This post brought to you by the Number 2

Our little Evelyn is growing up too fast before our eyes.  She will be five in just under 2 months and she is up on her 2-wheeler with no training wheels

and has 2 wiggly teeth

She'll be in kindergarten in just over 2 weeks and the house will feel too quiet for 2 hours.  A video of her bicycling skills thanks to the training from her pedal-less balance bike.

The Nature of Summer

Oh what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green?  We try to get out and enjoy all Colorado has to offer as we love our state!  One day it felt too cool to go swimming or anything in the water (random for summer) and Evelyn had a playdate so I took Rachel and Elizabeth for a little bike ride and canoeing at the reservoir close to our home.  I did most of the work of course but we had fun traversing the reservoir. They each took a turn at the helm.

 Rachel was having fun, just doesn't like to smile on command and pulls this face instead.

 The pirate ship we ran into, no scalawags on board thankfully.

 Arggh!

 Eating ice cream bars afterward.

 Two weeks ago we drove up to the mountains and took a scenic drive above Idaho Springs and saw some old mining shafts like this one as well as beautiful scenery.

 We then took a short hike (3/4 mile--although the girls made the uphill feel much longer) to St. Mary's Glacier.  Eric researched the place out and who knows if the glacier will be there in years to come as it is quickly receding so I'm glad we got to go up and enjoy the view.  Some people were sliding down the ice and we saw one guy with skis in his backpack, don't know if I'd want to do that but to each their own.

 The cliffs of insanity.  If you squint you can see one guy jumping as his friends were taunting him for about five minutes beforehand.  Aw, to be young again and not care if you die who would take care of your children.

 The glacier

 Rachel posing on the rock

 You had to walk through the freezing lake about 10 feet to get there

 Turning the other way from the lake was this view and it reminded me of some foreign land.

 Look at us, too cute even after 13 years!

 Playing around

 

 Last week the weather turned hot again so we took another trip to the reservoir to play at the beach.  One foot in the water for a few minutes instantly cools you down so I enjoy it too.

 Working together to make a river going from their dam to the water.

 Our inflatable dolphin

 This past weekend we went camping for the second time this summer with some friends up to Woodland Park, just up the canyon from Colorado Springs.  It was gorgeous and cooler than in town.  Right by our campground was a little lake/pond and it seemed like each time we tried to make the short trek there it would start raining.  Here's Eric with his entourage of a million children (not all ours of course)!

 Little monkeys climbing the tree we took cover in while walking to the lake.

 The lake and it was overcast so not the best shot of the beautiful scenery.

 Our campsite, probably the biggest individual sites I've seen in Colorado so far and our friends all had ones right by so our kids could wander around and enjoy themselves.

 I'm swinging in the Rain.

 The hammock was a hit with the kids, look at that line!

 Today was another slightly cooler day so I borrowed two friends for my girls and went to the park to play.

We've also gone swimming a couple times with friends since we don't have a neighborhood pool and had friends over to play.  A low-key but so far so good summer for the Carlsen household.