Incline Conquered

There are a lot of hiking trails around here, but the most famous/infamous would have to be the Manitou Incline.  Once upon a time it was a funicular railway, when it was shut down they ripped up the rails but the wooden ties are still there.  It used to be illegal to hike, which meant people did it anyway, but was legally opened last year.  It is a pretty popular hike, the athletes at the Olympic Training Center use it as a workout.  It is only a mile long, but in that mile you gain 2,000 vertical feet.  So of course, Brandon thought it would be a good idea to take the kids.

 At the bottom, with the incline behind us.

 The bottom of the hike isn't to bad, the railroad ties are pretty evenly spaced.  Some people run up, we told the kids that they could just walk.

 Rest stop! 

 Grant mad the hike in a backpack.  He spent most of the hike looking at us like he was saying, "Why are you complaining? This is so easy."  The last twenty minutes or so he was screaming because he wanted to walk.

 It keeps getting steeper.

 The steepest parts of the trail have a grade of almost 70%.

We made it to the top!  Brandon was proud of the fact that we beat some people, just under 2 hours.  We got a lot of stares because we had five kids with us.  I did tell Brandon that I thought it was funny that it is only a mile up but it is four miles down.  So I guess we can check that off of our bucket lists.

Our April

I know it is the end of May, but here are some highlights from the month of April.

After a week in sunny Las Vegas, we enjoyed the fickle weather of Colorado.  This is the snow we got on the 3rd.  Yep, the 3rd of April.  Which was only surpassed by the two hour delay for snow on the 12th of May.

 The kids had fun.

 Grant can't see.

 Bradley and his snow angel.  Because of the long spring break the kids didn't have to miss any school for this snow storm.  It melted pretty quickly, most was gone by the next day.

After the snow it got a little warmer and we were pretty excited to get ready for conference.  The kids did pretty well this year, we did a lot of "sewing" on foam plates and learning how to hold a crochet hook.  I decided to make something special for breakfast.  Blueberry french toast bake from 365 Days of Baking & More.

 This kids didn't like it but Brandon and I really enjoyed it.

William had to complete his science project.  I don't know if it is the same at other schools, but the projects have to be experiments with testable questions.  He was testing which type of Mentos got the biggest reaction from Diet Coke.

 A lot of weighing and picture taking.  He really had fun with the experiment and I made Brandon help him put the display board together this year.  When the projects were displayed at the school, the school also displayed artwork and writing from all of the students.  They called it AWSTEM night.  William and Caitlyn also had the opportunity to play the piano while people looked at the displays.  The music teacher invited those who take lessons to prepare some pieces.

Easter came to our house again.  The kids had a fun egg hunt with friends at a park and I got absolutely no pictures.

I made ties and skirts for the kids for Easter.  A labor of love, and dresses intimidate me.

 Mostly happy kids, I don't know why Britton looks mad, and Grant wouldn't drop his blanket.

 Grant got a little distracted by Daddy in the picture.

 I tried my hand at making a skirt to match the girls.

 Look at the muscles!

Such a handsome boy!  I decided to try bow ties for the younger boys this year.  I've had a pattern for a couple of years but never tried it.  As soon as I finished the bow ties, William said he wanted one also.  So the boys got bow ties, but Brandon was happy with a regular tie.