Flowers for Michele

Michael was out of town the two days prior to my birthday, but he surprised me by sending this beautiful bouquet of flowers on Monday:

...and then this one on Tuesday:

...and then THIS one on Wednesday, my birthday!

I am spoiled.  I think he loves me...

Wellington Lake

We spent the weekend tent camping at Wellington Lake - a beautiful place not more than an hour from our house.   We did a tremendous 3 hour hike that was challenging for us big kids, let alone little Maddox!  But he stuck with it and persevered.  

Just look at this view!  That lake in the distance is where we camped.

 The boys attempted to tip this boulder over the edge... the boulder won that challenge.

 We also did some kayaking.

 We ended up at this lovely little cove that was perfect for swimming.

 Michael proving that he can walk on water.  :)

Although it was a gorgeous day, that water was still a bit too chilly for this momma!

This was about as rustic as I care to get, with no electricity, no running water, and no clean potty (that's the last time Michael takes me camping without our portable potty, I assure you!).  And because there is a statewide fire ban, I did all of our cooking on our little portable gas stove.

Here we are enjoying some beef stew!

 

We ate well... probably better than we slept, but it was a fun, cozy weekend for all of us!

Morgan is 13!

We have another teenager in the house!  Morgan had a wonderful - but not accident free - birthday.

It started with a fun-filled day at Water World!  Michael took Friday off so we could go on a day that wasn't so crowded... and it paid off, as there were virtually no lines.  Michael also upgraded us to a private cabana and priority access to the rides... he spoils us.  The weather was gorgeous to start out with, then it threatened to rain, but we only felt a couple drops before the sun finally came back out.  What a great time we had!!

Our favorite ride was the Journey to the Center of the Earth - or something like that.  We must've ridden it at least 5 times!  The great thing is that all 5 of us got to ride it in the same boat... there were many rides like that, which added to our enjoyment.   Here's one of my favorite photos that Michael snapped while we were on that ride... although you can't see all of Morgan, you get a pretty good idea of how exciting the ride is!

The next best thing to a beach?  A giant wave pool!

 Here's my guys going down some more adventuresome slides... first is Michael:

 ...then Mason:

 ...and finally, Morgan:

And here I am enjoying the warmth of our private cabana!  It was a bit too chilly for me in the water when that sun went away.

We really enjoyed Water World and would love to go again some day... one of the neat things about the place is that they aren't so uptight about rules.  They have them, don't get me wrong, but they aren't constantly blowing whistles and ruining your fun.  All in all, a fantastic place.

Since we stayed at Water World the whole day, we missed Morgan's Taekwondo testing, so they let him test the next morning.  It ended up that he was the only one in class, so it was a private testing just for us!

 Here I am tying on his new camouflage belt!

 After Taekwondo, we came home to presents... first up is a Perplexus from Maddox.

And some green from Grandma Sara sure makes the 13th special!

Grammy and Koopop sent another piece for the Force family nerf arsenal... specifically requested by Morgan himself.

Mamaw and Papaw Force sent another of our family favorites - Legos!  ...again requested by Morgan himself.

Michael and I got him his full sparring gear since he will now begin sparring in Taekwondo.

...and last, but not least, he got a new bike!

The day was going so well, it was high time for a hiccup... and a hiccup we certainly got.  Morgan invited several of his friends over for a sleepover, and as they were playing outside, Morgan had a bit of an encounter with a stick.  We are VERY fortunate that he managed to gouge himself UNDER the eye and not in the eye itself.  Too close for this mom's comfort, that's for sure.  Upon investigating, we found that it just needed a good scrub and some TLC... no trips to the ER this time.   I'll spare you the before pictures, but Michael performed the necessary procedures and did his usual Dr. Force bandage job.  Good as new!  ...well, almost.

...bandaged or not, it's on to the cake and presents!  He requested another ice cream cake from Baskin Robins.

Joe knows Morgan's affinity for Legos...

Case knows Morgan's affinity for gift cards and candy...

Johnathan and David also know Morgan's affinity for Legos... and quirky mind games...

And finally, Kelly knows of Morgan's interest in building just about anything... including bugs out of cans.

And, prolonging his birthday by a couple more days, Mason's gift arrived.  Can you guess?  Yes, more Legos!  And look, Morgan's bandage job is now down to a mere band-aid.

We had a wonderful celebration with much to be thankful for.  At the top of the list for this momma, is a boy with two healthy eyes.  :)

A Day at Buena Vista

We took a trip out to Buena Vista for the day... Michael and the boys did some more motorcycling riding while I took Maddox on his first rafting trip!  It couldn't have been a more perfect day, and as a bonus, there was another couple with a 6 year old boy on the trip with us!

Here's Maddox with Gunny, his new friend.

The squeals of delight that came from those two boys as we hit our first rapids were priceless!  Behind them is Gunner, Gunny's dad.

This is Gunner and Shay - nice couple!

Of course, Maddox and I aren't the only ones who had fun... the guys got in some good riding.

 Another beautiful day in our beautiful Rocky Mountains!