Before we were dressed in the morning, Cora had written us a to do list for her birthday. With the surprise planned trip to the Alpaca Farm and her additional lunch request for chicken wings, the day was jam packed with birthday fun!
We went to the morning farmers market in seek of the the most heavenly delicious bakery breakfast treat. This sparkly, breakfast sugar cookie checked all the boxes. We also took and a few pictures downtown Palisade.
At the alpaca farm, we fed the alpacas and learned about looms, dying fiber,and fiber arts craft like locker hooking. The farm featured Doughnut the alpaca’s ultra soft fiber. Doughnut has a face to love.
With bellies full of pineaplle bbq chicken wings, we had a small surprise party for Cora with a few friends.
We never made it hiking, but we did play basketball, ride scooters, bike along the Colorado River and climb trees at Riverbend Park.
We spent a week in Rapid City, South Dakota. We had an action packed 5 days. To begin with, we visited the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.
We hiked in the Badlands and drove through Badlands National Park. I don’t have any pictures because hiking with a three year old requires all hands on deck. Near the Badlands National Park we stopped to feed prarie dogs peanuts. They were so fat and tame and made sounds like a bird.
After the Badlands we went to a festival in Rapid City at Storybook Island. Storybook Island was essentially the largest playground I have ever visited. The kids had a ball.
We visited Caputa Alpaca Farm and fed and pet alpacas including this 3 day old baby. There was a swing set in the middle of the enclosure and it was fun to swing the kids surrounded by alpacas. The owner took lots of time with us showing us the shearing process and spinning fiber into yarn. All the yarn sold had the alpaca name and photo along with it.
We drove through Custer State Park and stopped to pet the wild donkeys and enjoy the overlooks. There were several single lane tunnels, gorgeous vistas, and buffalo.
We visited Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The experience was very patriotic and the maintenance of the carvings is impressive.
We spent two evenings at Watiki Water park in Rapid City. The kids absolutely loved the slides. One slide was transparent and traveled over the adjoining bar ceiling.
The kids and I visited the Museum of Geology and were fascinated by this skeleton of a plesiosaurus, which some scientists suspect the Loch Ness monster to be. Brooklyn was fascinated.
We visited Chapel in the Hills, a replica of a 12th century Norwegian stave church. It was incredibly beautiful and had a inspiring meditation path that made a peaceful end to our evening.
We visited Deadwood, SD. This historic town nestled in the feet of the black hills is the death place of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. The city had re-enactments of his death, along with re-enactments of a famous street shoot out. The city was so charming complete with great shopping, art, and history. Mount Moriah Cemetary, where the two famous outlaws were buried, was beautiful and had amazing views of the black hills and Deadwood below. Cigarettes, shots of alcohol, and shotgun shells were left at the gravesites.
We also visited the famous Wall Drug Store, which entices you to death with advertising the entire length of the state.
Finally, we visited Crazy Horse Memorial. The memorial is independently funded and only about 25 percent complete. I look forward to seeing it completed. This trip has left such a great respect for the native Americans who were so spiritually tied to the land. They fought and bled to protect thier right to live in the black hills. After our time here, I understand why. The black hills are beautiful!
We spent nearly two weeks at the lake with Grandma and Grandpa! I have so many pictures, I will let them tell the story. The kids collected snails and tree frogs. They played Indians and we built tepees. Grandpa constructed them a log course playground. We played pickleball, went to a labor day parade, Kovac Planetarium, our cousin Emma’s wedding, hiking, fishing, and boating! The cool nights were perfect for campfires and smores. Grandpas magical fire potion made the flames dance in all the colors of the rainbow. The time went fast!
Granny was an absolutely amazing host to us in Peoria! Let’s just say that three young kids, even at thier best behavior, can be overwhelming as long term house guests. We played at lots of playgrounds and took a short nature walk. She spoiled the kids with special Granny time and of course amazing candy like this super long gummy worm.
Granny threw a very special surprise early birthday party for Cora. The kids happily ate birthday cake for breakfast for a full week after!
We had a chance to visit with Adam’s brother Ryan and his wife Karen. Thier daughter Riley is an absolute HIT with the kids too. It has been several years since we have seen each other and it was awesome to spend time together catching up.
We also spent lots of time with Heather, my sister, and her family. We took our cousin Addison to Wildlife Prarie Park and had fun seeing all the animals there and playing on this humongous slide.
Adam and I revisited the boat we were married on 10 years ago. We also went to see the house Adam was born and raised in in Washington, IL.
These two plaques were at Wildlife Prairie Park and I love them both.
The largest wildfire in Colorado history is raging 18 miles north of our home in the mountains. It has burned over 200 square miles (140,000) acres of land and has inundated our valley with smoke and ash. At first, the smell of campfire was charming, but quickly the air quality over 3 weeks time became oppressive and unhealthy. Ash literally came down like a snow fall in 103 degree heat. Brooklyn and Daddy collected it in a plastic cup for fun one afternoon walk. The skies were grey for weeks. The visibility was so badly effected one could hardly see the beautiful mountains surrounding. We carried on with bbq s and horse back riding for three weeks before we decided to leave for fresh air.
It is hard to describe the smoke’s scale with pictures, but these are a few I took when the wind was blowing the smoke away from our city. When the smoke blew towards us the blue skies were hidden in grey and the sunsets looked like this. When we opened car doors ash flew up in a flurry cloud and our respiratory system became so irritated.
The Grandparents have graciously agreed to take us in and so we are traveling cross country to Illinois and Wisconsin to spend three weeks. We plan to finish with a vacation to the Black Hills, Badlands, and Mount Rushmore.
Dylan joined the Rimrock Rodeo in Fruita to compete in a mutton busting competition. 25 kids clung as tightly as they could onto the backs of running sheep to determine who could stay on the longest. Dylan was the littlest mutton Buster, but he was as brave as could be. Right before getting on the sheep’s back he said “In it to win it” which we had been saying to get him pumped up. One little boy had the sheep lay down after a few seconds of the race, but the kid stayed tightly on and the sheep’s back until it up and resumed the race. Dylan certainly did not win, but he is one adventurous little man and wants to ride again.
The owners of Alamar Stables came out to cheer Dylan on as well which was incredibly awesome of them!
We are so in love with thier horses, especially Annie, thier three dogs, and our horse back riding instructor Jeneve. Here she is cooling down her students after a hot, productive session. The owners Yancy and Kim are incredibly good people and it is an honour to be friends.
The heat has been intense here…thank God the grill master has kept the house cool and the little cowboy and cowgirls well fed.
The kids are beginning horse back riding lessons and have spent a considerable amount of time this week at the stables learning about the horses, caring for the horses, and just becoming comfortable around them. The owners of Alamar Stables have been so incredibly gracious, welcoming, and genuinely pleased to have our kids there. Several owners who board thier horses there have taken Brooklyn and Cora under thier wing and showed the girls how to cool down, brush, and remove the sattle. Dylan may be more in love with Mochi, a 4 month chocolate lab puppy. The two of them are unbelievably precious together and I have overheard Dylan tell her quietly several times that he loves her and she is a good girl. The owner affectionately calls Mochi the brown terror. The horse pictured below that the kids are riding on is an adopted wild horse from the BookCliff wild horse herd. Alamar Stables is very involved in managing the wild herd’s population so they can continue to thrive on the BookCliffs.
Horse mania has hit our house hard and the girls are obsessed with dressing like cowgirls and caring for thier toy ponies. A trip to the library resulted in an abundance of learning books too.
With new cowboy boots, these little horse lovers are ready to ride.
We spent the day hiking at Rifle Falls State Park. All together, I would say we hiked about 3 miles. The kids, especially Dylan, did amazing. Most of the hiking was relatively easy, but there was some parts with tricky footing, slippery descents, and a very steep and rocky climb. Cora loved the steep, rocky section the best and asked to go back down so we could hike up again. The triple waterfalls was a natural water mister and felt amazing on a hot day like today. The vegetation around the falls was lush from the mist as well.
Limestone caves were numerous and we explored many together. At first the kids were very hesitant to enter, but after we had spelunked a few, they were hard to get out. Brooklyn crawled through a little crawl space all by herself using Daddy’s cell phone flashlight. She was really excited about spelunking. With proper headlamps we plan to return and venture deeper.
The views are unbeatable and these outlooks took you just beyond the cliff edge for an even better view.
Today each of the kids told me separately that this was the best day EVER. We made a wish to move here years ago and I guess wishes DO come true with your own commitment to see them through.
Our fully loaded moving truck, and fully loaded minivan with three kids and two cats undertook the 32 hour drive from Florida to Palisade, CO. We did it over 5 days time and the trip went remarkably well, with the exception of our escaped cat in a gas station (safely caught after a suspenseful moment under the car). Lots of movies, snacks, and toys and the miles slipped behind us until we were driving through this.
Our new house, garage, and the sunset picture taken from our driveway the night we arrived.
We have been to the Fruita CO rodeo, hiking, swimming at the pool and High Line State Park. We have also been seeing old friends as well as making new friends! It is an honor to be here surrounded by such beauty. Every time we walk out the door or get in the car I pinch myself that we actually live here now.
We have hundreds of pictures of the mountains already. Adam has already hiked Mount Missouri, Moab, Rifle Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. Adam and Uncle Brett have traveled to Telluride, Leadville, Moab UT, Delta, and Rifle to hike. They attempted at 14,000 foot mountain in Leadville called Mount Missouri, but the altitude related lack of oxygen overcame their manliness. The entire family has visited Denver, Idaho Springs, and Grand Junction. The kids have hiked on top the Grand Mesa on the fourth of July, and Dinosaur Hill in Fruita CO. Following our family dream and moving here is the best decision we have made.
We have decided to stop dreaming about living in the mountains and do it. After all our travels we have been pulled back to one area in specific, Western Colorado. Palisade, CO to be precise. All of the pieces fit into place with some persistence and we are officially leaving Florida for Palisade. Carpe Diem! Along the route out west, our family came to see us off in St. Louis. We braved the zoo in masks on a hot day. thank you so much for putting in such effort to meet with us!
We also revisited The Awakening sculpture with Granny, Grandma, and Grandpa. We enjoyed a short walk in Chesterfield’s Central Park.
OUR LOVE IS ALL OF GOD'S MONEY 