We stayed at the Devils Garden Campground inside the park.  It was a beautiful location with many campsites nestled within the rocks

 

and many even had nice views.

 

We were lucky enough to be visited by these pink flamingos.  The kids spent the whole first day debating whether they were real or not.  When they disappeared and reappeared the next morning they were even more flummoxed.  It's safe to say that 'Flamango Mango & Shrimpy Pink' have since been captured and are thriving in their new home in Fort Collins.   They don't appear to be going anywhere!

 

A trip anywhere with the four of us would not be complete unless we had completely filled up the back cab of my truck.  Isn't the girl scout motto 'always be prepared?'

 

Luckily the husband and my father had cut lots of firewood prior to our trip.  Our days were in the 50's but it was 30's in the morning and evening.  A fire was a must.  We would have been in trouble had we relied on the campground to have wood for sale.  They were out all three days we were there. Apparently the boy scout motto is also 'always be prepared!'

We ate pretty well on this trip. 

Look at that butter coating the bagel!

We were glad when someone was able to nap but the hubby and I would have preferred it to be one of the kids...not grandpa!

Arches, Camping, Biking, and Hiking for Spring Break

 

The family headed out to Arches National Park in Utah for Spring Break this year.   There had been constant chatter leading up to this vacation.  Maps had been scrutinized many times over.  The excitement was palpable.

After spending a night in Breck to pick up our other passengers we headed out into quite a snowstorm.  The first two pictures depict this.  We were really wondering about 'camping' at this point.  The last pic is on our way back home.  We did end up having great weather while we were in Utah.

This is a mandatory stop for the kids:

 Join us on the following pages for our latest great adventure!

The garden that keeps on giving...

 

A friend of mine told me last year that parsnips get better with age.  Leaving them in the ground until the next spring strengthens their taste.  Today I decided it was time to dig a few of them up and try them out for dinner.  I think I will throw them in the oven with some olive oil and salt.  I guess I'm not much of a scientist since I should have tried one in the fall before a frost so I would have something to compare them to tonight but oh well...

 

Feeling a little like spring/summer today.  It's 68 and my crocus started blooming this week.  I'm even feeling a little like a margarita!  Too bad I don't have any Coyote Gold in the house.

Let's go fly a kite!

 

It was a beautiful 65 degrees here today with a little bit of wind.  It made it a perfect day for the kids to try out their new kites.  After a couple of attempts we finally got the butterfly off the ground.  We never did get real good at it.  I'm thinking that the shape provided some different dynamics with the wind so we will keep practicing with that one.

 

The penguin was much easier for everyone to handle. 

 

 

Little Shop of Physics Open House

I came across this on the web about a month ago and wrote it down on the calendar in case we didn't have anything going on at that time.  I'm glad I did write it down and more glad that we were able to go.  The Little Shop of Physics Open House (at Colorado State University) was a treat for all ages.  The displays were endless and all of them were hands on experiences.  You could read the display card which told you what to do, asked you questions to think about, and then explained why whatever happened happened.  The kids were just happy to be playing with the experiments and the adults actually picked up some knowledge.  The students were on hand to answer questions or to help with the experiments.

 The green room was pretty fun.  Someone enjoyed being a weather man.

 After the 'light' rooms we went to the 'dark' rooms.

 The kids said they liked this area the best.

 The funniest part of the whole day was when C asked what the knobs on the television were for.  No, that didn't make us feel old or anything!

Today I was reminded why it's great living in a college town.  We can't wait to go back next year!

Super Bowl fun with a Baltimore Ravens Party!

The kids were really excited about watching the last football game of the season so we decided to have a 'family' party.  We all were to contribute ideas as to what type of food would be best.  Obviously, we didn't hit all of our food groups but you've got to break the rules sometimes! 

C's idea:  Egg rolls.  I had never made these before and they were great.  I didn't fry them so they didn't have quite the same texture on the outside but they were crisp and good.

I made some sweet and sour sauce that turned out pretty nice.

 

Q wanted ice cream.  She wanted Kit Kats, and C wanted peanut butter.  So that's what I made.  It was a tasty combination w/ my new bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans that just came in the mail last week.

And last but not least the hubby and I wanted beer.  Our friends had just given us this turtle to make a Black & Tan so we tried it out.  Unfortunately, I couldn't wait long enough to take a picture with it's nice head or even a full glass.  :)  Cheers!

We were going to do meatballs as well but we had too many leftovers from the night before.  Maybe we'll do those for our next 'family' party!

Arthur's Rock

Lory State Park was a fantastic place to get outside this weekend.  The hike up to Arthur's Rock was scenic and entertaining for all ages. I hope we keep having these 50 degree days.

 At the top of Arthur's Rock.

 This hike has tons of great rocks to climb.

 The girl with the yellow hat.

 One of the few 'good' pics I have of this kid when he's not smirking or covering his face.

 Really, I wasn't upset...it was a beautiful and enjoyable day.

 Nothing tastes better than a cold one after a long hike!

Hike: Arthur's Rock (Lory State Park)

Trails Used:  Arthur's Rock Trail to Howard Trail to Mill Creek Link

Distance: 5.17 miles

Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Overall average: 1.4 mph
Overall Time: 3 hrs, 35 mins
Total Ascent: 1685 ft.