Royal Arch Family Hike

If you keep up with our blog at all, you are well educated in the fact that our kids love to get into the outdoors.  They have such a blast, so this is attempt #2 on the Royal Arch Trail.  I think the previous time we tried to do this route it was closed due to some previous trail damage from flooding.  Anyways, here is everyone toward the beginning of the hike.

These guys are quick to find any and every rock to climb on along the way.  I (Brent) try to be mostly ok with this, though Tara is a bit more fast and loose with following the "Stay on the trail" rules.  They are pretty good at climbing stuff without injuring themselves.

After quite the haul, probably longer than Tara or I remember, we finally made it all the way up.  This is such an amazing place.  The pictures struggle to capture the beauty here.  We broke out the snacks and kicked back on the other side of the arch which provides these sweeping views of Boulder and beyond to the East.  It is a bit nerve wracking, however, as there is a fairly good sized drop on the other side of the rocks.  We made sure these guys didn't get too crazy climbing around on the edge.

This is a closer picture sitting on the back side of the arch where we ate some snacks.

The way home is always quicker than the way heading up.  Gage started to get a bit tired so I promised him a short piggy back ride once we got to the end of the trail and onto the road.  He was milking it the whole way down as you see by his huge smile.  Hopefully we can continue to make trips like this a priority because we make so many good memories and always have a great time.

Rain

What kid doesn't love some rain?  Obviously the weather is notorious around these parts for not quite making sense as you can see above where its straight out sunny and pouring rain at the same time.  Gavin and Gage took to the streets armed with some semi-broken umbrellas to check things out.

I often find myself (Brent) thinking like an adult in these situations and choosing the "clean" or "safe" option, but it's good to let them be kids and get all wet and dirty playing out in this stuff.  At a minimum, they can keep burning some of that endless energy they tend to have.  The little men obviously had a blast and I don't think they even increased the damaged to any of the three umbrellas they were using.

CU Facilities Tour

 In preparation for the football season and the new addition to the indoor training facilities, CU invited all season ticket holders to come for a tour and check out everything.  There were quite a few pretty amazing things to see.  Above is the trophy room that contains the National Championship trophy, as well as, many other championship rings you can sort of see in the background.  I have to say I was fairly nervous having these guys this close to the trophy!

Found throughout the hallways are these floor to ceiling posters with motivating phrases.  I particularly liked this one and hope that our kids would be inspired.

After touring the locker rooms, weight rooms, and other areas we ended up in the indoor practice field.  Here are our tough guys all suited up in some real CU football gear.  Gage's expression is fairly classic inside that huge helmet he is wearing.

This is actually a panoramic shot of the area, which is really impressive from the inside.  Obviously its a bit longer than a football field with a super nice indoor track on the outside of it, but it also is pretty tall and looks like you could definitely punt at full strength and not hit the top.  We through around some footballs, played with some tackling dummies they had in one section, and then raced around the track a bit.  It turned out to be a pretty fun time for everyone and it was great to see the new facilities.

Lucky Pie Bike Race

The Lucky Pie Bike Race continues to deliver year-after-year great experiences for kids on bikes.  Gavin finally aged out, as he has a bike racing license and has raced as a JM 9-10, but we got to watch Gage race for all the pride and glory of the family.  He was lined up with a fairly good crew to race against.

As a reminder, this course is almost a mile long and the kids did a whole lap.  They are actually gone for a few minutes as they head around course.  Here is Gage coming around toward the finish line.  He raced hard and came in all smiles.

Afterward, all the kids get ice cream that finish the race (and some that didn't race if their younger brothers did awesome).  I also raced later in the day and had a pretty fun race in the SM3 race, but finished in the middle of the pack.  Looking forward to next years race already!

First Day of School

It's hard to believe, but these guys are already to start another year of school.  Gavin is headed into 3rd grade with Mrs. Scherrer.  She is a newer teacher to the school but has taught for about five years total in other schools (mostly in North Dakota).  This is Gavin with his friend and former soccer teammate, Joshua, all lined up to go inside.

Gage is starting 1st grade with Mrs. Ross in the frog classroom.  We are super excited about Mrs. Ross' class as she has a great reputation for being high energy and an awesome teacher with high standards.  This is Gage with two of his friends Little Gavin and Dominick.  Gage is also sporting some missing teach in this picture.  What a way to start off the year!

CU Fall Camp

At the end of Fall Training Camp before the season starts, they hold a final scrimmage that is open the public and we all headed down to watch the game.  They warm up at first with some hitting drills and then run some situational plays.  Lastly, they do a short scrimmage and then invite the fans onto the field to take some pictures and meet the players.  It was a beautiful fall day and these guys were psyched to get down on the field.

Gage was the first to find the player with his jersey number on it.  Above, you can see these guys with George Frazier.  He plays fullback and is a Senior this year on the team.

Gavin next found Shay Fields, who is one of the starting Wide Receivers on our team.  All of the players had such a great attitude and were great sports about posing with the kids.  It really means a lot to the kids so it was nice to see.

This is Gavin trying on Addison Gillam's (starting inside linebacker) helmet.  You can see Addison posing behind Gavin with another kid.  He is known for his long red hair and also has battled through several tough injuries over his last several years as a player.  What a great day to watch some football and get the kids all fired up about the upcoming season.

Introducing - The Leaf Crew

Had to catch a pic of my local leaf crew, doing their part to leave no leaf behind.  I just had a conversation with someone today about how their parents instilled in them the value of hard work, and I have to imagine that Gavin and Gage's daddy is doing the same thing in their lives on a regular basis.  Good job, Babe! 

Hiking with Mom

I LOVE hiking with my boys!  It has worked out so well for us, several times, that when I'm getting work done on my car in Boulder, we are able to use their shuttle service and get dropped off at Chautauqua.  Can you think of a better place to spend half the day during the summer??  Me neither. 

The boys love to climb and explore.  I love how much they love to hike, too!

They especially enjoy any caverns or caves or places we can weasel our way into.

I remember taking this selfie.  I'm never eager for the dealership to call to tell us that the car is ready when we're hiking in the mountains together. 

The Flatirons never get old, do they?  Really, some of God's finest work, if you ask me.  And a big  THANK YOU to the Honda Dealership for being willing to drop us off and pick us up there several times to date.  We always meet the nicest drivers, too, so it's really a win-win if you ask me.