Manitou Cliff Dwellings

After watching Jeremy race around the track, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were in Colorado Springs to do some sightseeing.  We went and visited the Manitou Cliff dwellings and the kids loved it.  I've been wanting to take them down to Mesa Verde, but this will do for now.  I just couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of these people.  You can tell that they took pride in their work, and their homes were really neat.  

Family picture in front of the row of homes.  

Daxton sitting by the metate.  

An oven (still functional for pizzas!)  

Checking out some of the artifacts.  

Grain storage bin.  

Views of the kiva.  

Paintings up on the third story.  

Checking out the views from a balcony.  

We were able to explore and walk around all of the homes.  The kids used their freedom to hide from and then try to find one another.  

Their secret hide-out

They thought the doors were kind of cool since they looked like windows.  They were up high to keep out critters and to keep in children.

It was a great little stop and luckily for us it wasn't too hot or too crowded to enjoy the visit.

Xtreme Xperience

For Father's Day we bought Jeremy a pass so he could go drive a supercar down at Pikes Peak Raceway.  This weekend it was finally time to go use it!  Down at the track they had a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Shelby GT, and a McLaren.  Jeremy opted for the Ferrari.  

Before getting his turn behind the wheel, he rode front seat in a pace car so he could get a feel for the track.  The instructors were all really helpful and gave the drivers tips and tricks for when it was their turn to drive.  Before we knew it, it was Jeremy's turn to drive.  

He climbed into his Ferrari and took off.  They had three laps around the course and Jeremy was flying.  We waited in the pit and cheered him on feeling like we should have the Cars theme song playing.  

Daxton's idea of spectating

When he pulled up he had the biggest grin on his face.  He lingered around the cars, watching and hoping that an instructor would just let him hop in and drive a few more laps.  He even asked around hoping someone would have pity on him. Apparently he could have driven 100 more laps but still not feel like he was done.  I'm glad it was so awesome.  The instructor was surprised that it was Jeremy's first time driving on a course because his skill level was so high.  As it was, we couldn't linger for more laps and had to call it a day.  As we were driving off in our Expedition, Jeremy was trying to drive it like a supercar on the freeway.  I'll be the first one to tell you that the truck is not a supercar!  It sounds like we have a Christmas idea for this guy-more laps!

Harbor Heights at Bear Lake

We used the Bear Lake Brawl as an excuse to get together with the Rogers clan.  We rented a cabin above the marina and it was the perfect place to hang out.  Cambrie especially liked it because it had her name as part of the address. McKenzie especially liked it because she's the one who found it online.  The boys liked it because they could all sleep in bunkbeds.  The adults liked it because of the views and the hot tub!  

We planned on spending Friday on the lake.  It was pretty chilly so we didn't spend nearly as long out there was we thought we would, but we were still able to fit in some spectacular tubing.  The kids all had a blast. 

Getting ready to go. 

Working up the courage to hop into the water.

Check out the boys' hair after a particularly fast run.

Air time

Dantley was able to flip the girls once and they literally went skipping across the water.  

Cambrie pulled Daxton and I, and we decided that she needs a little more practice before practicing on her little brother.  

 

More tubing moments

Flying feet!

Since it was such a short drive from our cabin to the marina, we decided to get a little creative with seating; Cambrie and McKenzie rode hidden away in the back of the truck and loved it!  

Leesa brought treats for the kids and we did a little trick-or-treating with the family.  

The kids also were decked out in their new skeleton jammies.  

Cydney brought some crafts to work on with the kids.  Their little puppets turned out so cute!  

Cousin bonding time at meals, eating delicious raspberry shakes...and cleaning up meals.  You can guess which one the kids preferred!  

To top off the great weekend, Stockton and Kelton both had their first tooth pulled out by Jeremy!  I can't believe that these two cousins timed that so perfectly!  

One final picture as we finish loading up.  It was such a great place to stay, even if the weather wasn't quite what we were hoping for.  (We really don't have great luck up at Bear Lake do we?)