Wet Wednesday

We took a raft trip on the Colorado River with Kodi Rafting.  The kids weren't quite old enough to do a white water trip, although this trip did have a few rapids through the Little Gore Canyon.  We had a great guide and we even had a tube towed behind our raft that the boys got to take turns on with the other family in our raft.  We spotted a couple bald eagles and made a stop to swim in some hot springs.

1 week, 2 races, 1,200 miles apart

Ryan couldn't pass up the opportunity to race in Colorado while we were there on vacation.  The day before we left Breck, he raced in the Breck 100.  He did the 34 mile option, which was very challenging with a crazy amount of climbing.  He performed better that he was anticipating with a mid-pack finish.

Here are a couple pictures from the course photographer:

Last Sunday all the boys raced at Versailles State Park.  Ryan, once again made his way to the podium with a 3rd place finish in his age group.  Brooks and Hudson had their best race yet.  All that riding in Colorado paid off!

Happy Birthday Brooks!

Wow, you are 8 today!  You have really blossomed this past year.  You were a leader in your 1st grade class and a friend to all.  You are smart and kind.  You love having a best friend down the street, and have all sorts of fun on our cul de sac.  You learned how to play chess, and have become quite good at it.  You are solid muscle, an excellent mountain biker and the fastest runner.  You have great fun with your brother.  He adores you!  You still love to build with Legos.  You are a great reader and like to write and draw.

You are having a great time at day camp this week, especially since your best friend Will is in your tribe.  We love hearing about your adventures from the day.

We are so blessed to have you as our son, and we thank your birth mother for the amazing gift she gave us.

Hoosier Pass

As Indiana residents, we had to hike Hoosier Pass.  We actually ran into 2 other families from Indiana on this hike.  There were beautiful views all around us, and we came across snow.  Another hiker said the week before the snow had covered the trail.  It was a good hike for us because we were able to hike above the tree line on an easy trail.

 

Breckenridge

Breckenridge was our home base for most of the trip.  We rented a great condo, that was perfect for us.  It was so nice to have all that space to spread out, and there was a neighborhood pool that we had access to.

The gondola is free to ride in the summer, it takes you up to the Fun Park at Peak 8.  Ryan and Hudson also took their bikes up one afternoon, and rode down.

We spotted a moose on our way up!

Snow!

Heading up the ski lift to ride the Alpine Slide.

 

Breck had many gold and silver mines back in the day.  There are remains of them everywhere.  We took a tour from the historic society.  The boys favorite part was panning for gold.

Fun Friday

 Here are some pictures of fun we had in Keystone.  Each Tuesday, they host a kids performer and have fun activities and it's all free.

Golden

On our first full day of vacation, we went to Golden, CO.  I wanted to take the boys on the Coors factory tour, because doesn't every kid like a factory?

Coors is the largest single site brewery in the world.  Now, that doesn't mean their beer is good (it's not!).

Unfortunately, they no longer have live tour guides, just a audio device to listen to.  The boys still had fun!

After the tour and lunch (pupusas!), we took a cool drive up Lookout Mountain.  There were a ton of cyclists going up and down the mountain.