Quality Camping Time

Each summer when the kids are away with their grandparents and cousins, Colin and I try to sneak away for a few days and spend some quality time together.  This year, we chose to take the camper out, just the two of us.  Something we've never done before.  Of course, we had our fur babies with us, too, but it was a nice few days of togetherness in the beautiful, cool and quiet mountains of Cloudcroft.

 

We ate well, went for hikes, played gin rummy and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.  I had a lot of fun taking pics, too! I put out my hummingbird feeder and attracted several hummingbirds, but again, just like in Colorado, got a rufus that liked to chase all the others away.  He was sure pretty, though:

 There were a lot of birds out, enjoying the cool, wet weather.

 This was on one of our many hikes:

 Roxy looking for things to chase:

 Besides the birds, I also was obsessed with the thistles! They were everywhere and in all different stages. They are such gorgeous flowers and attract all kinds of butterflies. 

 This was a cool moth of some sort:

 A neat looking bee:

 Sunny chilling by the camper:

 We were sad to have to leave, but excited to get home and see the kids:

 It was a great weekend with my love!

Cady's 11th Birthday Party

Cady had a wonderful time celebrating her 11th birthday, even though 2 of her best friends couldn't make it.  One of the downfalls of having a birthday in the middle of summer!

 

She decided on a camping theme and we actually found cute stuff at Hobby Lobby to use, as well as a lot of her cute stuffed animals. 

 I made a "Don't Feed the Bears" sign for all her teddy bears:

 Besides family, her friends from school (and neighbors), Emily and Lela joined us.  She was also thrilled that her cousin Jaycelyn was also here:

 Her cake was from something we found on Pinterest, using expensive cookies (!) for the firewood and melting Jolly Ranchers in the oven for the flames.  Toasted marshmallows topped it off. 

 Then it was gift time.  She cracked us up with her excited expressions and silly comments! 

 She was thrilled to get a shaved ice machine from her Gramma and Papa. She'd been wanting one for a while.  Her Gramma also told her to be sure and read the bottom of the box which was pretty funny:

 She was also excited to get the complete set of Harry Potter books, which she had also been asking for.  She's really the first one in our family to be into Harry Potter.

 Her big gift from us was an iPhone!  Only because she is starting middle school (gasp!) in a couple of weeks.  Colton got one in 6th grade so I know she was wondering if she would, too.  I like being able to text her when we are apart and we got a lot of that in as they left with my parents the very next day for a week.

 Silly girls:

 With her Grammy and Grampa:

 She was so happy that her Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tammi, and cousins, Jaycelyn and Trevor were able to be a part of her special day:

 Her Gramma Mary, Gramma Suzy and Papa Jimmy were also there, but didn't turn out because we took them outside after it was dark and there were too many closed eyes.  :-(

They slept out in the backyard in a tent that night, even though it was HOT!

 Cady and I had made each of the kids a cute tic-tac-toe game in a burlap sack that doubled as the board.  They came out very cute (another Pinterest idea). 

It was a great celebration! Can't believe our Cady Bug is 11 and starting the 6th grade pretty soon! Crazy!!

Durango Vacation {Day 7}

Our last day here and we were all very, very sad to have to go home the next day.  However, this was the day of our rafting trip so that made it better! We'd been looking forward to that all week.  It was a great time and our guide was awesome!  Colton and Cady even jumped out into the water during the calmest and deepest part of the trip.  Here are the pics we got:

 It was a great time and Cady enjoyed it much better than when she was 4!  Next time we all want to do the half-day trip.  After rafting, we went back to the campground to relax and enjoy it a little more before saying goodbye. The kids swam and rode their bikes:

 Colin and I chilled at the trailer and watched the hummingbirds and a chipmunk:

 That evening we celebrated a great week with a yummy Cajun boil dinner at Steamworks:

 Then another walk downtown and by the river:

 That evening on our way back to camp we saw these beautiful bucks:

What a week!  We absolutely love Durango and surrounding areas and everything there is to do and see!  We definitely won't be waiting another 7 years to go back this time. We'd really love to go for a long weekend every year around the 4th. That'd be nice!!  Thank you, Durango, for the memories!!