Jonas turns 5

We started our morning with some FREE circus action.  Thanks to Colorado Springs for their appreciation of the military.  They were kind enough to give us free tickets AND free food vouchers for all 5 us.  Woot!

Despite Ezra's face, he really did have a good time.

 

We got front row seats for the pre-show.

  

I took off a little early to go set up for Jonas' bday party.  We had it at the apartment clubhouse and pool.  Apartment living isn't the best, but it definitely has some perks.

 

 Jonas' pirate friend, Michael.  (They were buds when we lived in Germany too, but I don't think they remember that.  :)

 Pirate Judith.  If that looks like a giant goose-egg on her forehead, it's 'cause it is.  She had some sort of playground mishap.  It actually does not look nearly that bad in person, but I guess the flash on the camera really brought it out.  Thanks, flash....

 Michael, Jonas, and Ezra

 Mike and Judith trying to smile for a picture (they were looking into the sun...).

 Grace and Judith (and Kristin).  It appears that Judith is levitating.  She's a special girl...

 Jonas blowing out his candles (and Alex, a friend from school).

 The party room.  I had a pirate ship watermelon, but I forgot to bring it over until like half way through the party. 

Great Sand Dunes Natl. Park and Zapata Falls

Just 2 1/2 hours away from Colorado Springs is Great Sand Dunes National Park.  These are the largest sand dunes in North America.  It was a beautiful day with the high just barely reaching 80.

 

  Unfortunately it was a bit windy.  Our sensory sensitive little boy couldn't bear the feel of the wind blowing sand against his legs.  Judith had a hard time too since she was lowest to the ground.  Even Mike and I felt the sting with particularly big gusts of wind (15-25 mph according to the weather channel website).  

 It made for a shorter hike though the dunes than we had hoped, but we decided that if we had seen one pile of sand, we'd seen them all.  Jonas and Mike ended up venturing a little further than the rest of us, but they too, soon turned back.  

 We were able to spend lots of time at the creek though.  The sand wasn't blowing much across the water so we were safe for play.  Mike and Jonas worked hard on a dam and re-routing streams of water.  

When I pan to the right, look for the little girl in the distance wearing purple shorts and a green top throwing mud.  That's Judith.  She was a good rock hunter for Mike and Jonas' dam as well.  :)

 Just outside the park was Zapata Falls.  We drove 3 miles down a gravel road, hiked 1/2 a mile to the river, and then rock climbed/waded back into the chasm (as far as we dared) to get a glimpse of the 25ft falls.  The water was FREEZING as it was from the snow melt off just above us so we didn't make it all the way back in there, but it was still pretty cool.

 Mike attempted to take Jonas a little further back, but the water was just too cold for the boy, and then Mike one of his shoes in the current so after that, it was over for them too. 

It was a fun day trip!  Trying to get 'em all in before we leave!  :(

South Dakota

A "quick" weekend trip turned out to be a little more than we bargained for with A LOT more driving than we anticipated.  We arrived at our hotel very late on Friday night/Saturday morning (1am).  Judith woke up at 7am, so the rest of us had little choice but to greet the day with her.  We had breakfast, went to the awesome indoor pool (with slide!), and headed to Mount Rushmore.

This was a cool interactive thing in the museum at Mt. Rushmore.  You could push the handle down and blow up a section of the faces just like the workers did when they were creating them. 

 Part of the path in front of the faces was closed due to snow, but we were able to go directly under them and then back up to the viewing deck. 

 Jonas took this picture of Mike and me.

 Jonas pulled his arms into his shirt to be "just a head" like the statues. 

 We had a picnic at Horse Thief Lake. 

 Then, we ventured on to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Although not completed, the whole operation was pretty impressive.

 

After Crazy Horse, we drove through Custer State Park.  We saw some deer and got to feed some wild donkeys.  

 We also saw lots of buffalo and calves.  The lady at the park entrance said that 3 calves were born the day before we arrived.

 It also happened to be my birthday and I enjoyed a lovey birthday dinner at Olive Garden with my dear friend Elizabeth and her husband Kevin, friends from our time in Italy.

 After a night of much needed rest, we checked out of the hotel and drove through Badlands National Park. 

 It was incredibly windy and we were trying not to lose a kid over the cliffs.

 We saw some mountain goats scaling the canyon walls.

It was a lot of driving in just a couple of days, but the kids (and Mike) loved Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  We always love a road trip and a visit with friends!!