Last week we made our annual summer trip to Cincinnati for the 4th of July. I got to work a little bit while Susan and the kids hung out with friends and explored the city. For the 4th of July we enjoyed a day of swimming at Joyce and Dave’s, complete with a locally-grown fireworks display put on by Will. Thursday we made it to Ikea and then on Friday we hung out with friends. As usual, it was a fun, busy time.
A couple of of Susan’s/our friends happened to be passing through town this morning to and from Omaha so we had a nice brunch, complete with waffles and ice cream!
Last week we made our annual trip to Mahoney State Park with the Liess clan. As usual, a good time was had by all.
Today we had to make the long drive home. We ended up leaving Boulder a little late and didn’t get home until almost midnight. It was a long time in the car, but we made it!
Today we made one last trip into Rocky Mountain National Park. We were hoping to hit the Bear Lake area one more time, but because of the construction we decided to check out Trail Ridge Road.
Today we headed into town in the morning to meet my Uncle Tom, who lives in Colorado Springs, for lunch. We had a nice lunch, hung out in Boulder for a bit, and then headed back to our house in Nederland to celebrate Mari’s birthday.
Today we headed in different directions – Mari went to a garden in Denver with Mar-Mar and B-Bob, Susan, Elliot, and Andrew hung out in Boulder with Jill, Holly, Elsie, and Henry, and I, Rob, went for a day-hike with Will and Alex.
Today we headed back into RMNP to explore more of the park. We made our way to the Alluvial Fan where we enjoyed climbing up the river bed. After that we ate lunch and then went for a short hike for a different view. We ate dinner in Estes Park and then drove back up to Bear Lake.
Today was Susan’s graduation from the Lifeways program that she has been participating in for the past year. The kids and I headed to Boulder in the morning for a beautiful ceremony and a nice lunch. After the ceremony we headed back to Monika & Paul’s so Susan could collect her things (and eat one last helping of milk rice). Then we headed back up the hill to Nederland.
With ‘The Hylands’ (what we will call the Cincinnatians from now on) being new in town we decided to start off the trip with a simple hike and then running some errands in Boulder. We had a nice hike the Chautauqua Park and then we split ways with the Hylands. The kids and I went swimming at a city pool in Boulder and then met Susan to go to a pot-luck with her Lifeways crew. It was a great evening and the kids had a lot of fun.
We were up early this morning, got the campsite packed up, and hit the road. We stopped in nearby Alamosa to have our car looked at. The mechanic said that our radiator had a leak and we should dry Barr’s Stop Leak to see if we could plug it. We got the Barr’s in and started driving. We lost a little more fluid on the drive to Nederland, but all-in-all we did OK. We were thrilled when we made it to the house.
We arrived just after dinner time, got the car unloaded, and then waiting for Mar-Mar & B-Bob, Jill, Will, Elsie, Holly, Alex & Henry. The kids were excited to see their cousins.
Andrew put together this summary of our trip to the Sand Dunes.