We had a little too much fun on Day 5 in Durango. We started the day off with a pancake breakfast, followed by some exploration in the Mesa Verde National Park, a mini-doggie session (pics to come later), then we finished the night off with homemade smores with my sister and brother-in-law (who we owe a big thank you for driving all over the place trying to find some firewood). I have WAY too many images, so let’s just jump on in

Don’t forget to stop by Jenny’s blog for some more fun pictures as well.

MMMMMMM….Pancakes!

The Cliff Dwellings were amazing.

Lia does NOT like her sunglasses.

Lia was thirsty.

Max wanted to pose himself for this one

I loved this tree, and can’t decide which image I like better. Thoughts?

Max found a sword and decided that I was a dragon.

Love these 2

Max really enjoyed playing in my Sisters 5th wheel.

Sometimes, out of nowhere, Max & Ava will just walk up and give us hugs. It’s so sweet.

Prepping for smores!

Thanks Uncle Fred for helping Ava out

It took our kiddos a while to figure out what was really going on.

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Mommy showed them what was up.

I really wanted my kids to make a big mess, but Max just cried when he got some marshmallow on his hands, so he just decided to eat cold marshmallows.

Day 4 brought us only 58 miles of driving from Pagosa Springs to Durango where we’ll be spending a couple of days with my sister and her family. Since they brought their trailer (which is basically a house) and are staying on the KOA campgrounds, we decided to get a “cabin” on the grounds as well so we’re close. Well, when we showed up and walked in, our “cabin” is basically a 12 x 12 square room with a queen size bed, a bunk bed and barely enough room for Lia’s pack and play. We DO have internet, but we DON’T have tv, which would normally be cool, but the Lakers were on in Game 1 of the Finals. Thanks to my sister Michelle and her husband Fred for letting me watch the game on their tv, though. Ok, enough of that, here are my favorite shots from Day 4 (we really had a pretty lazy day)

Make sure you check out Jenny’s blog for her recap.

Can you tell Max was excited about the bunk beds?

He was also excited to be able to push the stroller around downtown Durango.

After dinner, Max & Ava got a little antsy, so I took them for a walk while everyone else finished up.

I love how excited Ava gets when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about. In this case, she was going on and on about the purple bike behind her.

I think my kids could swing all day, which they did. I think between the 2 parks we stopped at, the kids were on the swings for about an hour and a half.

Our cabin at night

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of hanging out with Laura and Kevin for their wedding. We started with two people in love, added great weather and a fun bridal party, then added in a trolley and 3 hours to drive around and take photos. You can imagine how much fun we had! And in case you’re not good at imagining, here are some of our favorite images from the day…

Waiting…

Lovc this shot of Laura & her mom before the ceremony.

Laura had that grin on her face the whole ceremony

Who doesn’t want to jump on a bed in their wedding dress?

Told you we had an awesome bridal party.

We had an awesome bride & groom too

A little inside joke

Notice the girls in the back working it.

Tastes great!

Day 3 was quite an eventful day…even though we really didn’t go that far. In fact, we were done driving by 1pm when we hit Pagosa Springs. Actually, we were definitely done driving when some dude backed into us. Oh, he had a truck. And the tailgate was down with steel rods hanging off the back, of course. No one was injured, but the license plate was knocked off. Kind of killed the itch to drive a little bit. But, this is our vacation, and even though I got a ticket for “unsafe backing” it didn’t damper our moods at all. Plus, it gave us a reason to stay in Pagosa Springs so Jenny could soak in the hot springs for a while. Here are my favorite images from day 3…

Don’t forget to check out Jenny’s blog.

We have to start with the map, right?

I love a good blue sky.

But I love this series of Ava even more. I know there are a lot of pics from this series, and some are similar, but my daughter is amazing

Note: She likes to write on herself, so that’s whats on her face and arms.

Then Max wanted to “defend the castle”

Ava decided to help, too

Lia just laughed.

Colorado is pretty.

We trekked a ways up with the kids to some waterfall…and I know this isn’t a picture of a waterfall, but it was taken on our way up to the waterfall.

Lia was not impressed. Or happy about it.

Yes, Ava managed to write on her forehead.

I was trying to take a picture of the cool paintings on the walls, but Superman jumped into the frame. He really is faster than a speeding bullet

Then we hit up The Malt Shoppe for dinner/dessert. One word: AMAZING.

Lia is getting good at stealing food off of people’s plate.

Max’s new sword, since we left his old sword at home. He put it here so no one would steal it.

The biggest ice cream cone ever.

Lia approves.

Now, for this next & final series from Day 3, I saw these cool things called “Turkish Moustaches” sold in one of those quarter vending machines inside the Malt Shoppe. Of course, my mind started going, and we just HAD to buy a couple for some portraits. I’m happy with the results

Max is so sweet. He likes to say, “I want Ava in a picture with me too!” no matter what we are doing

Well, it’s a day late, but we had no internet in our hotel….let’s see if I can remember all the amazing things we experienced on Day 2.

Don’t forget to check out Jenny’s blog.

Here’s the Day 2 map.

Still in Kansas. I have a “thing” for windmills.

Woo-Freakin’-Hoo!!! Tall mountains here we come!

Saw a spinny thing, had to make a u-turn to ride it with the kids

Wait…no…mountains…we’re in Colorado! Apparently Eastern Colorado is a lot like Kansas. Either way, we saw this really cool old structure (this time we busted a U-turn in the middle of the highway)

Note: I’ve been playing with a blu-ish bw conversion. What do you all think?

Same structure…just closer

Apparently I have a “thing” for power lines, too.

We thought it would be neat to take the kids to Picketwire Canyonlands to see the dino prints, but we almost got stuck in the mud. Which turned out to be a blessing, because the Colorado tour guide doesn’t mention that it’s a 5.2 mile walk each way.

Since our van is not an off road vehicle, we turned around. I quickly stopped to do a portrait session with my family. Hey, we drove 25 miles off course, I had to do something right?

Here’s our hotel. No internet. No bathtub. But it sure looked cool.

Someone didn’t think it was time for bed