First Friday

We went to the First Friday parade in Clemson again this year.

We were joined by Aunt Meg & Uncle Matt. After the parade we met up with Uncle John & Aunt Stacy for a yummy supper at Colombo's. We had a great time visiting with each other & catching up on what's going on in our lives.

Contrary to this picture Sam & Troy really did enjoy the parade!

School Days

Sam has started going to pre-school this year. He goes 3 mornings a week. I remembered to take his picture on his first morning...although I did forget to close the garage door.

After picking him up we met Josh at Chick-Fil-A to celebrate & have lunch.

I did not expect Troy to get upset about us leaving Sam at school. Troy still whines when we drop Sam off & asks that I "Drop Troy off too".

Lake Weekend

We had our annual "Goodbye Summer, Hello Football" lake weekend in August. We met Mimi & Pappa at the Kneece lake house on Lake Murray. This year our trip coincided with their 40th wedding anniversary & we were happy that they chose to spend the time with us (of course I'm sure it had more to do with the grandsons than Josh & me!).

We spent three full days swimming, skiing, reading, fishing, & other fun lake things. We had so much fun we didn't get the camera out soon enough so I missed pictures of Granddaddy coming for lunch, my cousin Jennifer & her husband Phillip with their new son Elliott, our dogs loving being so close to the lake, & lots of playtime.

Troy worked up the courage to jump off the dock & loved it!

Pappa keeping watch with his noodles.

Sam gets his turn to jump.

Happy water boys

Troy's swimmy need to be inflated so he brought it over to me & tried to "help" blow it up.

Another fun weekend!

I'd live there if I could...

After 2 days of hiking we took it easy for day #3. We went to a rodeo!

This has to be the prettiest place I've ever watched a rodeo. There was a small airport across the road & during the festivities a HUGE jet took off & flew right over the arena. Of course we didn't get a picture but it was pretty neat.

Once we got back to the cabin & had supper we took a short walk to a look out.


Leigh tries to get the 3 boys arranged for a picture.

They had a great time playing with each other. This picture captures the gist of their personalities...Benjamin on the move, Troy being silly, & Sam trying to figure everything out.

Walking down the hill back to the car.

Sam & Troy sleeping hard...all the activities wore them out!

Our last full day we went back into Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove Trail Ridge Road & saw some amazing views.

It was cold! We had a hard time realizing that this is August weather!

Part of the Alpine Tundra

Andy with the boys...

We were on a guided tour of the Alpine Tundra...it was a bit slow paced so the boys took off. Leigh & I stuck it out a tad longer. We learned that this was the last Tundra walk for the season because the next week winter started! They have an 8 week growing season & we were on the tail end of it.

We love the Russells!

One day we'll get a family picture with everyone looking at the camera.

So beautiful

We had lunch near one of the stables. There was a farrier putting new shoes on some of the horses & he gave Sam & Troy a horseshoe each. He also told them to hang it above their door...not too keen on them taking decorating advice from a farrier. There was another curious chipmunk that grabbed one of our chips.

We took a stroll around one of the high mountain lakes.

We came across a huge herd of elk. So far our wildlife sightings included moose, marmot, lots of chipmunks, elk, mule deer, but alas no big horn sheep. Oh, we also saw a red fox at the cabin. He was sniffing out the dumpster.

We had such a great trip & can't wait to visit more of our National Parks. Glacier is next on the list. Thanks for the Rocky Mountain adventure Russells!

Colorado, Day 2

We set out for Rocky Mountain National Park for more hiking on day #2. We started out for the head waters of the Colorado River...the river that runs through the Grand Canyon.

Of course after our moose sighting we were on high alert for wildlife. About a mile into the hike we saw a marmot.

Kind of like a very large ground hog.

Troy sacked out, the views not keeping him awake.

Our destination...sure it's a city but no cabins & definitely no shuttle bus to take us back.

We chose another flat spot by the water for lunch.

I just couldn't get over the scenery...unbelievable!

I took a break from hoofing it to watch the boys throw rocks into the river.

Leigh getting her view on.

There were some pushy chipmunks that kept trying to get into our food. Sam had a blast chasing them off again & again.

Troy is our rock lover. He finds & picks up rocks wherever we are. He would have stood on this bank all day long throwing rocks into the water. Josh jokes that he would have single handedly diverted the river's flow if we had let him!

Sam plays around with Josh.

Josh, in turn, gives Sam a quick dip in the very cold water.

Sam tripped & fell into the tall grass.

What a cutie! I want to remember this face forever.

After nearly killing me by selecting a pretty aggressive hike Josh & Andy took over packing Sam & Troy out. Leigh was a champ & didn't complain nearly as much as I did...so she packed Benjamin out.

Happy hikers very happy to be back at the car.

On the way back to the cabin we spotted some more moose. This time a mama with a baby.

For supper that night we went into Winter Park. After a fabulous pizza we went to the city park. Sam & Benjamin trying out the motorcycle.

Troy enjoyed the slide.

Sam doing some modified rock climbing.