Staycation I

Usually, when I hear the word "staycation", I think: Why on earth would you want to stay home when you could go on a fun trip? And if you don't have money, then go camping.

Well, our involuntary staycation did not turn out so bad. Monday we took things easy, because - why not?? Well, not really. I am not the person to take things easy. But I tried. I think Karl and the kids liked it.

Tuesday we went into the mountains. We started out by exploring Bridal Veil Falls.


Lots of water, mud, rocks. What more can a kid want?


I am not so sure about my let-the-kid-eat-mud-a-few-times-and-he-will-realize-it-is-gross approach anymore. It does not seem to work with Max. Maybe he just does not think it tastes gross.


Noah loves to ride his 'mountain bike' off-road.


Happy boys


Then we headed further up the canyon past Sundance to Grandpa Alan's little A-frame cabin. It is always a good place to escape to if you don't want to travel far. Just far enough away from home to make it feel special and exciting.

The minute we entered, we knew we needed a nice warm fire to heat up the place. So Karl and Noah went to work.


Building fires makes hungry. So we devoured a bowl of fresh guacamole and a bag of chips on the back porch.


Max kept busy as usual getting into everything. I had forgotten how un-child proof the cabin was.


So we went for a walk in the woods and found a bridge over a nice little raging river. Perfect. Except that the ground was very wet and Max has not learned how to walk just yet. That makes for a very dirty baby. What's new?


These two still thought he was very cute and tried to make him giggle.


The Wilsons (Scott, Jen, Eric, and Rubie) joined us for dinner. Due to the ensuing fun/craziness, I stopped taking pictures.

Except for this one. Don't ask me why. I guess I felt the need to document Eric's consistent interest in Noah's bathroom routine. And Noah loves the entertainment.


Thanks for joining us, guys. Sorry for the craziness. We won't come back here until Max has learned how to sit still for more than 20 seconds, how to go up really steep stairs, how to stay away from fire, how not to bonk his head on a coffee table, and how not to search for the rat poison in every corner. Yeah for 3-year-olds.

The weather spoiled our hike to Stuart Falls the next day. After walking around Sundance for a while, it was still raining, so we got in the car and drove to Thanksgiving Point. Max could finally roam around freely without getting into too much trouble. Dinosaur Museums are great!


Noah never gets tired of mud, so the wet sand table is ideal.


In the meantime, Max was getting acquainted with the dinosaurs and I think they will be friends.


After some yummy lunch at the Deli Cafe, the weather was looking better and we ventured to Farm Country. 3 pony rides, one cute calf, many beautiful horses, one loud donkey, and some ugly turkeys later, we called it a day.