It's that time of year again...

We donned our color coordinated clothes and headed on up to Ponder Point for our annual fall family photo this evening. It was pretty crowded (for a rest stop...what the heck??)...including two passenger vans loaded with Japanese tourists. I kid you not...like last year, they waited IN LINE by our rock to take their own photos when we were done with ours. So weird...
We've had a bit of snow already, so many leaves were already knocked off their branches and what leaves were left were not quite peak color but still pretty...

So...we battled the crowds for the primo scenic spots and by the time we were done with photos, the place was deserted and we ate our Beau Jo's pizza picnic in peace. Whew! We finished up before sunset and managed to catch some bugeling elk on the way back home. Always so neat!!

Julia found some reds...

This tree was already bent in an arch--Emma was just hamming it up for the camera...not pulling the tree over...

Tree hugger...

shhhhhh--don't tell any other tourists that we're here! Please!!!

Toothless

Sophie lost her 3rd tooth tonight with only a few moments of wailing...compared to the high drama of the first two!! This is her first missing top tooth--makes her look like an official big kid!

Free Day

Yesterday was a free day at the Botanic Gardens--woohoo! The gardens are still looking good and...we love free!

Channeling Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh

Trail Ridge

We've had what seems like weeks of coughing and sniffling and barfing at our house...and I had the continuation of a two day mega-headache when I woke up yesterday. So today, we decided we needed to get out of the house for some fresh air...waaaaaay out of the house. We loaded up in the car and headed out and up, up, up to Trail Ridge Road...that's the highest paved road in the country in case you're keeping score.

It was a really nice (and relatively cough-free) ride on a cool pre-autumn day. We stopped at several rest stops along the way to read informational signs & take in the views. The lunar landscape of the tundra was the perfect escape from sick-ville and we saw lots of glaciers, pikas and marmots. We even managed to beat the impending thunderstorm back down the mountain and enjoyed a Subway picnic in Estes Park before heading back home.



Caught this pika enjoying the view too...

Marmots getting their home ready for winter...

Homework & Cats & Spiders, Oh My

Oh yah--this enormous creature is outside our kitchen window...

(you know a spider is big when it casts a giant shadow like that! Yeesh)

Thanks, Uncle Steve's Neighbor!

Before

After

Later
Turns out pie made with pilfered apples is just as tasty as pie made with apples purchased legally...who knew!?

Clark Apple

This afternoon I was out inspecting the garden, mumbling about why none of our huge tomatoes are red yet. I lifted up one branch and noticed the tell-tale signs of tomato worm droppings. Sure enough, on a branch above the poo, there was this big tomato worm trying to act invisible.

Back in the day, that find would have earned me a shiny new dime from my dad...followed by a trip to the sidewalk where he would meet his demise under the weight of a patio stone. But today, this little guy...(lovingly named 'Clark Apple' by his three newly annointed mothers)...was showered with back massages and safely deposited into a terrarium filled with cut tomato plants which he is devouring happily. Sophie even painted Clark some pictures to put next to his new home while Julia took him out for a walk.

Okay...maybe by allowing all this pampering I'm trying to make amends for all of Clark's anscestors whose fate I helped seal. But hey, karma is karma!!
Welcome to the family, little buddy.

Soiree at Steve's

Yesterday, we all gathered at Steve's for a yummy end-of-summer BBQ for mom's birthday...we had a fabulous time picking the neighbor's apples (shhhhh), general silliness and eating a yummy lunch complete with lemon meringue pie...mom's fav!!
Happy Birthday Mom!!!