Week 32

We had a fun week dressing up, drawing, snuggling, baking, pinata (ing), getting ready for our puppy, going to the Dr for A's 11 year check up and B's 5 year check up (both included shots and donuts of course afterwards), running, swimming and a few halloween/pumpkin activities).

 

Working the Trail

 

As Kari mentioned in "Week 31" we go trail running most mornings when we're up in the mountains. There's some nice open space with a trail right outside our place. Well, right outside and across the parking lot. But it's close and easy to access. Our run this time was slowed and cut a little short by the many down trees obstructing the path. On the way back we saw some people clearing the path who told us it was done by volunteers. We were inspired and with the help of some friends and some new tools we had a whole crew out there cutting and clearing. We all had a good time and felt good about contributing. Later that day Ads made a real fire in our wood burning fireplace. We didn't use the wood from our earlier clearing but maybe we'll work up to that. 

A puppy by any other name would be as cute

This is Alexis Carrot Campbell. She'll go by Lexi. Probably.

We'd been having some friendly family disagreements about her name. Unsurprisingly a teenager's choice of names is a bit different than that of a five year old. So we had conflict there even before the parents or the middle brother weighed in. The night before we got to meet her (and her brothers and sisters) for the first time we decided to stage a family vote to finally settle on a name. We each voted on our three favorites from a (somewhat curated) list of the top recurring names from the last few weeks. After two rounds of voting the winner was Alexis and her middle name came from the runner up. Carrot, as you may have guessed, was the name B suggested and campaigned heavily for. 

Week 31

We had an adventurous week trying new things and going new places.  The boys tried fishing for the first time with my brother and their cousins.

A friend of mine and I hiked a few times last fall and really enjoyed it.  With B in half day school and covid, we weren't sure we would be able to do it this year.  Somehow, with the help of Brian and luck, we managed to go twice already.  The past time we saw a whole herd of deer (at least 10) on this hillside.

On Thursday last week, B came down in this outfit, complete with jewelry and announced he needed to do his "homework before the party".  Not sure what homework he needed to complete, nor what party he was going to, but he sure was cute all dressed up.

At some point, he decided he needed his mask for the party.

Brian and I have been trail running each time we go to our mountain place.  This time, due to large wind storms, the path was completely blocked in several places by fallen trees.  On our way down from our run, we ran into an older couple with a chainsaw who explained that the trail is cleared by volunteers.  We figured if they could do it, we could surely take our kids out to help.  Brian went to Lowes and gathered some saws and an ax, and our family friends came over and off we went.  the boys were proud of all their hard work, and I imagine our neighbors are appreciative of the hard work (as we are of everyone else who helps clear the trails).

The big boys have fall break this weekend (Thursday-Tuesday).  We spent the first half at our mountain place and then left Sunday to drive to Buena Vista to meet our puppy and then Mt. Princeton for a short vacation.  We stopped in FairPlay for a hike.

B wasn't too keen on hiking, but once we realized the trail was marked with blue diamonds, he was excited to find them all and follow.

And then we happened upon 3 teepees!  They could have spent hours playing up here if it weren't for strong winds and that we needed to get to Buena Vista to meet Lexi (our new puppy).

The kids are all really excited about her, as is her new dad.  She's pretty cute and sweet.

After awhile, she was worn out and laid down under a chair for a nap.  B laid down with her and held her paw.

We left the puppy (though she will officially move in with us on October 30) and headed the 20 minutes to Mount Princeton.  We have no pictures of the swimming (both in the pools, but mostly in the creek springs).  We did get the boys out this morning for a hike up to a waterfall.