Happy 2nd Birthday Sally Sharp!

We celebrated Sally Sharp's 2nd birthday yesterday. She actually turned 2 over a week ago, 

July 21, but we had to recoup a bit from Colorado before we could celebrate with family. 

Of course, Sally Sharp acted extremely shy and overwhelmed during most of the party! It was an enjoyable afternoon nonetheless.

She pretty much hid behind "eow" (that's what she calls the cat) for the first part of the party. Aunt Abbi sent this cute Webkinz kitty cat to her for her birthday, and she adores it.

 She had help blowing out her candles (notice Avi's mouth in the picture).

 Sally Sharp was not happy about the pictures!

 Dad, the birthday girl and Avi

 Uncle Cory and Avi

 OF COURSE, Sally Sharp wouldn't even eat her own cake! She ate "ogurt" instead (BTW, she ate 6 yogurts yesterday...not a good idea!).

 Susu gave her 2 really cute pop up books, one about animals and one about food. She loves them!

  We finally got some smiles out of her!

Avi is obsessed with videos that I've taken on my phone of them playing. She watches them over and over again. She was showing Mom and Susu a video of my dad playing with the girls.

 Drew and his Grandaddy

 Papa Mike and Sally Sharp reading Pinkalicious. So sweet.

 Nana and her girls

 After everyone left, Avi had tears (and you can tell SS wasn't sure why she was upset)...

but I was able to bribe her for one last pretty good picture!

Clear Creek Ranch, Colorado Day 6

The Top of Colorado

On our last full day in Colorado Brent and I set out for Mount Elbert.  At 14,433 feet it is the highest peak in Colorado.  Only Mount Whitney in California is higher in the lower 48 states.  It is not the hardest, but it seemed like a fitting way to end the trip by making it to the top of Colorado.  The trail was 5 miles long with 4,300 feet of elevation gain.

The South Mount Elbert trailhead.

Self portrait at the trailhead after running straight down the mountain in 1 hour flat.  It was the hottest day of the trip and I still hardly broke a sweat.

 Picture of Mount Elbert on the right and South Mount Elbert not the left.  Picture taken from large open meadow just above tree line.

 Picture of the summit from higher up.

 Another summit photo.  If you look carefully, you can see someone standing on top (dot in center).

 Picture of Mount Massive from the summit.  Mount Massive sits only 12 feet lower but has a very impressive 3 mile summit ridge with several false summits as you can see.

 Brent and I at the top.  I made it in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The trail was the best graded I have been on so far.  

 Picture of me on top pointing to La Plata Peak(center left). Since I forgot the camera yesterday, this will have to do.  You can also see the gentle ridge leading down and to the left to South Mount Elbert.

 View west back towards Independence pass and Aspen.

 Panoramic photo from the summit.

While Drew and Brent were hiking, the rest of us were just enjoying another spectacular day at the ranch.

This was my view from under the tree where I was sprawled out on the grass reading my book after lunch.

 After naps and rest time, we continued our Olympic games. The kids and dads built towers. We had to declare a tie between the Fountains and Adkersons on this one :).

 Avi and Drew didn't do so hot in the tallest tower game, but she had fun nonetheless!

 The guys had to play blindfolded horse shoes. Brent ended up winning and actually got VERY close to the pole.

 We played a game of girls against boys beach ball volleyball. The boys ended up winning by ONE point!

 Avi and Emily got SO excited about putting up the tent.

 They both did an excellent job of helping Drew put the tent up so they could sleep in it.

  Jack and Joe put up the Fountain tent, and they all had a blast playing in the tents.

 This is James and Aileen, the caretakers/managers at the ranch. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing these two wonderful people are and how unbelievable they made our trip. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our trip the best vacation ever!

Emily and Avi were ready to spend the night in the tent...they stayed up until after 10:30 shining the flash light, but they had the time of their lives! Such fun memories they made!

 Can you ask for a better backdrop for camping?

And yes, Avi, Emily, Jack & Joe made it ALL night in the tents. Drew slept with the girls and Brent slept with the boys. SO proud of them!!

Clear Creek Ranch, Colorado Day 5

Guess what? Drew forgot to take the camera with him on his hike today...very disappointing that he has no pictures from his hike.  Even though no pictures, I (Drew) still had a blast.  I went to the top of La Plata Peak. This mountain was supposed to be one of the steepest in the area.  The trip was 9 miles round trip with 4,300 feet of elevation gain but seemed that all the gain came during the last 2 miles as it went straight up. A lot of route finding and boulder hopping made it a lot of fun but when I was back down, I was beat. La Plata Peak is the 5th highest peak in Colorado at 14,336 feet. Up in 2 hours and 21 minutes and down in 1 hour and 35 minutes. Not nearly as much running as the trail was too steep and dangerous to run fast until I got to the lower slopes. Sorry for no pictures, unfortunately I missed the best views all trip.

And, I (Kelli) woke up to a sick little girl. Avi woke up about 6:30 saying her tummy hurt. She proceeded to be sick for the rest of the morning. She finally slept for about an hour around 10:30 and when she woke up, she was miraculously feeling better. Thankfully we were able to enjoy the afternoon as if she was never sick. Amazing, really. While Avi was sleeping, the others enjoyed the games available at the ranch, and I took pictures!

Amy A., Emily and Jack playing badminton on the beautiful lawn of the ranch.

 Just another gorgeous view of the mountains and trout stream from the ranch.

 The Fountains enjoyed a game of horseshoes.

 The Adkersons played each other in badminton.

Jack and Emily enjoyed croquet.

 I lay down in the grass and couldn't resist taking pictures of this beautiful sky.

 View from the deck.

 It rained a bit just after lunch, and Emily and Avi decided they would try to share a rain jacket!

 Joe decided he'd go hiking!

 And, Avi was feeling better and we played croquet.

 When we were almost finished playing croquet, she asked if I would play horse feet with her! She meant horse shoes, which made me laugh! 

 

 The kids were being given instructions on how to play our "Olympic Games" (we all played games to get us geared up for the upcoming Olympics). And evidently something was really funny. I think Emily was laughing at her mother showing them how to do the bear crawl :).

Of course, the guys were standing back taking it all in as Amy A. instructed the children.

Drew and Avi running the piggyback leg of the relay!

 They were both exhausted after the relay!

 We walked to see the horses after dinner, and Avi loves to ride on her dad's shoulders.

 The horse stable.

 The horses came over to us, and we were able to pet them. I wonder if they enjoy the scenery here as much as I do?!

 Avi got cold on the way back to the lodge (because she wouldn't listen to me and dress appropriately), so Drew gave her his rain jacket. I'd say it didn't fit her.

 Joe decided he was going to keep all the S'mores for himself :)

 The kids loved roasting the marshmallows.

 Avi took one bite of her S'more and decided plain marshmallows were for her...

As you can tell!

And, this might be one of my favorite parts of the vacay...sitting around the campfire after the children go to bed. The weather has been divine and the views unbelievable. Can you tell I've enjoyed myself?