Castlewood Canyon again

Castlewood Canyon is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to hike. It doesn't take long to get there, there are several different hikes, and it is very kid friendly. This time we explored the west side of the park. Haden found several caves that might have pirate treasure in them. (Thank you Jake and the Neverland Pirates.) There is always an abundance of rocks and sticks to carry around or throw in the river.

Lila loved not having to be in her backpack. This hike was fairly short and we figured it was easier just to carry her than to listen to her complain in her backpack.

They love hiking with sticks. We have hiking poles, but for some reason, they just aren't the same.

It was a beautiful day, just perfect for hiking!

Lila's 1st Race

The Gift of Life and Breath 5K race was this past weekend. I think this is the 4th time that we've done it. (And by we, I mean that Clint runs and pushes one kid in the stroller while I watch the others and cheer him on.) Lila accompanied Clint this year. She was completely happy munching on her pop-tart and smearing it all over her face before she fell asleep. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

Regan was singing along to the music on her pretend microphone while we were waiting for the race to start.

I let Lila scoot around until the last minute so she would last longer in her stroller. She doesn't always cooperate when it comes to riding in her stroller.

This picture made me laugh, everyone looking down, starting the timer on their watches.

And they are off!

Scoop had to come with us. He is our latest garage sale find and Haden has yet to leave home without him.

The race this year had a different route than in years past. I loved having the big, open, grassy field right next to the start/finish line. Regan danced and gathered dandelions for the bouquet she gave to Clint for finishing the race. Haden filled up Scoop's buckets with grass for Clint.

The official results haven't been posted yet, but I think Clint's time was 21:45. Historically, he is the first one with a stroller to cross the finish line. This year, he was second. First place went to a fresh out of BYU kid who ran the whole thing while pushing a stroller in under 18 minutes. Clint found him after the race and recruited him to run on his team for the relay race he does every fall.

We stopped at Bass Pro Shops on the way home for the first time since we have had kids. They were in heaven! They loved playing on all the display boats and 4 wheelers.

How do you open a pistachio?

Haden loves pistachios. He got a bag as a reward for being well behaved on a long, boring shopping trip. He insisted on cracking them open himself with his tools. The pliers just sent the nuts flying across the kitchen and almost into the pan of boiling pasta on the stove. He loved it! It kept him busy and quiet for quite a while. My favorite kind of rewards!

Regan's Ensembles

Regan and I typically argue every morning about what she is going to wear to school that day. I have a few rules which she thinks are ridiculous like no digging through the hamper for her favorite shirt, no hiding dirty shirts so she won't have to dig them out of the hamper, and no wearing the same piece of clothing 2 times a week. (The last one is only because she has bunches of clothes that she picked out at the store, swore she would wear, and doesn't.) After 3+ outfit changes in one morning we were running late, and both a little irritated with the other. In an effort to make peace, I suggested that we should pick her outfits for the entire week on Sunday night so we wouldn't be late and we would both be in a good mood in the mornings. Regan LOVED that idea. So last Sunday, Regan and I selected 5 outfits. Alright, she picked them out and I approved them. Her fashion sense is all her own. She had them layed out on her bed and floor-I wish I would have gotten a picture. I assumed that task was done, so I asked her to fold them up, put them on her shelf so they would be ready to go and then come tell me so I could tuck her into bed. She was taking FOREVER. Regan frequently needs to be refocused to the task at hand, so I called to her telling her to hurry so she could go to bed. She came out of her room, with one hand on her hip, clearly exasperated with me and said, "But mom, I am accessorizing my outfits!" Sure enough, each outfit now included flowers for her hair, necklaces, bracelets, scarves, etc. She is only 5. I don't think I want to know what her teenage years will bring!

This was today's "accessorized" outfits. Regan doesn't like to look at the camera and Haden doesn't like to miss an opportunity to have his picture taken.

Lila comes scooting (She doesn't crawl, but scoots across the floor. I have never seen anything like it!) anytime she sees the camera. Regan picks out Lila's outfits, too. At least she has good taste!

Haden's field trip to the Zoo

Monday was beautiful weather. Tuesday was beautiful weather. Wednesday, however, when we were to go on a field trip to the zoo was miserable! The high was in the 40s and it rained all day long, oh, except when it was hailing!! I considered bailing on the field trip, but Haden was excited to go, so we bundled up and headed off. I think Haden was actually more excited to wear his new raincoat and fireman rainboots than to see the animals, though. The first animals that we saw up close were the zebras. Haden was excited and pointing, "Look, Mom! There's a wheelbarrow!" He's ridiculously obsessed with wheelbarrows these days. We spent a lot of time looking at the animals who had buildings that we could go into. Haden would hold his nose and tell me that it smelled "nasty"!

The leopard just sat there and watched us watching him.

Haden liked the tigers.

He barely took his eyes off the giraffe long enough for me to take his picture. I'm not sure if he was enthralled or intimidated!

Lila did well enough as long as I kept handing her crackers.

Haden really liked the snakes!

That tank was full of turtles!

Haden waved good bye to the turtle.

Puddle Jumping! Haden never missed an opportunity to run and jump!

Both kids were done with the miserable weather and began complaining, wanting to go home an hour or so into the trip. However, after a visit to the gift shop where Haden picked out a tiger striped truck pulling a trailer with a 4 wheeler on it and a stuffed giraffe for Lila, he decided that he really did like the zoo!

Castlewood Canyon

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we met some friends to go hiking through Castlewood Canyon. The kids were so excited. They love hiking with friends.
We discovered a cave. The kids refused to go inside and possibly disturb the sleeping bear, but when it was suggested that a pirate might have stashed his treasure there, they didn't hesitate to rush in! Unfortunately, all they found were rocks.

What is it about boys with sticks and dirt?

Rest stop and snacks.

I love this picture. It looks like Ailee is telling Haden something funny.

Lila did really well considering it was her first time in the backpack and she has issues with any kind of restraint. It was the perfect hike for kids! A stop at Pizza Hut on the way back home was a great way to end the day.

Regan's Recital

Regan had her third ballet recital this past weekend. The theme was Cinderella. Regan's class danced to "So This is Love" and had costumes that looked similar to Cinderella's ball gown. Regan did a wonderful job. I am not sure if her favorite part is the dancing, wearing make up, or getting flowers from Clint!

Glenwood Springs

We spent Easter weekend in Glenwood Springs, CO. We had planned on going over Spring Break, but Haden caught the stomach flu so we dealt with that instead. I picked our hotel based on the swimming pool. It was a zero entry and had a couple of slides. The kids LOVED it!! We spent the first night swimming. Regan and Haden both liked sliding down the kiddie slide into a foot of water by themselves and going down the big slide on our laps. Even Lila got to go down. (I loved not having any lifeguards there enforcing rules!)
The next day we planned on spending at Glenwood Canyon Adventure Park. The adventure park is on top of the mountain accessible to the public only by tram. The tram, however, had been struck by lightening the night before and was inoperable so we were loaded up into 4x4 vans and taken up the mountain. This is where I learned my first lesson on planning vacations for my family. Spring means wind. The top of a mountain means wind. Regan is TERRIFIED of the wind. She immediately abandons whatever activity and begs to go home when there is even the slightest breeze. Luckily, there was no wind during the cave tour. It was an interesting cave. Haden was disappointed that he couldn't find any pirate treasure, but had fun searching for quite a while. Lila loved the cave, until she fell sound asleep. Regan was just grateful she was out of the wind.

The view of Glenwood Springs from the Adventure Park.

Inspiration Point, accessible only through the cave.

Lesson number two came when we tried to watch the 4D movie. It wasn't working the first time we went, or the second. Thankfully, by the third time, they had it figured out. Hitting the touristy places off season is not always a good idea-many things are either closed or broken. Anyway, there were 3 movies. 2 were 5 minutes and the third was 14 minutes. You wear 3D glasses and sit in chairs that move, spray water at you, etc. Regan and Clint loved it. Haden began yelling within the first 30 seconds and I got motion sickness. Thankfully, it went away when I closed my eyes. The line to the Alpine Slide was outside and both kids refused to go into the wind to stand in it.

Fortunately, we found their Speleo Box. It's a maze in a box. The kids apprehensively climbed in, but had so much fun, they did it over and over. The sign recommended that you have less than a 39 inch waist and are shorter than 6 feet to enter. So, I tried it. There is absolutely no way that anyone much bigger than Regan can navigate that thing. I quickly gave up and backed out.

Haden found the big sandbox full of sand toys and dump trucks and was in heaven.

By the time we were ready to go the tram was working again, although much slower than usual.
We headed back to the hotel where the kids could not wait to get back in the pool. Regan even went down the big slide by herself and timidly put her face under the water!!!
Lila was happy playing with the ipod. She was so excited to watch the music video for "Queen of the Waves" from Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. She loves that song! It was the first time she watched it on the ipod instead of the computer. She kept looking at me in amazement! The next day I had planned on hiking Hanging Lake, but the mountains were supposed to get 10-20 inches of snow, so we came home instead.