Date night with the deer

Dennis and I escaped for a date night tonight and left all of the kiddos in the capable hands of Lolly, PopPop, Tony, Melody, and Ashley.  

We had dinner at Chavalos Taqueria and then discovered that all of Pagosa shuts down after 6 pm.  As we headed back to the house at a mere 6:30 (barely one hour after we had left!), I told Dennis that we had to find somewhere else to go because having to do the bedtime routine pretty much negates having a date night!  So...we drove around Echo Lake and then we headed down Blanco Basin Road again  (where had been bear hunting last night).  

We still didn't find any bears but got up close and personal with several deer.

So pretty!  Thankful for a little time away and a beautiful place to spend it!

Doing Durango

Today, PopPop, Eli, and Tony went on a "man hike" and Dennis and the girls headed to Durango.  We didn't really know what to expect and didn't know exactly where we were going but we ended up loving Durango!

We spent some time at the Animas River and walking up and down the paved walkway along the river.

After getting so much exercise, we needed some ice cream and found lots of yumminess at Cold Stone Creamery.  Fun day in Durango!  We definitely want to come back!

Goin' on a bear hunt!

What do you do when you can't light fireworks on the Fourth of July?  You go on a bear hunt! 






















We took patriotic marshmallows for dessert/snack.  Thanks to Aunt Becky for the 4th of July bag o' fun!






















We followed Lolly, PopPop, Tony, Melody and Ashley in the truck.  Somehow, I think their ride was bit quieter than our own.















We made lots of threats of rolling down windows and feeding 2, 3, 4, and 6 year olds to the bears.  We may regret those threats in the middle of the night tonight. 















We promised a candy bar to the first person to see a bear.  Everyone was quiet for awhile and then, all of the sudden, Amity sang out "This is sewious" exactly as they sing it in WonderPets! 















No bears were spotted in the whole journey but we did see lots of elk and beautiful scenery.















Vivien had to call her cousin Anna Claire and tell her all about it on her phone.  I don't know how she got a signal but she talked for quite a while!
























Just as we were beginning to despair of not seeing any bears, we broke out the glow stick wands from Aunt Becky and turned on a patriotic songs DVD to watch on the way home.













































Happy Independence Day!

No child left indoors!

After naptime today, we sent the kids outside to play.  Lolly pulled out some of her garage sale finds and they were a hit (literally)!
















These next two pictures scare me some!























Well, maybe this next one does too!  Lolly accidentally shot herself the first time when she was teaching Eli how to use it.  This gun sparked a war between Lolly and Eli and the little girls joined in!