Summer Phase III--DURANGO!

We were home from DC for about 5 days before heading off to our next adventure (in which i think i stayed in my jammies the entire time and then was in panic mode to get ready for next said adventure). I got an invite from Amberlee, a college freshman year roommate, to join them at their cabin in Durango. I hadn't seen Amberlee since December of 1997! We've kept in touch through Christmas cards and birth announcements, but that's about it. I was excited to see her and spend time in the mountains. She has 3 boys--6, 5, 3--and a baby girl! The boys were excited to go and make new friends.

It was about 7 1/2 hours in the car there. My A/C crapped out at hour TWO which was a bummer. It was about 95 degrees out. I decided though that i'd rather the A/C go out than the DVD player. But i was also close to having heat hallucinations when i had that thought, so i'm still not sure which i'd prefer. I just kept reminding myself how grateful i was that the van itself was operating just fine. And i remembered why the back of my dad's shirt was always sweaty back in the day. (The annoying thing about the A/C is that it went out when we drove to Utah this time last year. Something about many consecutive miles making it go out?? And it's just over the year warranty on that fix).

OK. So. That aside, the drive was great. The kids were well-behaved. Soren did great. It was beautiful. The drive took us through the Rio Grande and San Juan National Forests. The "cabin" is really a large homestead looking ranch house in the San Juan Forest with a trout pond and stream, backing to BLM land.

totally dreamy, right?

The boys hit it off instantly with Amberlee's boys. Kenny is only 4 months older than Bode and they were like peas in a pod. Similar interests, similar personalities. Keegen always prefers to play with the big kids (which irritates Bode sometimes. Sound familiar, erin?) but he got along pretty well with the big kids and played well with Maximus and Rockwell (5 &3). And Soren made a new best girlfriend with Francesca, a mere 8 days her senior!

'Cesca & Soren post-chocolate chip cookie

Kenny & B

Keegs & Rockwell (child is SO NAUGHTY but cracks me up!)

This post may read like a travel log, but, well, that's what it is!

Monday, July 19th

We arrive.

The boys meet and greet and play.

Am does Family Home Evening about fire safety and demonstrates a mean stop, drop and roll!

FIRE! for s'mores!

The boys instantly went native. Note Keegen's attire. And he peed outside for kicks, too.

Am stopping, dropping and rolling.

Tuesday, July 20th

This was the day of the big quad ATV ride. Am took a couple of kids on the quad and i took the rest in the 6-seat Ranger. We installed the car seats for the girls and got a kick out of that! We rode up to the top of Middle Mountain and it was so incredibly beautiful. There were some tough trails and i have to admit i was impressed with my ATV Ranger driving skillz...We got to the top and got a great view at an overlook. Snacks. Water. There was a hike too but my boys weren't interested so we waited for her older boys to come back (Bode was totally stressed by the amount of horseflies up there and kind of flipped out about it and wanted to go home. Doug told me later he'd just been bitten by one on the golf course last week so i guess it was still very fresh in his mind!). Anyway. We rode down to the "playground"--super steep hills to take the ATV's up and fly down. Um, i rode the brake the entire way. Not a rollercoaster for my occupants! And i had to look away when she took the ranger up with MY BABY and flew down that hill! A total blast, though! We stopped on the way back to the house at a washout in the river where the kids threw rocks (the BEST activity for boys, i swear!). We finally went home and were absolutely FILTHY. It was great fun. The late afternoon was filled with a fantastic thunderstorm (cooled things down nicely) and the boys did "truck races" (raced large dump truck toys around the wrap-around porch).

Psyched to go on their ride (and i'm glad my purty, flowery car seat cover washes!)

The Ranger

At the overlook

What can i say? I'm a natural (and i know we should be wearing helmets)

The washout

Me & SoBe at the washout

Can you appreciate the filth?

Weds, July 21st

We drove into Durango--the cabin is about 40 minutes northeast of the town in the Lake Vallecito area. I took all the boys and Soren in the Party Van and Am drove separately (one too many for the van). Such a beautiful drive. And what a fun town! We stopped first at the train museum. It had lots of cars and cabooses for the boys to climb in and explore (and i managed to bite my tongue when the man there told them to stop running at least 20 times. I mean, what are they going to do? Fall down? Heaven forbid. They certainly can't hurt the railway cars). Next we lugged 7 children around while we looked at some of the shops. And the kids did AWESOME. No meltdowns and they walked a LOT. I was impressed. After that we took them to the Durango Rec Center pool. I didn't take my camera in and sort of wish i did. It was a fun setup. Great things for all ages. Nice shallow area with kid slides. A lazy river. A hot tub. And a waterslide. Big, open, fast waterslide. I saw Bode head to it with Am and Kenny and thought, Mmmm. I don't think he'll do it. He proved me wrong and LOVED it! So fun to see! He went on it again and again. At one point i told him to let me know when he's NOT on the slide so i know to look out for him in the pool and he looked at me with a confused expression and said, "I'm going to go on the slide FOREVER!" Keegen loved the smaller slides and i managed to talk him into going into the lazy river with me. And Soren loves water. She was so happy the whole time when she could have been a mess since she hadn't slept all day. So our trip to Durango was a long one and we went home and had dinner and let the kids watch a movie and then it was bedtime. Perfect.

Thurs, July 22nd

Am and i felt a little worn out by Thursday, so this was a lazy day at the house. I loved being at this house. We had all the things i like about camping--campfire, hiking, streams, mountains and trees--but with the luxury of hot showers, a kitchen, bathrooms and a washer and dryer. I loved that my boys could have more freedom to roam and explore. The house is on 2 acres on a quiet unpaved road. They would wake up in the morning and go out on the electric ATV's. They would explore the stream and small waterfall. They explored the adjoining property and were so excited with many discoveries (docks, a dry pond, a teepee in the forest behind the house). If i couldn't see them, i could usually hear them and even if i couldn't, i didn't worry. What a wonderful thing. We pulled out horseshoes and croquet. They raced their trucks. They played "monster" (usually Keegen was the monster and it involved a lot of shrill screaming). The croquet set became golf. Am and i filled up at least 150 water balloons and they loved throwing them at the black bear statue (they didn't like the idea of being targets themselves). While i hate cooking when i'm at home, i do love cooking when i'm away. Especially when it's just me and a girlfriend or group of friends. For this trip, i contributed gingerbread waffles, chicken taco salad, meatball sliders a la Pioneer Woman (and her salsa. YUM!) and homemade oreos. Good stuff.

They were thrilled when they hit the bear's bum

"Golf"

Friday, July 23rd

This was our last official day in the mountains. We took the kids on a great hike that started just up the hill at the back of the house. We took the kids up the hill in the ATV's just because we could, i guess! It's called the Four Bridges hike, so the boys were excited with each bridge they discovered. It was a decent hike. I was carrying Soren on my hip (didn't think to bring a Bjorn or carrier) so i was TIRED. But a great hike it was. The boys found all four bridges, plus, BONUS! a fifth bridge! And the big surprise at the end? The hike took them to the river! More exploration. Climbing over rocks. Discovery of a very small, sandy "beach." Rock throwing. I mean, really, what more could we ask for? The river was very low this year so we were able to get out on the rocks more than we might have in the past. I think this hike and river time was the highlight of the trip for me. When we started out on the hike, we heard some ominous thunder and Am and i looked at each other and kind of shrugged and decided to go anyway. The sky was darkening when we got to the river and after a decent amount of time there the thunder was louder and closer and we decided we needed to head back. So we hiked back toward the house. The older boys took off ahead of us and that's when they discovered the teepee (seriously. Someone made a teepee out of limbs and sticks and bark). They thought it was so cool and i wish i'd taken a picture. As soon as we got down the hill on the ATVs, the rain started. We fed the trout in the pond and headed in! I mean, perfect timing. It was a lovely, loud, lightening-filled storm. Am made a fire inside where we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. I have to say, one thing i've always loved about Amberlee is that she isn't phased by much. She rolls with things. And when the kids want fire, she'll make a fire. Me? I'd be like, Oh, that's dad's job. SORRY. Anyway. I think she and i were a good team up there.

You can't really appreciate that they're standing on the bridge. Just a plank of wood.

So beautiful

Saturday morning it was time to say goodbye! We had an incredible time. And i love that Am and i were able to just pick up where we left off after 13 years apart! We had some great conversations (thankfully we had time to ourselves after the kids were in bed or that would have been impossible) and i'm so grateful for her friendship and example to me!

We both thought and said to each other, "How cool would it be if our kids can keep up these friendships and say, when they're college roommates, 'Ya, we've known each other since we were 6 or 4 or 9 months old!'" My boys had the time of their lives. A wonderful way to end our summer.

But not before we have one more summer adventure!...

(And here are some more favorite pics in the post below...)