Catching up 2021 Weeks 31 and 32

Catching up.  This is a long post with lots of photos!  We had a family vacation the last week and a half.  We all met up at a little ski town in the mountains of Colorado where the highs were not above 75 and no one has A/C up there and the lows in the morning were in the low 40's. It was heavenly!  Our whole family was there for a glorious week and Ben's parents joined us for a few days which we all loved.  So this is catching up on 2 weeks.  Take a look....

Miss E continues to make amazing bread each week!  This is whole wheat quinoa bread and it is so good!  I am sooo going to miss her when she goes back to college in a few weeks!

My mom is an amazing quilter, and she is slowly making all her kids and grandkids their own flannel quilt.  This is Miss E's that she got done in time for her to take back to college, and Miss E is so exited!  love it and all the colors!  Miss E picked out the pattern and colors, and it totally fits her.

On our way to Colorado.  At a gas station break Miss E and Mr J found a new friend.

We are all together!!!  Miss O brought her boyfriend who we have met virtually and talked to often, but this was the first time we have met him in person, and we loved having him with us for the week!  

This was my cake for July that I made and froze and took to Colorado to share with all my family.  It is a marshmallow moon cake from Cake by Courtney, and it was yummy!  Vanilla cake, chocolate ganache, toasted graham crackers and a toasted marshmallow buttercream.  Loved it!  So fun to share it with everyone!

Checking out the river by where we were staying.  Such a beautiful place!

All together!   Love it!

Went on some hikes.

We found some rocks that reminded everyone of the rock people in Frozen.  :)

Hiked to this lily pad lake which was so cool!

We played pickle ball a lot.  This is something we all enjoy. 

We tried to have unique activities each day.  One day we divided into pairs and made boats that we raced down the river.  The kids letting them go.  My in-laws' boat won!  

Our very unique boats that we all made.

One day we started the day by heading down the Vail pass.  14 miles downhill, and it is my favorite and one of the most beautiful rides ever!  So fun to go together!  We took our bikes and enjoyed biking around some each day.

Another day's activity was sculpting marzipan.  That is an almond flour based sweet dough/candy.  It is really common in Europe, and it tastes so yummy!  Miss E made a few batches of it before we left and we froze it to bring it with us.

These are our marzipan creations that we all made and then enjoyed eating after!

One day we went disc golfing on a beautiful course right by the lake.

So pretty and so much fun!  Love being with these people!

We brought lots of board/card games and puzzles that we also did each day.  Ben with his parents.  His mom especially likes doing puzzles.

Having fun at the river again!

One day we did apple tasting.  We got 7 different apples and cut them up, and everyone had to rate their favorite by taste.  We had marked what kind each was separately so no one knew.  Our top favorites were Pink Lady, Honey Crisp and Fuji.  Our least favorites were Gala, red delicious and Granny Smith. Ambrosia was the middle one.

Hiking one day all together with beautiful views!

One day we made bows out of popsicle sticks and arrows out of straws.  It was something Miss E had done her first year of college with a group of friends, so she taught us.

Making our bows and arrows.

We had a contest in the basement parking garage of the condo where we stayed to see who could shoot them the farthest.  I think I won :)

Then one day we did a Jelly Belly jelly bean tasting contest.  We had 44 different jelly beans that we tasted and had to decide what flavor.  I think the most anyone got right was 22.  Yummy!  Miss E did a lot of work to get this game ready!

Ben and Mr and Mrs A went down the Vail pass another day together while everyone else went riding around the lake.  Such beautiful country!

And we played games every day.  Sometimes on the porch, sometimes inside.  We had a lot of fun, made great memories!  So grateful we were able to do it and get everyone there! That was a huge blessing!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and well!  School starts here this week, so good-bye summer!  Hope your beginning of school goes well!