After a long day at the dunes yesterday, we were ready for some downtime today. We spent the morning attending ranger programs at the dunes so the kids could finish their Junior Ranger requirements. After that we grabbed lunch and then headed for a hike to Zapata Falls. It was a long drive up-hill to a short hike. I think the bumpy, gravel road took its toll on our car because by the time we got to the top our radiator was leaking. We had a good time hiking to the falls, though the water was very cold and I had to shuttle the kids around the creek to get them in.
After the falls we headed to the Sand Dunes Pool, which is nearby and is fed with water from a hot spring. The water was really warm and the kids had a great time. The pool was nice and big and by the end of the day we had almost the whole thing to ourselves.
Today the kids and I went to the Great Sand Dunes and had a lot of fun.
Heading to the DunesHeaded UpHeaded DownBryan, whom we met at the park, let the kids bury him in the sand.After escaping his burial, Bryan buried Andrew, Mari and Elliot.Andrew’s Hole, which was not even close to finished. Great Sand Dunes
Today the kids and I hit the road, headed for the Great Sand Dunes. It was a fun drive through the mountains. I was hoping to find somewhere just north of the Sand Dunes where we could camp, but I came up empty and we ended up camping just outside the park, at the Oasis Campground. It turned out to be a great place to camp, though the winds where playing games with our tent the first two nights.
We had some very nice neighbors who invited us over for s’mores shortly after we got our tent set up. It was a good day to end what had been a long day.
Today Paul, Johannes, and Georg led the kids and I on a hike in RMNP. It took us a little while to get to our destination, but it was worth it. We all enjoyed the hike from Bear Lake past Nymph Lake to Dream Lake. We ended up finding a nice spot near Dream Lake where we could eat lunch and the kids could play in the lake and on the snow.
Hiking to Dream LakeJunior Ranger Training @ Dream Lake Playing in the Water 1 Playing in the Water 2 Playing in the Water 3 Coming Down?
We began the day with a hike up Mt. Sanitas. It was a great way to start the trip. In the afternoon we went grocery shopping a huge Whole Foods store and then Johannes took us to the local bike park, a park full of different courses for cyclists of all levels.
On the Way UpThe Kids at the Top (minus Georg)The soles fell off of both of Susan’s hiking shoes.
Last week we had the opportunity to go to a Barack Obama campaign rally here in Des Moines. We debated whether or not we wanted to go because we knew it would be very crowded and there would be a lot of waiting. Both of those things turned out to be true, but it was well worth the trip.
We ended up getting a great spot, about 15 feet from the podium. I couldn’t believe how close we were! The kids did a great job waiting and it was a lot of fun to hear the president speak. It was amazing to be so close.
Afterwards he was shaking some hands in the crowd not far from where we were. I was holding Mari and thought maybe I could get her in the mix for a high-five. We made our way over and accomplished our goal. He continued down the rail not far from where we were so I picked up Andrew and took him over for a high-five as well. When I turned around Susan was standing right behind me with Elliot so I grabbed him and called out ‘Barack, do you have another high-five?” “I got another high-five,” he replied, as he gave Elliot a high-five. That was pretty exciting!
As we were headed out the door a reporter stopped us to ask a few questions and take our picture. We answered a few questions and headed home to try to get the kids to calm down and get into bed.
I couple minutes later we got an email from our friend the AP who sent me previews of a couple of pictures of Mari and Andrew. They appeared in various locations the next day.
Mari High-Fiving the PresidentAndrew High-Fiving the President
We were bummed to not have a picture of Elliot, but the next day I saw that Barack Obama’s facebook page had a few pictures posted from the event, including one of Elliot.
Elliot High-Fiving the President
A couple of hours later, it was the main photo at the top of his facebook page.
Elliot on Barack's Facebook Page
I thought we were done, but this past week we got a video from a friend who said that Elliot’s high-five was in the intro to a weekly political talkshow:
Elliot on TV
6/19/2012 – Still not done. We just got a link to this video from a friend:
Elliot in Barack Obama's Father's Day Video
8/6/12 – Elliot’s Picture Appears in a Campaign Email
It has recently been brought to my attention that an important life event is missing from our blog: Susan is pregnant! We found out in January that we are expecting our fourth child (or third sibling, for the kids). We are all really excited and ready for a new addition to our comfortable life.
Susan has been feeling good lately, and growing. She has been feeling the baby move for a while and last night I got to feel it for the first time.
It is hard to tell she is pregnant from this picture, but there is a reason her sweater is only buttoned so far.
Elliot and Mari had their dance recitals this weekend. They had a good time and really enjoyed being on stage. We don’t shoot video at their actual recital, but I do have videos from their dress rehearsals.
Yesterday morning we looked out to see that a tree frog was hanging out on our hummingbird feeder. We are not sure how it got there. We let it hang out for a bit before the kids moved it to a tree.
Andrew had his First Communion last weekend. We had a fun weekend with my parents, Jill, and Elsie coming from Cincinnati and the Connors making the trip from Kansas City.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting Lin & Hap’s house(s) in Fairfield, IA. They have a couple of acres they are developing. They have built several houses, which other family and friends live in. They collect rain water for drinking and cultivate several gardens, including a nice greenhouse.
The kids had a great time playing with Hap & Lin’s grandkids and overall we had a great visit and Earth Day Celebration.
