Eclipse

The kids held a pre-eclipse meeting in the camper

 Audrey demonstrated the paths of sun and moon coming together.

There was plenty of eye protection in use.

 The sun set behind the moon for an amazing awe-inspiring couple of minutes.

 I captured some funky pictures with my phone.

 The sky gazing was enjoyed by all.

Mexico

Punta Mita was very beautiful, both in the natural surroundings and the human formed surroundings.

We had three weeks there, which was awesome.  Chris and I could have stayed for another 3 or 6 weeks.  The kids started to forget what home looked like.  I went to the beach and swam everyday, almost all of us did as well.  I surfed for the first time.  The kids saw humpback whales for the first time.  We snorkeled, kayaked, surfed, boated, paddleboarded, swam, sandcastled, rode bikes, rode buses, marketed, drank beers and tequila, what did we miss?!?


Click here to see our art tour Photos

Click here to see some photos of our fun on the beach and the ocean

Birthday

I had a birthday recently and the highlight of the day marking the anniversary of my birth was going on an awesome hike with my little companions.  We hiked towards the Rabbits Ears, visible in the distance in the first photo, and we passed by tons of wildflowers and picked some as well.

Tree hug.

 It was a lovely day.

(Disclaimer: this leaf was actually encountered 

and photographed in Michigan)

Road trip

Back in April we hit the road for a week and a half, headed west.  Chris was nervous that it would be too chaotic but everyone did great, this window art was as crazy as it got.

First stop was Zion Natl Park:

Lovely hikes and scenery, it was tough to pack up after just two days there, but we had to head to Claremont, California to see Mary and Dan.

Then out to the coast to visit the Santa Monica Pier and camp on the coast north of Malibu:

On our way back east we visited Joshua National Park to check out the funky boulders and trees, as well as wildflower "superbloom":

Last stop was a couple nights in Durango visiting Dan and Erin and Ethan and Elliot and then home.

Bluegrass festival, Mardi Gras, Moose!

What a weekend we had, packed full of fun.  There was a three day music festival in town and some friends came to stay with us and boogie.  We had moose in and out of the neighborhood.  The ski area hosted their annual Mardi Gras celebration.  And we got a ton of new snow after a week and a half dry spell.  Fun and excitement at every turn!

Audrey cross country skiing

Julian skiing

Ski Season

Audrey and Julian started getting used to their equipment as soon as we got it home from the rental shop back in October.

The we took it outside to the front yard when the snow started falling.  Here I am grooming the slope.

Julian was fearless on the ski runs, so much so that a launch off the side of the cat track didn't shake him up much.  So he went on the the Rough Rider Basin where you ski past the jail and through the tipis and trading post.

A grown up ski outing to celebrate our buddy's birthday

.

Lovely horse-drawn sleigh ride.  The driver said it was the first time he had 5 across the front up there with him.

Here's a bit of unstable snow that Chris and pals saw after they decided not to ski a similar near-by pitch.  Way to go Safe Skiers!

And here is Audrey getting set to do her first ski "race": the Soda Pop Slalom.  She was mostly in it for the goodie bag and was giving herself pep talks that "I don't really have to go fast".

Julian was going to do it as well but he is sick and didn't have the energy, as proven when we did a little warm up run and I had to carry him :(
See Audrey's results at the link below.
http://skiracing.nastar.com/index.jsp?pagename=raceresults&race=132535&year=2017


Once in a while we do something in the snow besides ski, here are the kids in a ski fort we constructed