Kayaks, Fish, Fun & Flags - A Whole Lot Goin' On

Last weekend we had a ton of fun. We were all off from school and work on Friday so we went to Evergreen lake. We went fishing and kayaking. We borrowed two kayaks for the weekend and had a good time. Ethan wanted to use his new fishing pole so he spent most of his time on shore. The man next two us was having great luck and Ethan was not. However, after packing up and heading to the car Ellie asked to stop and fish for just a few seconds while Dad was on the phone. Wouldn't you know that they both had luck at that spot? Ethan says it is such a rush to catch a fish. They both got rainbow trouts that were about 10" long. Later that night he processed them . Later I tried to debone them and then made a nice meal with the catch. It was a thrill for the kids.


Saturday they both did the Bob Cooke Memorial Mount Evans Hill Climb. It was an important race. It is a long, mountainous hill climb for the juniors it is 11.1 miles to the finish line. Ethan did amazingly well and finished at 1:09, about 20 minutes faster than I expected him to. He came in 17th. He was happy with his results. Ellie had a harder time. She was stung in the head by a bee and she fell over. By the time she reached the finish line she was really finished. She came in 4th, but was not happy with that standing. I am still so impressed that they can do it at all. People plan vacations around this hill climb. At the race there were people from many states racing. We left that event and went to a wedding in Conifer. It was a lovely spot for a wedding. We missed the ceremony but enjoyed the reception. I don't really know them so it was hard to know what to give them. I went to the store where they were registered and could not afford any of the things on the list. I chose to take the colors that showed up over and over , using those to make a framed photo mat for a picture from their wedding. I was happy with how it came out. We stayed for a while and then went to the Boy Scout camp out at Bear Creek Lake park. The kids fished more, this time with other scouts, and we kayaked more. Later that night the boys retired a flag. That was kind of cool. We have a n awesome leader, Gary, who just finished Woodbadge training. At his training he got ashes from flag retirements from the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and Vietnam. There were also other important ashes mixed in. Each scout place a piece in the fire. The next day Gary took much of the ash to share with the boys. They feel connected to these important events by honoring our nation and our flag in this way. The camping was hot and sunny, but we still had fun. Next up, we go to Salida for a weekend of racing. Until then I am working on my Photoshop final and trying to spend time with the kids before I go back to work in two weeks.