the mountains

Hi friends!  We are back home again from our trip to Colorado.  I took an unfortunately small number of pictures, which just goes to show how much fun we were having.  I do have quite a few shots of my children having a blast with my friend's kiddos and their new baby brother.  And that is where we spent most of our time!  Having fun and playing with our friends.  My parents drove out to Colorado with us, but stayed with family in Ft. Collins while I stayed with my friends, Jo and Chris in Denver.  I also got to visit friends in Colorado Springs for a quick but really fun picnic lunch (thanks again, Rachel, Mindy, and Tara!)

But don't worry.  We went into the mountains.  We did.  The littles were very excited to see mountains, and we went to see them in the very best way.  On a mountain train!  The Georgetown Loop was a definite highlight of the trip, and my parents came along for the beautiful views, too.  Taking an old steam train over mountain streams and tall evergreen trees made me feel like we took a little step back in time.  And the littles love a good train ride.  I'm pretty sure this one ranked up in the top 5.  Maybe even number 1!

Fletcher was asking me about the mountains before our trip to Colorado.
Fletcher: Do the mountains talk, mama?
Me: I've never heard them talk.
Fletcher: Maybe you never listened.
Man.  Out of the mouth of babes, right?  He's my little deep thinker.

I highly recommend the drive into the mountains to catch the train if you are ever in the Denver area.  Plus it's free to military families!  I'll share the rest of our Colorado pictures this week, but they're less mountains and a lot more children.

And now we're being thrown back into life full force with school starting up again tomorrow.  Where did you go, summer?  I feel like we tried to squeeze out every last fun golden drop of summer, but the school year STILL snuck up on me.

Hope your summer has been just and fun and golden, friends.

and there's more

I know.  You're probably really tired of train pictures.  But this is my life, friends.  I'm kind of tired of train pictures, too.  For the last 3 years, we've indulged Fletcher's obsession as much as possible, just because he has such a passion for trains!  And I do love seeing him so happy.  Unless Rowan can move past her princess obsession and into something more interesting to the rest of us, trains are the family go-to fun.  Brian thinks trains are cool (left over from his own childhood obsession).  Both grandfathers think trains are cool.  And now Fletcher has spent time with my Uncle Fred who thinks trains are REALLY cool.  So we went to see some real trains.  Historical, beautiful trains.  We rode one, too.  I even had a little bit of fun.

 Great Uncle Fred and Fletcher really had some intensive discussions on the train ride.  I think one of the discussions included a warning about sticking your head out of a moving train.  I overheard something about a head rolling down the track.  Oh, uncles.  They're so good at providing fodder for playground stories and/or nightmares.

 Rowan likes a train ride as much as the next person, but she needed a little extra entertainment.  Tickles from my dad kind of helped.  Brian was playing the straight man, apparently.

 We spent a whole hot, sticky afternoon at the train museum, and we were all ready to leave at the end of the day.  Except for Fletcher and Uncle Fred.  I think they'd still be there if they had gotten their way.

And they would be perfectly happy.

THE cake

My sweet uncle and aunt were visiting my parents at the same time as we were.  My uncle and Fletcher share a deep love of trains, so they were quite the pair.  My uncle and mom schemed to make Fletcher the most elaborate train cake I have ever seen.  It took them THREE days to make it from top to bottom.  It was elaborate, people.  And barely edible in the end, but that was not the point.  Fletcher loved it.  So much.  Almost as much as my uncle Fred and mom!

Rice krispy treats made up the road, kit kats made the track.  Ice cream cones made up the smoke stack, and malted milk balls made up the tinder.  It was a labor of love, no doubt.  And it was amazing.

Fletcher will never forget this one, that is certain.  Thank you, Mom and Uncle Fred!!

back

The kids and I came home Saturday night to a very happy, relieved man.  I think Brian was afraid I'd spend all summer back home.  We DID have such a good time visiting trains, having beach time, swimming, and playing with cousins.  It was good to have a big chunk of time to stay and really see everyone... except, I really didn't see everyone.  We had family visiting from out of town, and just the day to day got in the way of really seeing any friends.  So I left with wake of broken plans that I had hoped to make come true.  Maybe next time!

On our very first day home (well, my old home), we went to a local arboretum that has an amazing model train garden.  I'm not exactly crazy for trains like Fletcher, but I love this place.  The flowers and trees they use are just gorgeous, and it makes for a pretty place to spend an afternoon.

The "engineers" let us come down and see the room where the trains rest and get worked on, which was like a 5 year old boy dream come true.  It was a stellar day for Fletcher!  If you ever find yourself in Northwest Indiana, Taltree Arboretum is just an amazing place to visit.  The rest of the gardens are just as gorgeous.

If you love trains, you're gonna love the next couple posts.  Fletcher had his birthday while were back home, and so it was a train extravaganza.  I'm sorry in advance (not sorry).  And now I plan on spending all my downtime today catching up on what all of my favorite blog friends have been up to!  It feels good to be back.  Even while I'm plotting the next visit back to my old home.

spring break II: horses and trains

On our full day at French Lick, we packed in as many fun activities as possible.  Our first adventure was taking the littles on a pony ride.  We all wanted to go, but the littles were too young to do a group trail ride.  Fletcher had been on horses and ponies before, so we knew he'd enjoy it.  It was Rowan's first time, but she's such a little dare-devil, we thought she'd love it.  We were wrong.  She loved it up until the point that her tiny pony started walking.  And then the tears burst forth, and she insisted upon getting down.  She loves horses, so I know that one day it won't intimidate her so much.

 This was the moment that the fun stopped for Rowan.  We let her get off right away, but we'll try again soon!  Luckily Fletcher still loves it.

 Rowan still got a ride, though!  And she was ecstatic to feed the goats.

Don't worry.  I had wipes and hand sanitizer ready and waiting.
Fletcher's favorite part of the day was checking out the train museum.  Unfortunately we weren't there on the days that they run the trains, but Fletcher is happy with just exploring them.

This handsome guy loves trains too.  It works out well for us.

 The rest of the day was spent swimming in the pools.  Indoor AND outdoor.  Thanks to a heated outdoor pool, we swam while it snowed!  That was a first for me.  Fletcher loved watching the snow out of the big picture window in our hotel room.  What can I say?  He's our nature boy.  And au natural is how he wants to be.

It was a pretty snow.  Big, silver dollar sized flakes falling slowly.