It just wouldn't be right....

if we didn't go camping.

Some of you asked if Josh got his stuff back, yes he did.

The weekend after his hiking trip we went camping very close to his campsite. On our way home we took a detour to retrieve his stuff. We got to the trailhead, Josh hike up to get his stuff while the girls and I hung out in the truck and watched a movie. Ok, so the girls watched a movie while I drifted off to sleep, for only a few minutes.

Here are some pics from our camping trip.

The sky was absolutely amazing when we arrived and this pic doesn't do it justice.

Not five minutes later and my girls are as dirty as can be.

This is the lake we were at, it was beautiful and the weather was quite nice. We had the perfect spot, no one around.

Cheyenne didn't like the idea of having her chair around the campfire, she wanted another view, right on the edge of a cliff.

And this is what we almost put our tent by, we almost had the door in front of that thing. There were cows everywhere and we woke up to the sounds of them.

Baby plumbers crack!

Ayva being a doggy. She's almost like her mom, didn't put her knees down because it was too dirty.

It's hard getting a pic of the two of them and both smiling.

Ayva and daddy caught a Lake Trout.

They thought it was pretty cool and so did daddy!

Here's all the fish we caught. The one on the left is the Lake Trout and see the second biggest, yah, that's mine. I caught it all by myself. I even took the hook out and hooked it on the stringer thingy with all the others.

Pretty successful fishing trip, Josh was excited to catch that Lake Trout.

A COUPLE RANDOM PICS

I got another one of them together and smiling.

Ayva's first picture taking experience.

14er

Again, I'm behind on my posts, will I ever get caught up?

About 3 weekends ago Josh challenged himself in climbing a 14,000 foot mountain, Mount Columbia (part of the collegiate peaks). No he did not hike 14,000 feet. He got to a trail head and started hiking late Friday night. He got to a place where he decided to camp for the night, on a 25 degree angle. The night wasn't very comfortable.

He went to sleep and woke up to something pacing outside. He started making a lot of noise and it wouldn't leave so he went outside to build a big campfire. He of course was up all night.

He began his ascent and found fresh bear droppings by his campsite. Prayers were answered for this adventure. He left his tent, sleeping bag, etc. thinking he'd be back around lunch time.

Here are some shots he got while hiking.

Here's the trailhead where he started on Friday.

With many adventures up and down the mountain, Man vs. Wild skills came in handy a few times. No he did not drink his urine or eat any bugs.

There were several people at the top with him. They were all talking and found out this was Josh's first attempt at a 14,000 footer. They said, "And you picked this one, are you crazy?" They've all climbed other ones before and hated this mountain.

They all climbed up in the same area but Josh took the long way up. He had to climb up 5 different peaks along the way. He said on the way down his legs were worked so much it was hard to hop over logs.

So on his way down he accidently went the wrong way. He made it off the mountain and found a dirt road back to the truck but had to leave his tent and things behind. He got back late Saturday night and was exhausted. He was dehydrated and hardly ate anything that day because a lot of his stuff was at his campsite.

It was an interesting experience and one I'm sure he'll never forget.

Can you believe he went by himself?

MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE

I'VE BEEN MEANING TO PUT THIS UP BUT HAVE BEEN A SLACKER.

HERE IS MY NEW PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE.

laceybates.wordpress.com

Fun times with G & G Bates

G & G Bates came out to visit us two weekends ago, I know I'm a procrastinator when it comes to posting. We all had a blast! The girls loved all the attention! Of course they were a little shy when they first came but by the time they left Ayva did not want them to leave.

The weekend was full of fun. Friday we drove up Pikes Peak, a 14,000 ft. mountain, for the view and the world famous doughnuts. You can't make these doughnuts anywhere else because of the altitude and they were good. Yes we drove, we did not hike (A hiking story will be coming soon). We had the doughnuts but not much of a view due to the clouds being so low and we were all a little short of breath, OK so I was.

We're almost to the top, we thought we'd stop to take a look. Colorado Springs is the city down below. And see those clouds, we'll be up in them soon.

Grandma and Cheyenne

Me and the girls at the top, it was a little chilly!

Ayva and Cheyenne getting necklaces from grandma.

G&G and the girls

Oh, pretty grass. On our way down Pike's Peak we pulled off and went hiking up a trail. With the girls there, it wasn't much of a hike but it was pretty.

Cheyenne and daddy. She was a little upset because she didn't want to walk, she wanted to be held. She's a lot like her mommy.

Me and the girls.

She's doing it on her own, what a brave girl.

The girls found their own mountain. Can you see what's coming, do you see that little girl in pratically all white?

They're climbin'!

Ayva made it to the top!

And so did Cheyenne, with a little help from grandpa.

Those pants aren't so white on the bottom anymore.

Ahh, we made it to the top! Just look at that view!

Cheyenne giving Ayva hugs on the way home, how cute!

Saturday we took another drive to Cripple Creek. Beautiful little town now filled with casino's everywhere. We had pizza and then went to a fudge shop...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! The whole reason we went there was to take a ride on a little train.

Of course, the girls loved this frog outside a shop.

Here's the train we went on and those two figures you see in the green car was us, well grandma and Josh. Ayva was so excited to go on this one. She called him Thomas. She always talks about going on trains, whenever she sees one she says, "Mama, I should go on that."

That's the little town of Cripple Creek. Notice all the cars there for the casinos.

This is one stop we made on the train, it's called echo canyon. The train conductor blew the whistle really loud and it echoed back. The kids on the train thought it was pretty cool.

The girls didn't care for the view.

I can't believe I saw this from Ayva on a train. She's been dying to go on a train.

We had a great time! Thanks G& G for playing with us!