Glenwood Springs

We had such a great time in Glenwood Springs with the entire Heath family. There are a lot of us these days. I have 4 siblings, each married, and each with at least 3 children. So, I think the total was - 30. And I think the majority of people are under 6. We swam, went white water rafting, and did some pretty intense hikes. We hiked up to hanging lake which is a steep 1 mile hike. The girls did a great job hiking the whole thing themselves. I was proud of them. Hans and I took turns carrying Mia and Justin since he packed our hiking backpack and bjorn in the wrong car. (When I say pack something in the car do I need to specify the van?) Apparently so. It was a beautiful hike and turned into a really great sweaty workout too. I had gone riding on the trail up to Aspen with Hans, Michael, Jeff, and my Dad. It was really fun. Michael is by far the best rider I've gone with. I felt pushed, which was nice, but I couldn't keep up either. We also went rafting. Hans stayed home with Mia and I took the other kids. Justin probably should have stayed home as well. He loved the bus ride, but hated the boat ride. And it was 3 hours long. The girls loved it and jumped in the water and were brave about big waves going over the raft. Overall, the trip was fun. Glenwood springs is beautiful. I was grateful to have the trip be only 3 1/2 hours. I somehow left Justin's very favorite fire bike in Vail, so we took an emergency trip to Walmart to get another one. The kid lives on that thing.

I just attached the pictures and had to sing my praises (good thing you can't hear me) about cousins. I feel so grateful that my kids have cousins they love and they connect to. Thomas, who is 14 (?), is so great with Ashley. He treats her so well and she has a little crush on him. Joshua, Benjamin, and Jonathan love Justin and follow him around endlessly. He loves the attention. Katelyn has Elizabeth and is pretty much content to stop there. This trip was fun because Justin and Sara are only a month apart in age and realized how much they like each other. I hope we can see each other enough that they remember each other and don't lose those special bonds.

So, thanks Grandparents Heath for a great bonding family reunion! We loved it.