GRAND MESA

The Grand Mesa. Isn't it gorgeous? It is only an hour away from our front door. The elevation rises fast and is higher than the tip of Mount Timpanogus. You have to be prepared, your ears will pop.. a lot.
We went camping overnight last weekend with the girls. We have done day camps before but never overnight with both of them. Look at her; she is so happy.
We stopped at this lodge to buy a few more things we absolutely needed to have a successful fishing day.
I loved this stone in the parking lot.
I love this face. This is the look Sierra gets when her baby sister does something wonderful and amazing, like walk down a dirt path.
While Sierra and Dad fished MJ and I looked at all the amazing wild flowers and collected a few. I bought the field guide to Wild Flowers and I think successfully identified a few.
Skyrockets.
Not Sure.
Not sure, you would think this would be an easy one but not for me.
Golden Sneezeweed. I love that name.
The Blue Columbine, this is the Colorado state flower. Isn't it gorgeous? I wish I could have taken a better picture. It is so pretty.
Still fishing.
Bored, so I thought I would take a few self portraits. Hot stuff.
Okay, this is awesome. I had to buy stuff for smores. I had to, right? It was the girls first camping trip. Well, I hate smores. As I was walking through the isles, I thought the thing I hate about smores is they are too sweet. I picked up box of Ritz instead of Graham crackers and made smores with them. Try it, I promise you will never go back. A little salty and sweet. SO GOOD.
I didn't sleep a wink. MJ was doing summersaults next to me and kept kicking off her blankets. I was worried about her freezing. I forgot my pillow. I was uncomfortable. At breakfast I was complaining about not having a pillow. Nate said, "Why didn't you use your down coat?" I have no idea why that didn't cross my mind. Sierra piped in, "Or mom you could have woke up and found a snuggly rock to sleep on." I laughed. At breakfast it was so cold. I was lazy and brought cold cereal, not good for a cold morning. Luckily, the Doctor was thinking and he made us hot cocoa for breakfast. It took off the chill and was so delicious.
After breakfast, we took a short hike down a steep hill to find more fish.
I think she was having more fun digging in the water with sticks than catching fish.
Yep, pretty sure. MJ destroyed the two outfits I packed her in the first two hours of camping so she finished the last twenty-two in pajamas. We have this goal of becoming this really outdoorsy family. Camping every weekend. Backpacking the kids through Yosemite. Having Sierra be the youngest girl to climb half dome. White water rafting the Colorado together. However, one good trip seems to summon us back to reality pretty quick. Talking to the Doctor on the way home I said, "Same time and same place next year." He said, "Yep."