Our final full week in Breck. We tried to squeeze it all in but really just couldn't. Just means we will have to be back again soon. As for now, we are off to cruise Alaska with the family. See you in about 2 weeks...or more...
Another hike. This time through the backyard path. We had to first learn what to do if we encountered a moose.
We also encountered a mermaid at the pool...
And some sneakily hidden grasshoppers.
A solo hike to admire the beauty around me...
Tea at a Victorian House from the 1800's.
Hummingbird spotting in the gorgeous wildflowers!
My Rapunzel's needed haircuts...
We had to turn back from a playdate with our German friends because of this storm which resulted in a mudslide and a tornado...
We "split" the Continental Divide :)
And on our final day, we finally met up with our friends from Germany for a quick breakfast before saying our final see you later's...It was a great way to end our summer trip to Breck!
Our second week in Breck was full of creativity of all kinds (and a birthday celebration)...
3 types of cereal (Froot Loops, Cinnamon Life and Chocolate Krave)...Why not?
Posing with a family favorite...
Hiking Peak 8.
Creating at the BreckCreate event on a Saturday Morning...
Visiting with friends from Germany who also happen to have a house nearby. I love that they will always be close even though we will be living far away.
Incredibles 2 on a rainy day!
Giant Dandelion blowing on a walk home from downtown.
Work on the quilt progresses.
Birthday wishes from Stinkerbell.
And rounding out the week with my Birthday dinner!
We have been in the U.S. for almost 3 weeks now, and I have been very remiss in keeping up with the goings on. Partly it is because we are keeping busy but mostly just because we are enjoying our downtime. So much so that I have yet to even unpack the big camera from its bag. That doesn't mean that my iPhone hasn't snapped a few pictures of the adventures so those are what I will share...This was Week 1...
One the plane and ready to go.
This one finally had a way to relax a bit. She is not tall enough to reach either the floor or the footrest. And she is too tall to curl up in the seat like she used to. Enter the foot caddy. It hangs off of the tray table and makes an envelope for her feet to rest in on a giant inflatable pillow! She said she has never been so comfy.
Home for the 4th!
Hot tub!
Learning to quilt with Nana.
Finally celebrating the big 9 with Nana and Grampa.
Working on their scooters with Grampa.
Seeing an oldie but a goodie with the added bonus of having music played live by the NRO.
Before we left Munich, MadHatter was reading one of her favorite books and found the plans to build a handlebar scooter. She asked if I could take pictures of the project and bring them with us to Breckenridge so that she and Grampa could make one. But of course...
We let the jetlag settle for a few days (power tools and jet lag do not mix) and then we made a list of materials, jumped in the car and headed to Lowes. The girls were very enthusiastic about finding the right bolts and nuts for about 2 1/2 minutes before Grampa and I were left to search out the other pieces with the girls tagging along. I get it, but I still made them participate as much as they could. It wouldn't really be a team project if Grampa did it all.
We had more luck with them picking out their paint colors. Stinkerbell decided almost instantly that she wanted to spraypaint hers. I was a little dubious about the spraypaint, thinking that it would be messy and that a paintbrush would be easier for them to do themselves but I let her go ahead and get whatever she wanted (and I would be proven wrong later anyway). MadHatter took a bit longer to make her final decision. Quite a bit longer. She was overwhelmed by the number of colors available for her to choose from, but somehow we got it narrowed down to two and had samples made of them (the sample sizes are more than enough for a project like this).
Once we got home, it was time for Grampa to do a little work on his own. We decided that he would do the cutting of the pieces down to size because they were pretty small and thin and the girls had never used a table saw before. So Grampa cut out all of the parts and then put the girls to work screwing them together, sanding them smooth and drilling the necessary holes with the press. The girls were pros in no time!
Finally, it was time to paint! This was the girls favorite part...
As I mentioned earlier, the spray paint turned out to be the easier of the two paint jobs. First, it covered evenly in one coat (though we used 2), it dried quickly and was much faster. MadHatter did a great job with her paint, it just took a few more coats and a bit longer.
After all of the pieces were dry we left them in Grampa's capable hands to assemble them in the right order. They would have helped with this final bit too, but we had a day of shopping already planned down in Denver. But imagine the smiles these girls had when they came home to these...
Since we have lived outside of the U.S., it is hit and miss on if we are home to celebrate the 4th of July. This year was a hit. We had just gotten to the U.S. about 18 hours before, so we were a bit jet lagged and disoriented but we managed to get dressed and downtown to the parade that mosied its way down Main Street. The girls were excited to watch and wave as we had never been in Breckenridge for the 4th before! Stinkerbell positioned herself right up front so she could catch as much flying candy as she could (and did she ever) while MadHatter stood a bit farther back, perhaps a bit too old for fighting for pieces of candy?
After the parade, we wandered around for a bit just taking in the festivities that were going on all afternoon. Stinkerbell tried them out when she could, and the rest of us enjoyed watching her have fun. It was the highlight of the day because unfortunately Colorado is under Level 2 fire bans and there would be no fireworks allowed anywhere in the state. We had to make do with watching them on TV. But even with that, it was a great way to get outside and try to beat back the jet lag.
Happy Birthday, America! Glad we were here to help you celebrate!
