In mid August some of our very good friends from our Academy days came to visit. Andy and Tony usually get together once a year with one other good friend, but that friend couldn't make it this year, so we decided both our families should gather for some good fun in Colorado. Of course, this was planned in March and we decided August would be a good time since we would surely have purchased a house by then. Oh no, no house was even on the horizon when they arrived. Since we did not want to inundate my dad's house with another 4 children we all packed up and spent the first three nights of their visit in Andy's mom's condo in Colorado Springs. We two moms and seven children all in a 700 square foot retirement apartment. With the weather being so warm the deck made a great sleeping porch and we spent most of our time away so we didn't bother too many residents.
Lisa and I took the kids to visit the Academy since hers had never seen their dad's alma mater. Then we toured Focus on the Family. We hiked through Garden of the Gods and also along the old railroad tunnel trail. Andy and Tony joined us on Friday night so we added two more to the condo.
On Saturday morning Andy and Tony took Riley and Gavin (the two, new 10 year olds) on a manly challenge. They hiked the "Incline." It's an old cog rail line straight up a mountain, about a 1/4 mile long. The steps are the old railroad ties. The height from one step to the next was sometimes as high as half way up Riley's thigh. It was no easy feat for these boys, but they did it with a great attitude and had an amazing sense of accomplishment when they completed the round trip hike 3 hours later. While they were hiking, Lisa and I packed up the rest of the gang and headed to our campsite where we all met up.
We camped near Rampart Reservoir (just on the other side of the peaks behind the Academy) for two nights and had a great time out in the woods. The AirSoft guns were rarely quiet, arrows were flying off the bows and there was plenty of time for reading, visiting, and hiking.
Our last night with the Kims was spent at the Embassy Suites in south Denver. What a great way to clean off from camping - jump into a hotel pool! On their last day we took them by our latest prospect for a house (contract #11 that eventually fell through) and then to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science before having an early dinner and sending them off to the airport.
They are such a wonderful family and we so enjoyed our time with them!
While at the Academy I took some amazing pictures of the beautiful chapel ceiling. The light was just right coming through all the stained glass.
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