Camping - Day 2 and Home

Day 2 of Camping was Saturday.

We woke up like this . . .

I loved waking up next to this little snuggle bunny. She made me smile.

As soon as we woke up every morning we would throw some jeans and a sweater on it. It was cold up there in the mountains. We'd mosey on over to Grandma and Grandpa's camper and as much as we'd try to be quiet it just didn't happen with Taylor. When we'd get up there only Grandpa would be awake and he'd be outside fixing coffee for us all. When everyone else was awake we'd eat. And the really nice thing about this camp ground was there were showers! Warm ones (except for one night) so every morning after we'd eat we all got to shower and smell pretty again. Not exactly roughin' it but hey, we had a good time.

Saturday morning we were going to go fishing. Before the big camping trip DJ and I took Taylor out to buy her very first fishing pole. I thought I blogged about it but guess not. You see, this little girl was so excited about catching a fish! In the car one day while talking about going fishing she told us she was going to catch gold fish and gooey fish (just like on Mickey Mouse). She got her little Barbie fishing pole and couldn't wait to start practicing.

DJ took her in the front yard a few times and taught her how to cast her line before we went camping. It was so fun to watch. I love seeing him teach her new things. He gets just as excited as she does.

She was already to cast her own line by the time the camping trip came.

The camp ground we stayed at didn't have a fishing pond. It's sister site had one though just down the road so we went fishing there.

The camp ground was having a small fishing tournament when we got there so we got to participate!

It was so relaxing to just sip on coffee, soak up the sun, enjoy the fresh mountain air and watch Taylor fish. I wish we could go back. 

There was a gentleman there that would cast out his line, let it sit for 2 minutes and reel in a fish. We kept trying to figure out what he was doing to catch so many fish. He told Preston he would set his line up just like his and help Preston catch a fish if he could keep the fish. None of us planned on keeping the fish we caught so it worked out in our favor!

This little lady was as patient as a three year old can be for a little while.

Then she got impatient and kept saying, "Mom, I'm not catching none fish!" We wanted her to catch a fish so badly!

Preston was the only one from our group that caught a fish that morning. The last time we cast Taylor's line she had a fish on the end but we weren't reeling it in fast enough to hook him. I was reeling, DJ was pulling the line in by hand and I thought for sure we were going to snap the end of her Barbie pole. Right as we were about to pull him out of the water he fell right back in. Darn sucker got away! When the tournament ended we packed up and headed back to camp for lunch. 

After lunch we spent the afternoon in downtown Estes Park wandering through the shops. I love window shopping in all those cute shops. We went through the old fashioned candy shops, cute home stores and got an old fashioned picture taken. Last time we did this, we hadn't even had Taylor yet. She was so excited while getting dressed up!

Later, after dinner we headed back to the pond to fish. We were determined to see Taylor catch a fish.

After a while she got bored again and just wanted to cast a line in, reel it back in and start over again.

These weren't any of the fish we caught but she sure looked cute holding them up!

So manly with his Barbie fishing pole!

While DJ and I were trying to catch her a fish Taylor noticed DJ had left his beer in the cup holder of his chair and she thought he needed it.

A lady fishing next to us had been there all morning and we saw her again in the evening when we returned. She really wanted to see Taylor catch a fish too so she cast her line out there for Taylor and sure enough we hooked a fish - almost. Just like in the morning she didn't get it reeled in fast enough and he fell off right before we got him out of the water.

On the way back to camp from fishing we saw this family of elk. This was the first wild life Taylor and  I saw since getting up there besides ground squirrels.

We had a camp fire again but we pulled out the walkie-talkies. Taylor kept trying to talk to Preston while he was back at the camper. Then some other people were on the same frequency but they didn't speak English. Grandma tried speaking as much Spanish as she could but it wasn't much at all. It was pretty darn funny.

Saturday night we did more S'mores. Later though we all got hungry and the guys thought it would be a good night to throw a frozen pizza over the fire. I have to admit it was pretty good and not a bad way to end the night!


Sunday morning we packed up camp and headed home. Before we left we stopped in town and grabbed donuts for breakfast. Taylor was so excited and DJ let her pick out her own donut.

As much fun as we had camping I think we were all happy to be back home. I was happy to have a warm house to sleep in (those mountains got COLD at night!), Taylor was happy to play with her friends and I think DJ was happy to have NFL network again. :o) We were gone Thursday through Sunday and that was long enough for me.

Camping - Day 1, Part 2

Here's part two of Day 1. The first half of day 1 we finished setting up camp and went horse back riding

After we got back from horse back riding we made a quick lunch, Taylor helped Grandpa with the new ice for the coolers.

Such a big helper!

After lunch we laid Taylor down for a nap. While everyone napped I read. So nice being in the middle of the mountains reading a book.

Our next adventure was at Fun City. I couldn't wait to take Taylor down this big slide! Half way up the stairs she stopped, tried turning around and told me and DJ she didn't want to go up anymore. I think she is afraid of heights like her mommy.

 Poor thing - just look at her face!

 In the end she had a blast!

Off to the go-carts!

We all had to give Paul a hard time about the car he chose. Even when he's on vacation he's still thinking about work!

One thing Taylor hates most is getting wet! But for someone who hates getting wet she sure loves the Bumper Boats!

As if they really needed help getting wet, Jess and Preston used these spray guns to soak them the whole time.

We had to sit on the bench afterwards so Taylor could dry off and hung out by the river. . . beautiful

I wasn't kidding when I said we were busy. . . when we got back we got into dry clothes and took a minute to relax . . .

 I just LOVE her facial expressions and how old she tries to act!

Just about as soon as we sat down we were off again. This time for a round of putt-putt golf. It was a small little course- nothing fancy about it - in the camp ground.

No matter how many times you explained to Taylor how putt-putt worked she just didn't care. She would start at the putting box, hit her ball once, run down to the ball and place it right next to the hole and put it in. Funny thing is she did that to everyone.

Grandpa was the only one to make a hole-in-one

While eating dinner we got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset!

And what's camping without a camp fire? S'mores are good . . .

But nothing beats showing Taylor the amazing Jiffy Pop! Good call Grandma!

Preston and Paul had the honor of popping the Jiffy Pop. Taylor loved it!

Between the two I don't know who is more goofy!

After such a long day Taylor told me she was ready for bed. That was a first! I thought she would crawl into the tent, start talking away or hear everyone outside around the camp fire and want to go back outside. Nope. She crawled right into the covers in the tent, told me good night and fell asleep. About 5 minutes after I thought she was sleeping she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, what are those things on the bottom of a horsies foot?" I explained to her what horse shoes were and she just simply looked up, said "okay" and went right back to sleep. She really knows how to make you smile.

I can't believe we crammed all that into just one day! Horse back riding, Naps, Fun City, Putt-Putt Golf and camp fires.

Tomorrow I'll talk about day 2!