Family visit...

Mary and I had our entire family out this week.  Bobby and Lindsay made the long drive with their three kids and two dogs, and Craig spent much of the week hanging with us, too.  It was a lot of fun having everyone around for a week, especially the little ones.  Little ones, lol.  Cale is almost 5 feet tall and weighs over 90 pounds.  Lincoln is as solid an 8 year old as it gets.  Emery is still tiny, but is as tough and athletic as the boys.  

Anyway, we had a blast all week.  We hit golf balls in my backyard driving range, played games around the house, hiked around our property, climbed rocks, listened to stories and laughed a lot.  Highlights of the week included rafting the Arkansas River with Craig as our guide and taking a ride on the old Leadville train. 

The day on the river was spectacular.  The water was at a really nice level for the kids, and Craig took us through the rapids in a way that made it exciting but safe.  Two main issues with the trip:  first, Mary didn't come along (she's been struggling with a bad back) and second, the water was a nasty mess due to recent heavy rains, filled with mud and the ash from an old wildfire's burn scar.  

We all did the upper part of the river where the rapids are tame enough for the little ones.  At the halfway point, I took Lincoln and Emery into town for ice cream while Craig, Bobby, Lindsay and Cale did the trip through the Royal Gorge.  It was Cale's first time in the Gorge and he had a blast.  Came out dirty from the water but so excited that he couldn't stop talking about it.  If you don't believe me, just look at the expression on his face in the photo...

I'm told the train ride was really nice, too.  I didn't go because we didn't want to leave the dogs alone in the house all day.  Good thing we made that call, as the family was gone almost 13 hours. That includes the drive to Leadville (five hours round trip), the train ride through the mountains, meeting Mary's sister Dee and her husband Dick for lunch and then dinner on the road home. 

The rest of the week was spent filling time.  The great thing about where we live, though, is that there's so many incredible things to do.  Even the hikes around our property were fun and full of discovery.  

It's really quiet here now that everyone is gone.  That's kind of nice after a week of chaos, but we miss everyone already.  Time to get back to the mule deer and elk, bears and bobcats.  I'll have more videos to post later...