The last weekend of September we ventured into the mountains to "hunt" for leaves. It was suppose to be the peak weekend for viewing beautiful colors. We didn't have to hunt very far before finding ravenous mountain slopes of yellow, with splashes of orange and the occasional red.
This is near Mueller State Park.
This is the southwest side of Pikes Peak.
We started our adventure with a loop drive to encompass as many colorful leaves as possible. We ended up with 3 backseat nappers (which was awesome) so Derrick and I were able to thoroughly enjoy the ride! Our destination was Mueller State Park where we planned a picnic and hike. Here we are gobbling up our PB&Js at the picnic spot. There are some scavenger birds that I'm sure are used to being fed in the picnic areas.......although no complaints, they provided up-close and hair-raising entertainment as they dove for our crackers.
Kai and Addie found a tipee/cave in the rocks to play in not far from where we had our picnic.
Eli and Addie gearing up for our hike....... one or both of them was carried almost the entire way.
Here's Addie perching on a bed of moss we found on a walk around a tiny pond along the trail.
This is a cute pic of Addie double fisting the buckets! We came prepared with sand toys for collecting rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. Last year I remember spending much more idle time around the picnic area, probably due to a nursing Eli who was only 3 or 4 months old. But we ate and were off on our hike this year. This pic of Addie is the only time I remember the buckets being held.
A semi-serious look from my little rider, Eli. He did hang in there with no nap except for the brief car snooze.
Kai has learned the on-command smile when we ask. He was on cloud 9 the whole day in the mountains. He wore his hiking boots, had his hiking pants on (better known as jeans), brought all his hiking supplies and got to use daddy's special outdoor tool (which he called a GERBER).
Kai came "strapped" for the hunting trip (play pistol and rifle), whether it was stumps or trees or dirt he was determined to spend as much time as possible using Daddy's GERBER (well, pliers were the only thing he was allowed to use).
Mueller State Park 2010
Mueller State Park 2011
This is the southwest side of Pikes Peak. 
We started our adventure with a loop drive to encompass as many colorful leaves as possible. We ended up with 3 backseat nappers (which was awesome) so Derrick and I were able to thoroughly enjoy the ride! Our destination was Mueller State Park where we planned a picnic and hike. Here we are gobbling up our PB&Js at the picnic spot. There are some scavenger birds that I'm sure are used to being fed in the picnic areas.......although no complaints, they provided up-close and hair-raising entertainment as they dove for our crackers. 
Kai and Addie found a tipee/cave in the rocks to play in not far from where we had our picnic. 
Eli and Addie gearing up for our hike....... one or both of them was carried almost the entire way. 
Here's Addie perching on a bed of moss we found on a walk around a tiny pond along the trail. 
This is a cute pic of Addie double fisting the buckets! We came prepared with sand toys for collecting rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. Last year I remember spending much more idle time around the picnic area, probably due to a nursing Eli who was only 3 or 4 months old. But we ate and were off on our hike this year. This pic of Addie is the only time I remember the buckets being held. 
A semi-serious look from my little rider, Eli. He did hang in there with no nap except for the brief car snooze. 
Kai has learned the on-command smile when we ask. He was on cloud 9 the whole day in the mountains. He wore his hiking boots, had his hiking pants on (better known as jeans), brought all his hiking supplies and got to use daddy's special outdoor tool (which he called a GERBER). 
Kai came "strapped" for the hunting trip (play pistol and rifle), whether it was stumps or trees or dirt he was determined to spend as much time as possible using Daddy's GERBER (well, pliers were the only thing he was allowed to use).
Mueller State Park 2010 
Mueller State Park 2011 
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