A Fine Fall Day in the Rockies

This fall, we had one weekend day without a sports commitment.  We took full advantage of it and headed to the mountains.

Our first destination was Grand Lake, where we found a great hiking trail to explore.

The fall colors were nearing their end in the mountains, but we did catch a few trees that still were gloriously gold.

You forget how much fun it is to jump puddles until you watch your boys do it.  Even then, Keith and I opted out and let them have all of the fun.

The boys had requested rocks to climb on.  It didn't take them long to find them.

We hiked up to Adams Falls, just as the fog was lifting.  It was a gorgeous morning.

The most handsome view.

The boys convinced us to venture out into the creek a bit.

We ventured down the trail and came upon this view.  It literally was breath taking.  The photos don't do it justice so we spent some time soaking it all in.

The boys popped a squat with their apples to enjoy the view.

After some great hiking, we headed back to the town of Grand Lake in search of lunch.

We work and work at teaching the kids proper table manners at home and out in public.  Then, Daddy forgets that he's the example by launching paper objects.  Crazy Daddy!

It was such a gorgeous fall day in Grand Lake.

You can't got to Grand Lake without going down to the actual lake.

The boys don't often hold hands, but when they do, it's sweet as pie.

This day's agenda was to get to the mountains and just enjoy the moments that come to us, even the sand castle building moments.

Eventually, we ventured to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and found another hiking trail.  A hiker coming down asked us where we were headed and we said "up".  He replied, "there's plenty of that." :)

In Grand Lake, we stopped to get the boys a fun sweet treat.  Kellan picked out the longest candy necklace we've ever seen.  In the spirit of "fun", we got him the necklace.  It fueled him for much of the afternoon.  Funny boy.

The boys amazed us on the two hikes.  So far, this was our best hiking day with them, ever.

The boys were tired and ready to ride, so we decided to drive to the top of RMNP and over to the other side for elk viewing.

At the top of RMNP, Kellan spotted a trail and yelled out, "let's hike THAT."  We have no idea how we've missed this hike in all of our ventures in RMNP but this was the first time to this RMNP peak.  We were shocked that the boys had such a second (or third) wind, but they did and we took full advantage.

At the top of RMNP.

12,304 ft above sea level.

Back down on the other side of RMNP, there were plenty of elk to view.  Daddy hooked us up with his binoculars and spotting scopes.

The elk in RMNP are everywhere are SO fun to view, especially in the fall.

As the sun went down, we got dinner in Estes Park and then headed home.  What an amazing day we had in the mountains.  15 hours of fun, 8 miles of hiking and numerous memories made.