whatever

we left early in the morning which was not fun for anyone but about 20 minutes into the trip everyone had settled in and our car was silent and looked empty for the first few hours.  i can’t say that i don’t love that!
i get to talk with mr. duerksen!
and i got to finish Falling Free.
heart eyes! heart eyes! heart eyes!
(go preorder this book people!!! it’s sooooo good!)

there were plenty of gas station stops and snacks and mcdonalds bathroom selfies.

they eventually began to wake up and talk or play games or… braid hair.


30 minutes after we arrived at our rental house we were already hiking around.
we stayed close to Breckinridge so everywhere we hiked or explored was in that area.
i didn’t pay attention to which trails were which… sorry if you wanted to know.
basically ALL the trails are great.
it’s Colorado!


that’s a mama goat and her baby behind them… the mama looks headless but it wasn’t.
ha ha ha

pretty nice place for morning coffee (and cereal).

more hiking….

i wiped out hard crossing this spot.
this was off the trail and i told craig it was fine and i could do it like the kids were… and i DID but first i had to get really dirty and break some nails and bleed a little.  HA!

teenagers are fun.
i used to roll my eyes when i heard that phrase but i have found out it that it’s actually true!
of course not ALL the time but for a lot of the time it’s fun to have people around that can have regular conversations and are enjoyable company!
and that can feed themselves and don’t need you for things nearly as much as they used to.

and they make me laugh so much.

their goal was to get high enough to touch snow in july.
and they did it!

goat selfie!!

my 6 favorite people in the whole world.
and all my people with me!

breckinridge is completely touristy and i’m ok with that!
i didn’t go into any shops that i would have chosen but it was nice to just walk around before or after dinner.

the sock store was everyone’s highlight.
who would’ve guessed that an entire store of JUST socks was a good idea?
but it is!
ANY kind of sock you can imagine was in that shop!

another day we rented jeeps to go off-roading.
we wanted ATVs but i can’t recall why it didn’t work out… numbers or drivers or not available?
but we ended up with two jeeps.
and for some reason i was completely terrified.
i think i thought i would crash?  or get stuck?  or fall off a cliff?
so after awhile i let scotty drive and i was so much happier in the passenger seat – crazy right?
but he was SO HAPPY to be in charge and get to play.
we had a blast in our jeep!

we stopped to eat lunch waaaaaay up in the middle of nowhere.
BEAUTIFUL!

craig only had to help us get unstuck one time.
in our defense… our 4 WD low wasn’t working and that contributed to our issue… which makes no sense because you can’t see the very steep hill just to the right out of frame in this picture.
we couldn’t make it up and went backwards to try again but got stuck.

Sean gave it a shot as well on the regular roads… not the mountain stuff.
then i got back in the drivers seat once i was more calm and comfortable.
and i fell in love with it!
i think i need a white Rubicon Jeep now.   🙂

we climbed down and played in the water after all our driving around.

on the night i got to choose dinner… i was the only one who was pleased with their meal.
oops.
sorry picky eaters! my meal was DELICIOUS!

our oldest daughter was on this trip with us this year.
it’s been a few years since she has joined us.
🙂
it’s weird when you’re kids become grown ups…

i got creeped on in my selfie.
i was loving the green wall… but scott didn’t care.

do you play Dutch Blitz?
it’s a favorite over here.
we have two sets so more people can play at once.
also we played spades and scum and trivial pursuit during our stay.
and watched Everest because it was on.
🙂

our fourth day Craig woke these three hikers up early on and they climbed Mt. Quandry!
i think i may have died if i’d tried it…
but they did GREAT!
they “complained” the rest of the trip about their sore muscles but i know they were proud that they accomplished it.

i sat and read a book the whole time they were gone.
i was equally proud of that.

more of pretty breckinridge.

on our last night we went into denver and went to the Avett Brothers concert at Red Rocks!!!
we offered it to all our kids but we didn’t have a lot of takers.
weirdos!
so we got tickets off craigslist the day of and went!
craig and i had always wanted to go to Red Rocks.
bucket list – check!
the big kids went to movie and got an uber back to the hotel.
see?  big kids are awesome!  they can get their own Ubers!

it was something i will always remember!

annie even laid down for a little rest towards the end.
🙂

colorado is so good.
we love spending time there… i am so glad we got to be there again this summer.

now here’s the deal… i love photos and i love vacations.
i love to keep memories but be sure to know that pictures don’t always tell the whole story.
blogging and social media makes most everything everyone’s doing look perfect or very close.
and of course we all know that no one has a perfect life!
no one.
did we have an awesome time in colorado – YES!
but….
with 5 big kids we also had some big struggles because there are lots of personalities & lots of opinions.
BUT even with those struggles… even if there were some knock-down-drag-out fights… even if i cried…
i still love to be with my people.
it’s WORTH IT to make the plans, take the time off work and GO – even if it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
i want my kids to know that i WANT to be with them.
I want them to know i enjoy spending time with them.
i want them to know that we can get through the fighting and the feelings and frustrations.
to know that there’s nothing they can do to be unloved, uninvited or less special.
i want them to see different places and get out of our town.
i want them to appreciate nature!
it doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy.
intentional family time together is so important to me and i hope they will remember it forever.
i pray they remember more good than the bad.
because there truly is SO MUCH MORE good.
thanks colorado for more memories!!!
your mountains are my fave!