard work.

On our last day in the mountains,  Grandpa got the Jeep running and we all piled in for a trip down to the river. Riding in the Jeep down to the river was even more bumpy than the trip up to the cabin. Constance just giggled and chanted, "It's so o o o o o bu u u u u u m m m py y y y!!!" while we bumped over the rocks. After packing both Constance and Ana from the creek to the cabin, I was so worried that we would have to do the same from the river, since the Jeep didn't look or sound very dependable. Luckily, Grandpa's new car battery worked perfectly and he had no trouble starting the Jeep up when we were ready to head back.

Constance and Ana had a great time fishing at the river. We confirmed through visual surveying that there were absolutely no fish swimming in that part of the river, but the girls still had fun playing with the fishing poles and throwing rocks into the river.

We left the mountains in the afternoon and got to the valley just in time to squeeze in a short visit with great grandma before we headed back home. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures but Ana was fascinated with great grandma's toes and kept coming back to her to give them a little squeeze. I think she really enjoyed it.

The 3-hour ride home was rather eventful. Besides the usual wails from the back seat, Constance's stomach got sick just after we left Walsenberg and we made it to a bathroom in Pueblo just a little too late. I felt so bad, but luckily I was able to clean her up pretty well. Then we hit a really heavy rainstorm and a little bit of hail just out of Colorado Springs. As soon as we got home we put both girl's in the bathtub. They were tired and grumpy but we washed off as much mountain dirt as we could and put them to bed.

The next morning bright and early we were back to work.

Hopefully we can make it back to the mountains again some time.
Either that or we really need to get a house soon with a huge backyard so the kids can play in the dirt more often.

How to Take Little Kids on a Walk

Step 1: Open the floodgates (usually your front door will do).

Step 2: Chase after the littlest one as she races down the driveway and along the sidewalk in just a shirt and a diaper.

Step 3: Notice that the older one has stopped and is stubbornly insisting that she is too tired to move another inch.

Step 4: Glance back to see Daddy jogging to catch up with the scattered, screaming crew (apparently he was left behind in the commotion of "going on a walk").

Step 5: Herd both kids off the street and onto the sidewalk, insisting that avoiding cars is a good idea for the safety of all.

Step 6: Snatch up the little one to keep her from running straight into a batch of wet cement; struggle with her as she arches her back, kicks her legs, and screams hysterically.

Step 7: Urge the older one on again, since she is falling behind and walking just slightly faster than a snail.

Step 8: While everyone screams and runs in opposite directions, insist that we head back home.

Step 9: Somehow make it back home, strap the kids into the double stroller, and begin again on a slightly more peaceful "walk."

The Entomologist and the Ornithologist

On a particularly nice weekend, we decided to go to the Fountain Creek Nature Center. I love walking the little trails there, but we have been avoiding that place most of the summer because of the overwhelming swarms of mosquitoes that seem to be around this year.

We took the double stroller and the carrier with us, but lately Ana has been doing so good walking that I decided to see how far she would go on her own. Ana ended up walking the entire loop all by herself and at a reasonable pace for the rest of us. She is quite the little walker. It's funny because Constance, when she was Ana's age, would only walk very short distances and even now, complains of getting tired when we've barely made it a short distance. Ana, on the other hand, will go toddling down the street the minute the front door is open and won't stop until she is at the park. This does cause some problems though because we have to always be on alert when she is outside and intercepting her before she gets close to the street.

Along our walk in the Nature Center trail, the kids discovered a bunny, grasshoppers, pill bugs, and ants.

The girls were particularly interested in the various bugs. Constance would point one out and then Ana would point at it too and squeak until it made an escape.

On our way to the visitor center, a bird flew up and past Ana, and I told her it was "a bird." So intrigued was Ana by this bird that when we got inside the visitor center she walked around the room pointing at all the birds along the walls and exclaiming "a bird!"

And so, my friends, this is how we ended up with an entomologist and an ornithologist in the family.