Biking Trip up NCAR

Every now and then, Tara and I can get away on a long bike ride.  This is always fun for me and I appreciate that Tara has taken a bit to riding to join me in something I love to do.  For this trip, we rode from our house up to the top of NCAR and back.  This picture has the nice flatirons in the background and it looks like I am sporting some sort of rally-stache as well.  I don't think Tara appreciates it as much as I do...

Gavin's Birthday Party

Our Boondocks annual tradition for birthday parties was certainly continued this year for Gavin's 12th birthday.  We were greeted by a beautiful day to get in the water and splash and spray each other (and some strangers) on these bumper boats.

We also had a fierce golf competition going...as mom can get strangely competitive in random sports or activities...one of which is apparently putt putt golf.

This year was the first year that Gage was both old enough and tall enough to ride in his own go kart which was quite the upgrade for him!  Here is Tara and the kids coming from behind her as they race around the course.

These pictures are actually from the weekend after where we met family at Adventure Golf to do essentially the same thing as we did at Boondocks earlier in the week.  It's a bit more upscale at this place, though.  Here is Gage and Gavin taking off onto the course.

What made the weekend a bit more exciting was that I had just been diagnosed with pneumonia and was in quite the world of hurt.  In fact, Bob had picked me up separately to pick up my new prescription medicines to get back on track.  Jackie and Karl and the cousins drove down from the mountains we had a fun gang to run around the golf course with.  Gavin had a great time!

Hiking above Moffet Tunnel

We have done this hike once or twice before, but it is such a fun adventure that it warrants coming back for more exploring.  Here are the boys and Tara just off of the beginning trailhead.  A beautiful day in the mountains up near the continental divide.

Sometimes I have to temper my expectations of what a "hike" means with the family desires.  For this hike we spent quite a bit more time exploring the streams, flowers, and raspberries that were just off of the trail.  I think as long as I understand the plan, I can get a bit more into enjoying the diversions as much as the hiking.

Despite the detours, we did in fact make it up to these beautiful lakes.  We sat on some rocks, while looking for a rumored Moose in the area, and ate our lunch.  However, only dogs and other hikers were found.

Here is another picture of the team before heading back down the mountain to the car.  Definitely easier going that direction on the hike!  The main challenge is to get the kids to slow down enough so they down fall and wreck themselves running down the trail...but this inevitable ending almost always happens despite all the warnings.  Luckly, we keep a solid arrangement of band aides in the car.