I Wonder. . .

When we've recently been out and about, I've seen a few things that really make me wonder.

The first was spotted during our vacation last week. The bumper sticker said, "Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?"

The second one I spotted on a vanity plate of an SUV today. It said, "LEDFOOT". As I watched him weave through heavy traffic, I continued to wonder how many tickets he had received and if any could have been avoided if this wasn't plastered along the backside of his vehicle?

Hmmm. . .

Two Casualties

Spider casualties that is. Yes, they're back!! Our wonderful wolf spiders are back this morning. Hannah spotted the first one. Thankfully, they are "nice spiders", but that doesn't help the fact that they are so large and menacing looking. Anyway, I ran upstairs to get some shoes on. I wasn't about to square off with an inch and half spider without my shoes on (yeah, crazy I know!). Then, proceeded to squash it. I was thankful that it had gotten stuck in a empty plastic container that I keep some of the kids' toys in so I could get my shoes and think how to conquer it. Even though I try hard not to react to things like this when the kids are around, I just couldn't help myself once "the deed" had been done. Five minutes later, Luke sounded the spider alarm. I didn't believe him to begin with and couldn't really see it, but then there it was. Yes, another spider. This one was much smaller and possibly not even a wolf spider. However, it is now a dead spider. Hopefully, I've reached my quota for today and no others will be spotted.

One final thought, why in the world do they feel like our little toy section is a safe haven?!

No Place Like Home

We saw many miles that looked like this!

Another dirt road - this one to a small, remote canyon

Vogel Canyon

We made it home last night, but we still took a few minutes to stop and see the sights along the way. First, we took the scenic route. Let's just say, there isn't much in that part of the country, but we did get to see some pretty country. Before we got too far down the road, we went off the beaten path to probably the most secluded place that I've been (13 miles from the nearest town and then maybe another 3-5 miles down a dirt road before we took a walk). We took a short hike to a small canyon where settlers once rested along the Sante Fe trail. I have to admit. I do not know how so many people traveled and survived the walk through our country to settle the western states. It just blows my mind. Anyway, I digress. After getting back on the road, we did make a short stop to see some of the remaining tracks from the Sante Fe Trail and a drive through a town leveled by a tornado. We got home just about bedtime for our little ones, but they were still up and it was a lot of fun to see and hold them again. Yeah, for a wonderful trip, Grandparents that watched our trio and the beautiful country God blessed us with!

Bear Den

OK, I have to admit that I can get a bit paranoid at times. I loved the hike we took today, but I had a nagging thought in my head for awhile on and off during our time out - bears! Now, there was not one sign that warned of bears, but I have to admit that the area looked a lot like a place where bears would like to be. Here is one place where I thought they might like to have a den (there were several similar places along the way that they might like to call home). What do you think? Plus, there was a nice stream not too far away. Ugh - my mind has a wild imagination sometimes! :)

The Crags

Some of the scenery from The Crags

The forecast for today did not look good for too many outdoor activities. However, we did fit in a hike before the rain started to fall harder. We hiked somewhere around 4 miles - The Crags in Pike National Forest (thanks, Silks for the suggestion!). It was beautiful - even on a drizzly morning! The scenery was gorgeous not just at the end of the trail, but along the way as well. I have to admit, though, that I thought that the hike wasn't going to happen. We had to drive 3 1/2 miles down a dirt road. The beginning was rather bumpy and I just wasn't sure that our little Saturn was going to make it the entire route. I was surprised, though, that the rest of the road was fine and the car made it through fairly unscathed (we hit one bump rather hard - thuds are not good!) Once we got to the top, we enjoyed the views, had a little snack and then headed back down. The temps had already started to drop for the day & it was still rather drizzly so we headed back down the mountain. The whole thing was very enjoyable and invigorating.

When we finished, the rain really began to fall (God took care of all the details!). We then headed to Chik-fil-A for lunch since there isn't one anywhere near where we live and then on to some outlets to spend a rainy afternoon.

We have had a wonderful time away from home and still look forward to a leisurely trip home. I do have to admit, though, that I'm ready to give each of my babies a hug and a kiss.

Garden of the gods and a Few Other Places

Garden of the gods

Garden of the gods

More of Garden of the gods with Pikes Peak in the background

Some of the flags on the grounds of the Olympic Training Center

Air Force Academy Chapel

We began today in the Garden of the gods. I really enjoyed the early morning time. The sky was soooo blue. I don't know if the camera captured its depth. It was also very quiet filled with just the songs of birds. I just enjoyed this calming part of the day.

After that, we headed to the Olympic Training Center. That was a neat tour. We actually shared the tour with an elementary school field trip, but the kids did great. I enjoyed the questions they asked. What a fun time in life! I have to admit that I can not begin to imagine the time, energy and focus in the lives of these athletes. I love to watch the competitions whenever the Olympics roll around, but I have to wonder if they have anything else in life that they enjoy and live for.

After lunch, we headed to the Air Force Academy. We went through their displays and then went to the Chapel. I liked it, but so many people say that it is beautiful. I have to admit that I didn't think it was that pretty, but definitely unique. I just hope people that attend worship our Lord and Savior. We could also overlook some of the academic area. It looked like they were getting ready to have a bit of fun as graduation approaches next week.

It was another eventful day. However, the best part is just being able to share all of this with Chris. We're having a lot of fun! Now, we just have to figure out how we're going to spend our last day here.

Pikes Peak

Chris & I at the top of Pikes Peak

A couple of views from the top of Pikes Peak

Some of the scenery on the route to and from the summit

Today, we headed to the top of Pikes Peak. We took the cog railway up and I am soooo glad we did. First of all, to drive up would require a bit of courage for me. It's 19 miles of hairpin turns on a dirt road with some paved portions and no guard rails. It takes the average driver about an hour to make it to the top. The driver, Chris, would not have any fun to see the awesome views. The ride on the railway was so neat. The views were incredible and beyond description. The pictures are nice, but once again, they don't touch the grandure that we saw. We were both able to look around and enjoy the entire ride and take tons of pictures.

Once we got to the top, we could see just over 100 miles. It was a bit chilly at around 40 degrees, but we were told that's pretty good for this time of the year. There was one snow pile that still touched the top of the summit house. We walked around and saw all the views and once again added to our picture collection. It is no wonder that the words of "America the Beautiful" were penned from a young lady who made it to the top of Pikes Peak. After about 30 minutes, we heard the two long horns and headed back to the train for our decent down. Much of it was at a 25% grade. Definitely, nothing I would like to tackle on foot!

Once we made it back to the depot, we headed to a local eatery for a yummy lunch before driving through the Garden of the gods. We'll head there in the morning to walk a few trails. Before we headed back, we stopped at the welcome center for Focus on the Family. The kids would have loved the part that they had created for them. There were several rooms created from the "Adventures in Odyssey" series. This will definitely need to be a destination if we bring the kids back here with us.

Finally, before the day ended, we called the kids on webcam. They were doing great and having a lot of fun! We miss them, but we're also definitely having fun as well!

Colorado or Bust

This is a special week for us because Chris & I are on vacation!! A big thanks to Grandpa & Grandma Snow who are watching our little trio while we go see some of the wonderfully beautiful creation God has so richly blessed us with.

On day one, we drove to Denver to visit with a college buddy of Chris's before we headed to our final destination of Colorado Springs. I don't have too many scenic pictures because we were in the car a big portion of the day. However, when we were leaving Denver, there was a gorgeous sunset. The picture doesn't do it justice. For some reason, I didn't use our "good" camera, we were driving and Chris didn't take it (photography is a hobby of his) so it's not the greatest and that's why such a big part of the picture has a parking lot in it. However, you can get a bit of an idea what we saw. Today, we're headed outside to see much, much more and do a bit of hiking. I'm so excited. That's probably why I was awake at just after 5. Hope that doesn't interfere with me enjoying the day.

Pink Muffins

As a treat after dinner, Hannah got to pick out a blueberry muffin to eat. After considering her options for several seconds, she commented "no pink muffins". No, there were no pink blueberry muffins, but she was happy with her pick of the batch.

Windy Picnic

We had a fun treat today of having a picnic lunch with Chris. We were originally supposed to meet another mother and child for an outing at the zoo, but those plans fell through. Instead of taking the kids to the zoo, we had a picnic. Temperature wise, it is a beautiful day, but the wind is really blowing. We spent part of our noon time chasing trash, half full containers and the stroller and holding down the other things that didn't blow away. Afterwards, kids played, Chris rested and then we all played. It's something we need to do again!

"Pink Curtains"

Hannah is very into the color "pink" right now. Needless to say, she was thrilled with my newest project - making new pink curtains for her room. Before, she just had some very worn mini blinds for privacy. I happened upon some curtains that I liked at a high end kid's decor store. I didn't want to pay that price and I wanted them to be a different length than what the store carried so I asked my Mom if they could be made. She said they could easily be made. Then I set out to make my curtains without any pattern, but some good long distance help from my Mom. Here is the finished product. I love them! I wouldn't look too closely, though, my seamstress abilities need a bit of work. If you want to compare the other curtains, they can be found here. I was hoping to post a picture of the original curtains, but I couldn't get it to load. Oh, yes, kudos to my dear husband for hanging the curtain rod as soon as he got home!

The Hard to Find

As many of you know, when you move, there are so many things you have to find - doctor, dentist, optometrist, hairstylist, babysitter, etc. None of these are easy for me and I usually go on recommendations if I know of anyone in or from the area. However, two of these are really hard for me. One is the hairstylist. First of all, I'm picky and each of them is unique in how they cut hair. So, they may do a good job on one person, but not so good on another. My approach to this is rather hit or miss. Thankfully, I pretty much hit the bulls-eye when we moved here. I really like how she does my hair. I'm so thankful that I don't have to look for this anymore because I really don't like to spend time thinking about where I'm going or wasting money on cuts that I don't really care for.

The other one that is hard to find for me, and I think it's reached the number one slot in hard to find, is babysitter. I never really considered this until I had children and I had no reason to. We've been extremely blessed to have absolutely wonderful people watch our kids. I don't mean they just watched them, but they loved on them as well. Loved them beyond the call of duty. For this, I can't tell you how grateful and blessed I am. I'm also quite spoiled because now that we are in a new area (can I still call it new since we've been here 10 months?) I really want and almost expect to have babysitters that are just as wonderful. As I've thought quite a bit about babysitters recently, I think I've decided this. God has provided the blessing of wonderful friends to take care of and love our trio. It is nothing that I have done and nothing that I can find. I was thinking more about this today because God has provided again. A few weeks ago, a couple sat behind us at church and we chatted a few minutes getting to know the basics about each other. The conversation ended with "if you ever need a babysitter, we'd love to watch your kids." Since then, we've had a few other brief conversations and have been able to observe them at church. They were passing with flying colors so I called them earlier this week to watch the kids while I was away for a couple of hours and Chris was out of town for the evening. The kids loved them, which I kind of thought they would. When I asked Luke if he wanted to go back, he said that he wanted to go back right now. We'll see where it will go from here. I think they truly enjoyed their evening and I know my little ones did. I'm just beyond thankful for the giving and loving family of God.

The "Spider"

We were almost finished with dinner this evening when Hannah sounded the "spider" alarm. It really wasn't a spider, but instead a fly. With the beautiful weather we had today, I had the windows open and a few flies made themselves at home. One of them decided Hannah's milk (pink milk, of course!) was quite yummy. Hannah was not fond of sharing. She actually had a better look of terror on her face before I took this picture, but at this point, we were trying to rationalize with her. Yeah, that didn't work too well. You can see that she is using a fork to defend herself. Even though she absolutely loves her "pink milk" (aka strawberry milk), the fly ended her yummy meal.

Before anyone else can say it - yes, the apple doesn't fall from this tree!

We Have a Climber

Yep, we knew our days were numbered, but it is now official. Andrew can crawl up the stairs. Unfortunately, getting down is a completely different story.

Tonight, Chris was downstairs with all the kids. For various reasons, they all came upstairs for a few minutes leaving Andrew downstairs alone. Since he is our social one, he was not about to stay down there by himself. He was going to do something about it. When I found him a few minutes later, he had already climbed up two steps and later went for number three with success. Up to this point, he hadn't even really shown interest in the steps unless Grandpa Snow was helping him. That was two weeks ago. I guess he remembered a bit about those lessons. The next "step" :) is now to get him to figure out how to go down them. He has no idea that he could easily fall down the steps he just scaled when he sits on his little bottom.