Months ago, we put a date on the calendar to camp with our neighbors and friends, the Pomponios. This was before we camped in Yellowstone and slept on the hard ground. The difference between Yellowstone and camping Pomponio style was the 5th wheel that came with nearly everything we needed and a bed for each of us. It was SO NICE!
We debated between lake and mountain camping and settled on the mountains. Mark knew of a great place near Estes and it was perfect. Within minutes of arriving, the kids were scaling the nearby rocks.
Kellan and Kaitlyn found some rocks to climb too.
Samantha and Oliver moved onto another rock. This place was surrounded by awesome climbing opportunities.
Kellan was a little bit nervous to climb the rocks, so he usually hung a little lower on the rock cropping.
All four kids, on top of the world.
Kellan, Oliver, Kaitlyn and Samantha.
Meanwhile, back at home base, Mark and Keith were whipping up a muy grande taco bar.
That night, Oliver and Samantha settled in for a fire side chat.
Mommy treated the crowd to some jiffy pop over the fire pit.
The crazy thing was that the directions warned against cooking it over the fire pit, but isn't that the only place that people cook it?
Pop, pop, popping.
Oh Geez, We sprung a leak!
On the backside of the popcorn dish the top popped open, which caused some problems with the process and we lost much of our popcorn. Oh well, the kids loved it anyway.
The next morning, everyone was bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Kellan was ready to ride the rocks.
Samantha was pose ready.
The next morning, we cooked breakfast over the campfire.
We started with the bacon, but before long, we put it over the camp stove.
Kellan was eager to sample the bacon for quality control.
My only dining request was to cook pancakes over the campfire, just like my Grandma Bermel used to do for us when I was a kid and we would go camping. There was nothing better than camp fire pancakes.
I was fired up and ready to cook.
I was SO happy to have this opportunity to tap into a fond memory of my child hood and bring it to life for my kids.
Lynn had a fantastic idea to toss in some blueberries. It was an excellent addition.
The ladies were happy to enjoy some piping hot breakfast, Grandma Bermel style.
Oliver didn't mind taking a break from riding his bike to eat some delicious pancakes.
Kellan hit the jackpot when he found the Mickey Mouse ears pancakes.
This cutie is always ready for a safari adventure.
All of the kids saddled up for breakfast. My hope is that they remember times like this and are eager to make pancakes over the campfire, Grandma Bermel style.
Oliver, Samantha, Kellan, Kaitlyn.
Before we could get too far into our day, Samantha requested a hunt for bark.
So, off we went.
The kids found some fantastic bark that really came in handy for the camp fire later in that night.
There were also plenty of things to explore, like this big stump.
Daddy and Kellan even counted to rings to discover how old the tree was.
Kellan guarding some of the bark stash.
Keith and Mark discovered a huge ant nest in a tree stump and the kids were fascinated with it.
The bark bowl may have found a temporary resting place.
The highlight of the day was a bike ride in Estes Park. We loaded up the bikes and headed to town to take on the bike trail. We were all quite excited.
We rode upon some musical moments.
Kaitlyn and Samantha
Kellan and Kaitlyn
Shortly after we arrived, we decided that Grandma's Pancakes were too far in the past and lunch was in order. We found a great place right on the creek and we were able to cool our toes while we waited.
Samantha and Kaitlyn
Oliver
Kellan, Samantha and Oliver
Samantha
Once our table was ready, we anxiously ordered up some fun.
Lynne went for a brew sampler and Samantha went for a Mommy snuggle.
Mark and Keith tried some local brews.
Kellan was showing off his bright blue sparkle eyes.
Mommy was enjoying a nice Lambic Framboise.
I loved it!
Lynne and her girls, Samantha and Kaitlyn.
All the ladies in the house.
Carrie, Samantha, Lynne and Kaitlyn.
After a fantastic lunch, we headed out on the bikes.
We stopped to enjoy a local park while Mark checked out the trail.
Oliver gave the monkey bars a try.
Samantha was eager to try the monkey bars as well.
Kellan stayed a little closer to the ground with the slide.
We opted to head out of town and ride around the lake. The trails were less crowded and the view was gorgeous.
Oliver and Keith took every off road trail that they could.
Kellan's legs got a bit tired so we stopped for a rest. Who knew that a rest included a climb up the side of a hill?
Keith, Kellan, Oliver, Kaitlyn, Mark and Samantha on top of the ledge.
Samantha throwing down more of her cute poses.
Take note of her boots. I loved these boots and she wore them all weekend!
As we continued down the trail, we let our balance bike riders lead the way since they had been bringing up the rear the whole day. As the trail started to round a corner, we noticed that the corner included a downhill slope that got steeper and steeper. We yelled out to Kellan "SLOW DOWN," but it wasn't enough. All we could do was watch as he gained speed. Once I noticed his front tire wobble back and forth, I knew that a major crash was inevitable and there was nothing that we could do. I didn't want to watch, but I had to keep an eye on him. As we continued to yell out, "SLOW DOWN," we followed the disaster that was bound to happen. Then, all we saw was a flash of white fly across the trail and Kellan did a tuck and roll onto the pavement.
He was literally scraped up from top to bottom; his forehead, shoulder, arm and knee. The poor guy jumped up and came running at us, screaming. Mommy consoled him and Daddy busted out the first aid kit. We bandaged him up while Samantha, Kaitlyn and Oliver tried consoling him. It was horrible, but he was a real trooper. He dried his tears and saddled up to continue the ride.
Kaitlyn had a front row seat to the crash and she stayed close to Kellan as we set off to finish our ride.
It didn't take long for us to realize that our littlest riders were done for the day. The Daddy's, Oliver and Samantha took off quickly for the cars while the Mommy's, Kellan and Kaitlyn found a safe place to wait for our saviors.
Back at the campground, it was time to fire up and make dinner.
Yes, those would be baked potatoes roasting in the fire pit.
While we waited for the spuds to cook, Keith had to change the bandage on Kellan's knee. We used what we had on the bike ride, but it wasn't working out for the long term.
The gauze had stuck to his owie and it was really hurting to take it off. He received a special juice to help with the pain and he really tried to be tough.
Tough as he may be, he couldn't hold in the scream.
Kellan tried to be tough as Keith reapplied a bandage. Here, he is doing heavy breathing and moaning. He really is one tough cookie.
Don't worry, Keith didn't have to cut it off, but he did break the ax handle as he was chopping fire wood.
Not only did we have spuds in the fire, but we had corn on the fire.
We roasted up a fantastic steak dinner, complete with corn on the cob and baked potatoes. It was a perfect meal to end a big day of biking. We estimate that we rode 5 miles, which was quite a ways for some of the short legs in our crowd.
Of course, we topped the evening with s'mores.
Oliver has really mastered the art of roasting the perfect marshmallow.
Kaitlyn and Kellan decided to go "old school" (as they called it) to roast marshmallows on real sticks.
Oliver gave his s'more a big grin seal of approval.
The next morning brought about the task of packing up to head home.
The kids were in no hurry to go anywhere, but instead, they were found relaxing and enjoying the start to a fantastic Sunday after they had been on a bike ride around the campground.
Oliver and Kaitlyn found a nice spot to enjoy the morning.
Some time later, the other two joined our relaxing nature lovers and Mommy took full advantage for a photo op.
Oliver, Kellan, Kaitlyn and Samantha.
We had such a fantastic weekend. HUGE Thanks to the Pomponios for taking us camping, Pomponio style. We all loved the weekend from start to finish. Well, Kellan will tell you that he enjoyed everything except for his crash. We agree that his has every right to claim that statement. So, other than the crash, what a fantastic weekend to enjoy great friends and our amazing Colorado mountains.
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