Estes Park, CO

I can see why Ryan talks incessantly about moving to Colorado. After spending four days in Estes Park with the Asay clan, I'm all for it, too... as long as we're living that close to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is so beautiful there! We stayed at a great place in Estes Park with tons of fun activities for the kids. The girls had a ball with their Asay cousins, aunts, uncles and of course Grandma and Grandpa Asay. As you can see, there was never a dull moment!

Ella said tonight that she misses Abby so so so so so so so so so.... MUCH! These two never left eachothers' side.
The craft house was a hit for these girls. Ella was in her element in this place. You should see the "painted princesses" we brought home. Yikes. They turned out a little scary, but the girls LOVE them.
Ryan joined in the crafting.
Rocky Mountain National Park.
Upon arrival at the park, the adorable park ranger handed these kids a ranger booklet and told them if they completed them at the end of their hike they would earn their "Junior Ranger Badges." Needless to say, the kids were hunting for animals, picking up trash, and doing whatever else they had to to earn those badges.

Nine-months and counting. Beautiful background don't you think?
Guess who earned their "Junior Ranger Badges?!" I have to say this park ranger was awesome. She checked everyone's booklets, gave them each their Junior Ranger Badges and then, to top it all off, announced to everyone at the park entrance that, "these five kids have successfully earned their Junior Park Ranger badges. Please give them a hand." The kids were beyond proud and everyone at the park actually did stop, laughed at the announcement, clapped and then went on their way. So funny.
Goofy golfing. Clearly Ryan hasn't worked too hard on teaching the girls how to hold their clubs.
Ella got a little more golf training, but still did a lot of cheating to get that ball into the hole.
The place we stayed had all sorts of schedule activities for the kids every day. One of them was Bugs, Bugs, Bugs where the kids learned about the different bugs in the area.
Downtown Estes Park where we shopped and then stopped for a slice of pizza.
The kids were fascinated by the deer. It wasn't at all scared of us either.
Our first hayride, I think. Brooklyn was fascinated with the horses, although a little terrified to touch them.
Ella, on the other hand, loved touching their soft fuzzy noses.
We're off.
I love this picture of the girls with their Grandma and Grandpa Asay. A picture like this never happens (because some people don't like cameras... hmmm, I wonder who that could be?!), so I'm going to blow it up extremely large and hang it on the wall!
They couldn't even part with eachother at bedtime.
We took a gondola ride up to the top of one of the mountains to enjoy the beautiful view.