Toby's new trick

Check it out. We were so grateful to have my sisters (and Mike, of course) helping us out on the long car ride to Colorado. It definitely saved our sanity. This is the new trick that Caitlyn taught him.

Gem Lake & Hole in the Sole

Wednesday we finally made our regular hike up to Gem Lake. Along the way there are terrific views out over Longs Peak and Estes Park from various points on the mountainside. There is also a particular rock shaped like a foot with a hole through the middle. When Jen, Caitlyn, and Laura were first coming up here we would have then slide through the "hole in the sole". Now it's Elinore's turn!

YMCA of the Rockies

We arrived safe after about a 19 hour drive stretched out over two days. Altitude at our cabin is 8300 ft so we've taken a day to acclimate. We rode up Fall River Road, a twisty, winding dirt road going up and along the continental divide. Maximum altitude was 12,300 ft and we all felt the thin air and cold wind. We ate lunch on an outcrop of rocks with a 360 deg view of miles and miles of mountains. All is well except for some minor cases of wind burn and feeling wiped out.

Just had to share this.

This weekend when Mom and Dad were here we played some games.  We were playing sequence and luck seemed to be going my way.  Dad, in a moment of sequence despair, picked up the origami bird he had made with Elinore earlier in the day.  He held it over my blue playing chips and said, “May the bluebird of happiness crap on your pieces.”

I am still laughing.

I won the game.