Aspen Adventure

We decided to visit Aspen for the weekend as a way to celebrate Gabe's birthday. (He will be 31 tomorrow.) Brandon and I went in together to buy Gabe a Tom Tom navigator and we used it to travel a distance that should have been 3.5 hours away. Of course first the tires on the car started to UNWIND! So after buying four new tires and getting the alighnement fixed we got under way! Only to realize suddenly that we had forgotted the camara. Gabe was devastated. We reached Aspen aroun 6 PM, settled into the swank hotel and Gabe went to get pizza while Emory had a bath. Gabe also picked up a disposable camara so we do have pictures to share.

First of all...It's called Aspen for a reason.















We decided to visit the famous Maroon Bells for a hike. The day was perfect for a hike. The sky was a deep blue, the wildflowers were blooming in profusion everywhere, and the air smelled like sunshine.


















Emory was anxious to run and didn't want to be held.





















He immediately ran into a puddle, and then another, and then, another.


















Sometimes the path was serene and sometimes it was a raging torrent!






















Emory loved the hike and spent a lot of time running back and forth. I must confess he also loved throwing rocks. I made one of those parenting decisions that I might regret soon. I said to myself, "I can have a horrible day today and end up with a screaming child all the way home or I can find a compromise." Emory and I decided that he could throw rocks in the water, but NOT at mom, NOT at dad, and aboslutely NOT NOT NOT at fellow hikers. After a couple of redirections this compromise worked for all of us.









Half way up we stopped for some peaches. For future reference, peaches, though a wonderful pick-me-up are Very Very sticky. Soon the child that ate them is sticky and so are the parents he hugs.






Gabe made Emory a little hiking stick. I don't know if you can see it in the pictures but he is beating the plants with it. The stick was taken away shortly after.













On the way back, we stopped beside a beaver house to have a cereal bar. At this point, Emory has walked about a mile and through lots and lots of puddles. I'm actually just as filthy. Gabe managed to come out of the hike fairly clean. As a side note, Emory can say and sign "Cereal bar" he even does them both at the same time. The language development is facinating. Sometimes he'll just pop out with a phrase that he's put together on his own.











At the very end of the hike Emory said, "Carry me." So he finished the hike riding in style. Gabe had carried the backpack for the whole hike just for that last quater mile!











Back in the car, a very tired, sticky, dirty, happy boy enjoyed a sandwich and some water out of the camel pack. Gabe and I drove around for a couple of hours so Emory could nap and then it was back to the hotel for baths and some swimming in the hotel pool. What a wonderful magical trip.