Fall Break Continued + Hamilton

Fall break continued!

After having fun in the hot springs, we watched the Curious George Halloween Movie that night and had Oreos and milk, then a fun breakfast the next day of strudels and eggs and sausage. 

The day was drizzly but we did a waterfall hike and drove through some beautiful mountain colors. A squirrel made us laugh so much on our hike, he was high high in the trees but dropping pinecones at us like little bombs and chattering away trying to get us to leave his space. We thought he was so funny.

From there we went to Colorado Gators, a reptile refuge that takes care of a lot of exotic pets that have been rescued or retired or all sorts of things. This place was wild... The boys loved feeding the gators and the tortoises. They mostly loved when an emu chased me down a path. That was actually terrifying. They spent a lot of time exploring there and loved seeing the animals. We will not be getting a reptilian pet anytime soon (ever).

From there we made it to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. This was another spot that totally exceeded my expectations! The boys were FREE and they ran and ran and ran. You can climb so high, but it's sand -- you can't get hurt, you can't ruin anything, you can't get lost, you just RUN FREE and they totally loved it. Asher and Camden needed some moral and physical support to climb the dunes, but we barely saw Westin and Bennett apart from far distant views of their crazy running. I thought this spot would be a checked box on our list but I would love to go back. In the spring time there is a river that runs at the base of the dunes and it looks like playing at a beach, so I think it would be fun to come experience the dunes at a different time of year. Such a totally unique spot.

We ate Mexican food again that night and then stayed in a log cabin in the middle of NO where. The best part of that was the dark, dark sky and beautiful view of the Milky Way. We even caught the comet that we thought we couldn't see anymore, but it was so dark that we were able to see it. The cabin was a rough night of sleep for Westin and me, I feel bad that he seems to have inherited my insomnia nights. Luckily they don't hit him all the time but he was up until about 1:30 that morning and really frustrated about it. The next morning the boys played "school picture day" with Bennett's camera and all the stuffed animals that they had brought plus all that they found around the cabin, and it was hilarious to Michael and me. They'd line up, choose an animal, Bennett would pose them, and they'd take a "school picture." Kids are so funny. Our boys had basically a completely screen-free trip apart from our one mini-Halloween movie night on this trip and some football catch ups. I love that they love to play together and listen to things in the car together.

The next day we drove home through Colorado Springs and stopped for a quick hike at Garden of the Gods. We were all feeling pretty ready to get off of road trip snacks and sleep in our own beds, but it really was such a fun and happy and laid back trip. We live in such a beautiful state!

We came home to family pictures the next day, which is always a whirlwind. Why are pictures so hard? But they're done :) 

Kindal was on my mind so much this week with her 10-year anniversary. My heart is with her so much.

We tried to take the boys to another ward's trunk-or-treat Friday but we didn't realize they were trick-or-treating first and not last. We caught a few cars though! Because the next day they went to our ward Halloween party with Marta while Michael and I drove down to Denver. We met up with Katie and Ryan for dinner and then HAMILTON which was such a fun night. I have been looking forward to that night so much. We saw it 5 years ago with Gary and Pam and we really loved seeing it again. The boys had a great night with Marta and they have a solid candy supply... and we're not even to Halloween!

Sunday was our primary program. The cutest thing. Camden and his friend Benjamin were on stools next to the podium for each song and I couldn't stop giggling at the cuteness. Best Sunday of the year by far. This weekend was just so happy.

Misty morning in Pagosa Springs. The boys saw a deer and they were super excited about it.

Waterfall hike. Pretty muddy, super pretty views and colors

Bennett with his camera :)

These colors were really so so pretty

Michael noticed that every single car was pulling off to this lookout point.
If you're on this road, you probably don't have anywhere you need to be at an exact certain time :)

Baby Gator! In just a year or so he'll be big enough to hang with the adults.

This tortoise head was wild. He's huge!

Emus should be fenced... this is what we learned!

Hiking the dunes was so fun

Spot our shadows!

Why can't we get cheese enchiladas like this in Fort Collins??

Playing "School Picture Day" :) :)

Oh pictures... we did a short 20-minute session this year and it was a good call.

Pumpkins and bats for dinner!

We had to stop by daddy's work to get chairs out of his car for soccer,
and he had a quick second to come give us a hug. The boys thought that was the best.

Big fans of daddy!

Camden has totally loved this season of soccer with Coach Oliver and his friends Benjamin and Piper

My sweet friend Lundi ran a couple errands for me in St. George to drop an anniversary present on Kindal's doorstep. So grateful for good friends.

Dressed up for the first of many trick-or-treating events :)

Hamilton! I've been looking forward to this for months!

This primary program... I loved it so much.
Next year will be the only year we'll have ALL four of our primary kiddos up there :)