Hancock Lake

    We had another great weekend at the cabin last weekend.  The weather was just perfect.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful weekend.  One nice thing about the mountains in the summer is that it doesn't get too hot like it does down in the city.  It such a perfect temperature.
    Since the weather was glorious, we spent almost all of our time outside.  I think we only went inside to sleep and cook.  We even ate outside.  It was so nice.  On Saturday, while Gracie napped, my dad took the kids and I to Hancock Lake.  I had only been one time before and it was years ago.  We had a nice ride getting there.  Once you get there, you have to hike into the lake.  It has rained a lot, so we basically got to go through a mud obstacle course.  It made the walk even more fun.  The lake was beautiful and there were so many people up there for being so remote.  
    The rest of our time was spent playing outside and having fun with one another.   Ashlyn picked out a wildflower guide book from the general store.  It has pictures of all the wildflowers of Colorado to identify.  We went on a ride and went looking for wildflowers.  We had such a fun time spying different flowers and then identifying them in the book.  That book will definitely provide us with some entertainment.  Its funny, life is so simple up there that it truly is like going back in time and finding fun in the most simplistic things.   It was honestly a perfect weekend.

The background 

Such a neat shot

Leaving the general store

Alli is a spoiled dog and gets to ride in the back of the Arctic Cat.  

Chipmunk time

Gracie hasn't really gotten down feeding them . She was offering them one seed at a time.  

She also really wants to hold them.  

Evidence of the mining past

My dad got Ashlyn this tightrope that you tie between two trees.  This thing provided her with endless entertainment.  She loved walking over and over across that thing.  

She got really fast

Our little monkey girl

She loves to play with balls

Hiking up the lake

Dawson is already a pro

Hancock Lake at the top of the world

In front of the lake

Enjoying dinner outside on a perfect night

Joey and Gracie being silly

Aunt Jane sent me a link to these things called Campfire Cones to try.  They are basically Smores made in ice cream cones.  The kids had fun making them and they were so much less messy than Smores.  We will definitely be making them again and again.  

Don't forget the marshmallows  

As the kids were eating, they got an unexpected dinner guest.  The deer love to cross the yard and get so close without even realizing it.  

Cute deer

Taking in some wildlife while they ate

Trying out his cone

Ashlyn gave it a big thumbs up!

Ashlyn learning to drive.  Watch out!!!

Colorado History Museum

    Last week, we took a little road trip up to Denver to the History Colorado museum.  My mom, sister and I had been earlier this year.  The only kid we had with us was Gracie.  It is a really neat museum and it's so interactive.  We just knew that we had to bring the kids back to see it.  The museum seems to do a rotating special exhibit every couple of months.  When we went it was about the 60s.  They were advertising a toys exhibit and we decided to bring the kids back.
     The kids fell in love with this museum when we walked in the door.  It is really such a neat museum.  Since they were showcasing the toy exhibit, there was toy stuff throughout the entire museum.  Even the benches were made to look like Lego blocks.
     The kids absolute favorite part was an area that is made to look like a town in Colorado at the turn of the century.  It is so neat.  It shows what the school looked like, it has an old car you can "drive",  and a store from that time period filled with items from that time.  There is a really cool area that looks like a farm.  There are "chickens" that lay wooden eggs.  The eggs drop down intermittently for the kids to collect.  The kids LOVED collecting these eggs.  Then you bring them to the general store and deposit them . Ashlyn decided she wants to go back and just "egg" all day long.
      The other area we spent a lot of time in was the toy exhibit.  It was hands down one of the neatest exhibits I have ever seen.  It featured toys from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.  I thought it was just going to be a bunch of display cases with toys to look at.  Boy was I wrong!  It had different areas decorated to look like living rooms from each era.It truly felt like you were stepping back in time.  It was almost like being on the set of an old sitcom.  Each room had a couch you could sit on and working T.V.s that played toy commercials from those time periods.  There were also a ton of toys to look at.  The best part was that they had lots of toys throughout for kids to actually play with and interact with.  It was a blast.  I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids.
     I would highly recommend the History Colorado museum to anyone.  It is that neat.  We only got to see a fraction of the museum.  We will definitely be back to explore some more.  The museum was not very crowded and I think I would almost prefer it to a children's museum.  It was very educational and just as interactive.  Here are some pictures I took.

We love Colorado

Silly girls

They were already having a blast in the entrance.  

The farm 

The had a cow that you could "milk".  

The chicken coop

So many eggs to collect!

The general store is so authentic.   You can see in the background the food you can play with.  The food even looks and weighs like real food.  I think we easily could have spent all day in this area.  

So neat to see what food used to look like.  

Gracie collecting some eggs.  

Ash in front of a science set from the 50s

What the 50s room looked like.

Checking out an old tv

Discovering the Slinky!

Dawson checking out the Barrel of Monkeys

Ashlyn thought the old phone was pretty cool.  She is standing in the 60s room.  

The even had a garage area full of toys.  

Hula hooping

They really liked the hula hoops

This is the 70s room.

He always finds the trains

The sit and spins were a hit

The adorable Lego benches.  When we came to the 60s exhibit they were all decorated in 60s fabric.  

They also have a Colorado from A to Z area that showcases different things Colorado is famous for.  We got to try on the Denver Bronco bucket.  

We sure look silly!

Touching some Indian weaving replicas.  

This buffalo is neat.  It has different areas you can open up to discover how the Native Americans used that part.  

We found a giant Connect 4 Game to play.  

While we were there, they had a jump rope show.  The kids really enjoyed watching the kids do their cool jump rope tricks.  They were pretty talented!

Dawson driving the old car.  They have a screen that plays actual footage and the car shakes and moves so it feels like you are going over bumps.  

Ella's turn to drive

Gracie doing some food shopping.