We're addicted to Rocky Mountain National Park!

As we were driving back from our first Rocky Mountain National Park/Estes Park experience about two weeks ago, we were already planning when we could make it up here again before it became too cold to hike with the kids. It's only an hour away which has become a piece of cake for the kids since we have accomplished the 1.5 hour trip to Gramp and Grandma's house a handful of times already. Can we just say again that we love being this close to so many awesome outdoor activities! I tell Debbie that we should have taken more opportunities to get out and hike when we were in Utah, but in reality, we probably weren't ready to take our kids out with us yet. We had a traumatic camping experience in Utah when Reese was just a babe, and when I was scoutmaster and gone on campouts so much, the outdoors weren't considered a "family getaway." So we have decided to be amature outdoor enthusiasts with our kids and take advantage of the limited time we have here in the Northern Colorado area. We had doubts that this trip wouldn't live up to our initial experience, but it did and then some! We have tons of pics here, so we hope you don't mind, but it's just so gorgeous and the kids are so cute!

So on the drive up, we spot some Big Horn sheep hanging out near the road. It's pretty common to see them so close in this neck of the woods.
Here's little Grace hanging out with her hot mama! We decided to walk around Sprague Lake to test our little hikers' legs. It was a fantastic 1/2 mile loop around the lake with an inlet and and outlet. It reminded me of Mirror Lake in the Unitas, though not quite as big. There are about 4 glaciers on the Continental Divide that can be easily seen from our hike. They were awesome!

Here's Sprague Lake!

The kid's being silly after being told repeatedly to smile "nicely..."

I think Reese is talking about the BYU Cougars! :)

Here are the guys with the Continental Divide in the background.

At this time of the year, the brook trout of Sprague Lake make their way to the inlet to spawn. I decided to bring the ole' fly rod to see if I could catch me a native brookie...

They are also about the size of the one's in Mirror as well! Aren't they some of the most beautiful fish you've ever seen?!?

Here's my awesome family!

Debbie took the great shot of a squirrel stuffing it's cheeks before the last yellow leaf tumbles to the ground...

This is another hike we did with the kids. It's only a 1/4 mile to the falls here. The boys especially love all the rocks to climb on... though their fearless exploration make mom a little tense at times!

Here's Cameron with his tongue out, tryin to figure out his next move!

This is the Rock Shop that I would frequent as a kid...

We went inside and they have geodes that you can buy and they will break em' open for you right there in the shop. The kids thought it was a blast! It was so much fun to do the activities that my parents shared with me growing up with them!
This is where we get Estes Park Homemade/Old Fashioned carmeled apples! Man they brought back memories!Finally, as were were about to head home around dusk, Debbie spotted a heard of Elk on the golf course. We pulled into the parking lot and walked over to see if we could see any bulls. We were not disapppointed. This is where you should have come Darrick! They were huge, and this being the rutting season, were fighting and bugling. It was awsome so hear them and be so close.

Here they are fighting over the harem!

The sky was lavender and pink. It was breathtaking to see the elk, blending into the fall colors of the quakies juxtaposed with a perfect sunset sky. It was a perfect end to a perfect day!
As we drove home, we couldn't help but start talking about the next time we wanted to head back up to Estes Park! So if any of you will be passing through the area within the next year, stop by and we'll take you hiking, see big game, catch some native trout, take some pictures, and finish it off with a carmel apple! Ok, ok, so we're trying to lure you here, but hey, it sounds good right?!? :)