May- We celebrated a rainy Mother's Day by having lunch at the newly opened Hunter's Grill and then Kelly lazed around the house for the remainder of the day. MOPs wrapped up with a Spring Brunch and Kelly was glad to have one less thing on her plate. We also continued meeting together with our Missional Community. Mid-month we got to attend Becca and Aaron's wedding in Estes Park. It was a gorgeous ceremony and great reception. The girls had tons of fun playing with their busy bags and they were excited to stay in a hotel that night. The next day, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Erie Town Fair and met up with some friends to let the kids go wild on the carnival games. Mike continued the basement remodel and did all the electrical work himself, as well as the insulation.
June- The first week in June we set out for our next state in our 50 in 50 tour. This year we got to tour our favorite state-- Colorado! We started off by heading to Georgetown and riding the train. They had special gold panning days so the girls got to pan for gold and we all enjoyed the various exhibits and free food that was part of the festivities. After the train ride, we set out for Silverthorne where we walked around the lake and ate dinner at a cute restaurant before turning in for the night. We were hoping the girls would sleep well that night because of the thrill of being in a hotel room, but unfortunately they were only interested in playing. Sadly, they kept this up almost the entire trip, so none of us got much sleep for the entire week. Next, we headed to Glenwood Springs. After a hike up the mountain to Doc Holliday's grave, we enjoyed touring the town, ice cream tasting and stopping by the local brewery for dinner. Unfortunately, Kelly started her first week of classes for her Early Childhood degree this week, so we also spent some time in the hotel room so she could work on her assignments. The next day, our friends Amy and Zack joined us with their little one, Lilla. We played at the park and then went for a walk downtown before heading back to the brewery for lunch. That afternoon, we headed to Montrose where we were in a very remote house that was a little more "rustic" than we had anticipated. The views were gorgeous, but Kelly was on high alert for bugs and hazards. The next morning, we were eager to get out and headed straight to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The Black Canyon is so amazing and unexpected. We kept saying we couldn't believe we were still in Colorado. It was definitely one of the most beautiful parts of this already amazing state. Afterward, we headed to Horsefly Brewing Co., which had an amazing patio where we enjoyed lunch before heading off to our next destination--Telluride. On the way, we stopped in Ouray, which has been called the Switzerland of the Rockies and, wow, is that true! What a cute, picturesque little town. But, it just doesn't get prettier anywhere in the world that Telluride. However, when we got to our condo we realized that the "second bedroom" was really a converted laundry room. So far we were 0 for 2 on the accommodations. But, we decided to make the best of it and left to go walk around town. On our way back from our walk, we stopped by the grocery store for some taco fixin's and settled in to our condo for the night. The next day, we took the gondola up the mountain to the disc golf course. While the boys played disc golf, Amy and I enjoyed the breath taking views with the kids. After Zack was done winning, we all took the gondola halfway down for a mountainside lunch. After lunch, we set out for Durango. We had to take a major detour because the Million Dollar Highway was closed for repairs, but eventually we made it. On the way to our condo just north of town, we grabbed a pizza and settled in for a night of playing games together. The next day, we went straight to Mesa Verde and toured all around the ruins. We marveled at the remnants of these ancient civilizations and Mike solidified his spot as dad of the year when he pushed the double stroller up a mountain in nearly 100-degree weather. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch at Carver's Brewery and then went back to the condo for some swimming and another round of disc golf at the ski resort for the guys. The next day, we were ready to head to Alamosa and stopped along the way at our favorite brewery of all-- Pagosa Brewing. We sat outside and enjoyed our tasters and our brats while plotting the last days of our trip. Later that day, we arrived in Alamosa to find that our room that was supposed to be a suite was actually just a normal hotel room. After getting that sorted (and finding a second room for the Wulbeckers), we went to the town fair downtown. The weather didn't cooperate very well, but the girls still had fun riding the train and running around the grass. Afterward, we found Kelly's dream come true-- a Mexican food buffet. After dinner, we parted ways with our dear friends and headed back for our last night of trying to convince the girls to sleep in a strange place. When we woke up, we ate at the hotel and then went straight to the great Sand Dunes--another Colorado wonder. The girls had a great time playing the sand with their buckets and shovels. Olivia kept saying "I'm a beach girl." When we had enough sand in our shoes and our clothes, we began our trek home. Unfortunately, on the way home we hit a terrible storm. Kelly was driving and panic started to set in near Pueblo when we started seeing funnel clouds and tornado warnings. We pulled off at a hotel lobby while the worst of the storm passed and then headed to Shamrock Brewing for lunch. The weather improved quite a bit and we made it home at the end of the trip with no more than minor detours along the way. Later in the month, we celebrated Sophia's second birthday with a cowgirl party and BBQ. Then, we headed to Fort Collins the next day for Beth and Matt's engagement party at their place. That same weekend we went to Rock Bottom for lunch and Mike took his turn lounging for Father's Day.
July- We celebrated 4th of July eve with a BBQ at home with Mom and Lynn, as well as Megan and Ross who were visiting from DC. My mom brought a beautiful cake from Sugar Bean Bakery and we capped off the night by watching fireworks from the end of our street. Olivia enjoyed the fireworks and the snickerdoodle cake that accompanied it. On the actual 4th, we went to a lunch BBQ at Floyd and Suzanne's before heading home and hosting the Wolfs and the Milburns for our own festivities. The guys put on a nice fireworks display for us in the street and we enjoyed hanging out with all seven little girls between the three families. The next day Megan and Ross came with us to the 2nd annual Erie Brewfest, which was hot, but tons of fun regardless-- especially when Kelly discovered the bucket of free water balloons. The next weekend, we headed up to Wyoming to visit dad and Crystal. While we were there we got to spend lots of time relaxing and hanging out on the front porch. Friday night, we went to a rodeo and got to see some genuine Wyoming cowboys as well as mutton busting and steer roping. The next day, we went to the lake and the girls had a ball swimming and playing in the water. They even met a new friend while building sand castles. Mike got to fish and, while he didn't catch any, he had a great time trying. Later that day, we went Su Casa for some lunch and then Kelly left the kids with the rest of the family to take a long nap. On Sunday, we headed out after breakfast and met Beth and Matt for lunch in Fort Collins on our way home. July finished off with Kelly heading to a Beth Moore conference with some friends in Denver and the returning to town for a date night at the planetarium.
