6-18, Pueblo Lake Reservoir

We did it.  We survived our first Colorado camping trip with TWO kids-- one being a toddler.  It was no easy feat, let me tell you.  Ok, I guess compared to tent camping, we did have it pretty easy.  But, compared to the vast comforts of home, not so much.  Emalie is at that fun age where she is into everything and if she doesn't like you telling her no she'll either respond with her own "NO" or hitting.  (Yep, we have now entered the hitting stage.  YAY!)  I had my reservations about how camping with a little one would go and as difficult as certain things were (like getting her to sleep), I was overall pleasantly surprised.  I think she really enjoyed it, too.  Heck, any place she can where her boots is a hit in her world.  Gone are the quiet days of fishing and reading (although we did achieve both) and here are the not-so-quiet days.  But, it's fun to watch both kids explore a new place and enjoy spending time with...gulp....the parents.  Nikolas is not too far from that age when walking around a campground with us will be the last thing he wants to do.  So, for now, we are enjoying the kids for where they are in their vastly different growing stages, how they relate to each other and to us as well.   And, hallelujah, after four days in a metal box on wheels we all lived to tell about it!  Hmmm....will we be able to say the same thing after another 2-week road trip?  Stay tuned.....

We approach camping in much the same way as we do life:  military style.  It is becoming habit to start in one campsite in one campground and end up in a completely different site in a different campground.  It's more work for Sven, but we've always been happy we've made the switch.  The next two pics are from our first spot.  Nothing too impressive.  (And, mind you, I took these photos on a Sunday afternoon as we were about to move to another spot and all our neighbors had already left for the weekend.  It was much more cozy Saturday night than it was Sunday afternoon!)  We'd never been to Pueblo Lake before, and we couldn't believe how dry, dusty, windy and hot it was.  We kept commenting how we felt like we were in Arizona or Mexico.   It really didn't feel like Colorado at all.  Yes, Pueblo Lake.  Do you see the lake?  I know, neither do I!  Ok, fine, it is there- way in the background.

All it took was a little change of scenery.  This is one loop over in our new site.  Thank goodness for the shade those trees provided.  It was in the 90s the whole time we were there....ok, and thank goodness for the electricity and AC, too!

The view from our new spot.  Now THAT is a view of the lake!

Nikolas couldn't contain his excitement.  The lake was right there, even a little trail down to it, too.  He's SO READY to go fishing!

The trail down to the shore.... 

the much less steep part of the shore, that is.

I think this is a fossil!  So very cool!

More views from the shore.

Dad's grilling......

...and Emalie's loving it.  Really, that's her 'smile' face.

 

I love this picture.  I took about a dozen smiling ones and this one is my favorite.  How much more relaxed (and still) can a 2-year old get?!

 The dam at Pueblo Lake Reservoir.

We took a morning and went and visited the nearby hatchery. It was neat, but not as informative as we had hoped because the visitors center was closed.

I haven't taken too many photos of Sven and Nikolas in the past year.

It's nice to have this updated one of just the boys.

Emalie didn't really want to be in it anyway, as you can tell.....

And, since Emalie didn't want to cooperate in the 'kids only' photo either, I got this great one of Nikolas.  He's growing up way too fast!

 Is this cute or what?  My little trio. 

The view of the dam from the hatchery.

 Emalie rockin' Nik's hat.

Ok, so the composition isn't great, but the subject sure is cute.

Even though the arguments are starting up between the two, at the end of the day this is still their relationship.  And to think, a year ago her little hand wasn't even here to hold.  So precious.

Nik did it!  He put dinner on the table one night- a croppy (did I spell that right?  I googled it and it came up with crappie....that can't be right!) and a walleye!  He's becoming quite the fisherman.

Anyone have any idea what kind of bird this is?  It was flying around the campground and landed in the tree right outside the trailer window.  It was so vivid and beautiful!

Last year, before we brought Emalie home, we bought this backpack at a garage sale.  This was the first time we tried it out.  She loved it and kept asking for a 'backpack ride'.  Now, if only Sven's back can hold out....!

As you probably know, there have been a lot of Colorado wildfires in the last few weeks.  This was our alternative method of roasting our marshmallows.  Not the same ambience, but still fun.

Emalie's first marshmallow. I thought it was a good idea buying the giant, over-sized ones.  How wrong I was.....!

The kids rode their bikes around the campground loop while Sven and I walked.  This is how they parked their bikes upon returning to the trailer.  It caught my eye as a symbolic image of siblings and how the little one so eagerly follows in the older one's footsteps.  This will definitely be one of those photos that sparks a 'remember when' memory.

6-10, First Fawn!

Talk about being caught off guard!  Sven was talking on the phone to our neighbor (driveway contractor) up the street.  He said to look out the window because a mom and her new fawn were coming our way down the street.  We all rushed to the window and I grabbed my camera quickly.  I didn't even have time to check my camera's settings before snapping this photo.  Consequently, the image was really underexposed, but I was able to salvage this much in Lightroom.  Also, I was shooting with a longer lens, handheld, through the screen on the window, as the two had already headed up another neighbor's driveway across the way.  So, don't knock the quality of the photo, but do enjoy this beautiful moment of a mom and baby, who couldn't have been more than a day old.  Amazing!

6-19, New Driveway!

Warning!  If you are not a homeowner, then this post will be of virtually no interest to you.  If you're not curious about the progression of a new project and the equipment involved, then again this post will not interest you.  If you think that savings is for vacations instead of home improvements, then you'll think we're idiots.  So, if you're still interested, here's a post about our new driveway.  If you think a new driveway is no big deal, then maybe you need to be in our shoes to think otherwise.  We've spent years hating our driveway and we finally 'pulled the trigger' and did something about it.  Talk about last minute jitters about dropping that kind of cash on something as boring as concrete.  But, now that it's all said and done (and our trailer is sitting in our driveway as we speak), I think we're going to be happy that we didn't waste any more years dealing with something we could change.  It took several years of conversations with our contractor neighbor and several weeks of prepping to pour.  It's done.  Whew.  It's done.  I'm thankful for no more 0700 mornings with 20 people already standing in our driveway.  I'm glad Nikolas has a nice, big, flat, crack-free basketball 'court'.  I'm so happy we can park our trailer in our driveway to load and unload from camping trips.  I'm glad Sven can park his truck on concrete without the fear of it sliding down the hill and endangering our neighbor's (brick) mailbox (not a hypothetical situation).  I'm also pleased that with the truck and trailer in the driveway, I can still get my car in and out of the garage.  I look forward to having company actually park in our driveway instead of on the street because the hill and the curve are too intimidating.  And, who knows, maybe we'll find some benefit with it once winter approaches as well.  Ah, yes, life's little pleasures........

BEFORE

Steep hill, sharp curve, not enough turning depth to use both garage bays, Sven parking on
dirt and cracks uneven enough to break your wrist when shoveling snow.

More tripping hazards.

View from our front deck.

Lots of scrub oak that will have to come down to accommodate more concrete.

Rotted retaining walls that are just plain ugly!

More uneven cracks, more ugly retaining walls.

DURING

The result of Sven and Dad's tree-cutting spree.

I didn't know we had to cut down that many to widen the curve.
Gulp......

Staked out in preparation for the demolition.

Here you can see the dip at the bottom of our driveway.
We always had a little pond or ice rink there during the wetter months.

No fooling around when it comes time to rip out the driveway....and part of our yard.

The deer here have no fear.

All sorts of toys to watch during this process!

We may have found Emalie's calling.....

Please don't tell me you hit the pipe......

.....great.....the sewer pipe at that......

"SH*$!!!!"  Yep, it was definitely the sewer pipe.

The forms are up for the retaining walls.

My OCD personality loved seeing all these squares.  Ha ha!

Dang!  Look at that pump truck!  Sven missed out on the action the day the concrete was
poured because he had to work.  Emalie and I quite enjoyed the entertainment.

AFTER.....

Look!  That big dip is gone!  Maybe we won't bottom out going in and out of the driveway anymore!

New sod around the perimeter of the new driveway.

Oh heck, let's just rip out the grass......

.....and add some rocks at the bottom, too.
(Now we finally match the rest of the neighbors on our street).

Finished product with colored stucco retaining walls
(good thing the concrete guys goofed on the walls-- nice little upgrade for us!).

Now it's ready for a little basketball and camping preparation.


Thank goodness this project is DONE!!!!!