July was our first full month of summer vacation. We made sure we filled our time with a lot of fun activities.
For the 4th of July we went to a barbecue with friends like we do most years. At one point Eden was the only person in the pool and she loved it. It gave her the courage to get off the stairs and realize that the shallow end was shallow enough for her to walk.
Kimball and Joseph have found interest in another new sport. They played golf for the first time and enjoyed it. Now they have a new way to spend time together.
I went to the Palmyra Temple and Joseph and the three little ones came along for the ride. They enjoyed some of the church sites while I was in the temple.
Eden planted sunflowers at preschool in the spring. We planted four plants in our garden and two of them survived. We were excited when they bloomed.
A friend who used to live in our area came back for a visit. I hosted a small get-together for those who wanted to visit Natalie and Carl Mortensen. It was fun to catch up and slip back into our friendship.
My older kids were gone, but my little ones loved hanging out with Natalie's boys. William told me to fly him out to babysit anytime.
Joseph's annual work picnic was at Water Safari this year. The kids had a great time at this waterpark last year so we decided to make the drive and go to the company picnic. They kids had a good time. The weather was on the cool side with temperatures in the low 70s so the kids were cold when they were wet.
The kids also had another round of swimming lessons and did great. Kimball attended a football camp and is getting set for football in the fall.
Coffey Family Reunion
We went to the Coffey family reunion at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. This reunion was many years in the making. We originally found direct flights from Syracuse to Denver, but a few months after we bought the tickets the airline sent an email saying they no longer would fly directly from those two cities and we would have to layover in Orlando, FL. We were NOT happy because we bought these tickets for the direct flight! We ended up with a 6 1/2 hour layover in Orlando on the way out and an overnight flight on the return trip. We were very tired the entire reunion. We made the most of it, though, and the kids did enjoy their flying experience.
At the airport!
We went up to Estes Park a day early to do some extra hiking. We didn't know we needed a reservation to get into Rocky Mountain National Park so we ended up hiking around Lily's Lake which was outside of RMNP. It was beautiful.
After the reservation period for RMNP ended at 6 PM, Joseph, Lincoln and I decided to go hike the Bear Lake trail. None of the other kids wanted to join us. It was 1.8 miles one way, so it was a longer hike for short legs. I wasn't sure if Lincoln would make it to Emerald Lake, because we had gone less than a quarter mile and he was already asking for breaks.
Nymph Lake
The mountains were SO beautiful! I couldn't stop taking pictures.
Dream Lake
Emerald Lake
Bear Lake
The hike took us 2 hours and 10 minutes. Lincoln made it the entire way. I encouraged him along the way with store bought cookies to keep up morale.
Tuesday we got to the YMCA of the Rockies. After we checked in the kids were ready for activities.
Playground fun.
Annika took a break from swimming to make a marshmallow catapult.
The kids still found plenty of down time for screen time.
We saw some fun wildlife right outside our lodge....
and on the field....
and during early morning walks. The elk had huge antlers!
We mini-golfed daily.
Archery
Hike with the girls during archery.
Axe throwing.
Cousin games.
Rock climbing.
More hiking along Glacier Creek.
Trail Ridge Road
Joseph, his parents, Lincoln, Annika, Eden and I took a drive up Trail Ridge road to one of the hiking trails on the tundra. I wasn't thinking clearly and we didn't bring jackets, so it was a tad chilly, but I would rather be a little on the cool side than sweating. It felt very hot to us New Yorkers most of the week when the sun was beating down on us!
On the drive back down the mountain we saw a "pack" of Elk. That's how Eden referred to them.
Dorsey Pond
Late night cousin time.
My kids loved going to the Sweet Memorial building and just coloring. The boys loved the game room in the basement as well.
Dorsey Museum
Joseph and Kimball along with Spencer and Jonathan went golfing our last afternoon in Estes Park. To help entertain the girls while we waited for the golfers to return we went to the Dorsey Museum. It was better than I was expecting and the girls loved playing in the old time kitchen!
Bath time
Making breakfast.
We left Estes Park, but had a few hours to kill before flying home, so Melissa was kind enough to host all of her siblings which hadn't left yet, which was most of us. The kids enjoyed some time at the park together and then it was time to say goodbye.
Lincoln and Ethan.
We had a great time at the reunion, but we were very happy to finally see our beds after arriving in Syracuse at 10:00 Saturday morning after our overnight flight.
We were home for four days and then the kids and I packed up and headed to St. Louis. Joseph had to stay behind and work. More about our St. Louis adventures in the August blog post.
