Corn Maze

We found a great corn maze and Pumpkin patch here in Colorado. The Maze was amazing, it had 8 miles of trails cut into it, all forming a picture of aliens abducting a farmer and his cow and pig. The boys were real troopers and loved it. We got lost a few times and were so grateful that the lady we passed on the way in offered us a map, or we might still be there. We got lost a few times and if not for that map we would have been in real trouble.



I will post pumpkin patch photos soon.

Happy Fall everyone!

A trip in September (Warning lots of Pictures)

It turned out that Aaron had some time off. So we did what anyone would do, we pulled the boys out of school and went to see Colorado Springs. It is a beautiful place that would take a lot longer to see than just the few days we had there. Aaron and I are thinking we might go back for our 12 anniversary coming up. There is a lot to do that little ones do not have the patience for. But we were able to go and do some really great things with the boys and I hope they had a good time.

The first thing we did was called the Cave of the Winds.

The guide called this cave bacon. He had a fancier name for it but I forgot.

This was the China palace.

More cave bacon.

Stalactites

Then we were off to the Garden of the Gods.
This is the story of how it got its name:
It was August of 1859 when two surveyors started out from Denver City to begin a townsite, soon to be called Colorado City. While exploring nearby locations, they came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. M. S. Beach, who related this incident, suggested that it would be a "capital place for a beer garden" when the country grew up. His companion, Rufus Cable, a "young and poetic man", exclaimed, "Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." It has been so called ever since.

Daddy and Liam.
(All four boys have ridden in that backpack. Aaron's first Fathers Day present)
Shane had to see if he could fit.

Then Dallin too.

Brothers are so much fun.

Precarious rock formations.

Family Shot.
Thank you stranger who was kind enough to press the button on my camera although she was intimidated by it.

I wish I could have captured the scale of these formations. They were remarkable.

I loved this little tree clinging to the cliff. It gives me hope.

This is the famous balancing rock.
There were tons of people all over it. I was lucky to get this shot with out to many of them.

A little window shopping around Manitou. We actually stayed in Manitou which is right by Colorado Springs. It was a great little town.
The boys had to sit in this funky bench.

Birthday Dinner at the Texas Steak House.
Aaron made a deal with the waiter that if they came to sing happy birthday to him that the boys would get the cowboy hats too. The hats usually only go to the birthday boy. So the waiter told the boys that if they stood up and clapped along then they would all get hats.
Jared got a hat.

Dallin got his hat.

And the Birthday Boy and Shane got their hats too.
Liam also had a hat which he thought was fun to throw at people as they walked by. Thus the reason there is not photo of him wearing a hat. :o)



That was it for Colorado Springs. The boys thought it was too short but we had to head home. We broke up the drive by stopping in Denver to go to the aquarium.
Shane posing in front of the Chiclids.
The manta ray in the walk through tunnel saying Hi to Shane.

Manta gliding over the tunnel, he seemed to enjoy it as he did this 15 to 20 times while we stood there.

This is their baby grouper. He will grow up to be 900 pounds.

We thought this amusing to have a fish in the family. :o)

Big fish sitting on the bubble that Shane and Liam were in.

My beautiful Tiger photo. Taken with my point and shoot camera.
I'm pretty impressed with my self.

Dragon fish. So pretty.

Shane snuggling with the mermaids. He was soooo cute! The highlight of his day was that she let him touch her tail. This one is going to be big trouble as he gets older. I just have a feeling.

Dallin used his own spending money to feed the manta rays. He actually thought holding those slimy fish was fun. There's a boy for ya.

Token photo with Mom in it before the trip was over.


From there we thought it was still pretty early in the day and there was a mall with a Lego store not too far away. So we went and spent too much money at the Lego store.

We came home to happy chickens and a happy house. Thanks to some wonderful friends who took care of our small farm and all our animals.

It was a great trip.

~Christina

Brothers

I bought a huge frame that I am wanting to fill up with pictures of my boys. So for the next little while I will be focusing on them.

Alpaca's

Alpaca's

A Dream

Yesterday Shane, Liam and I went to visit a local Alpaca ranch. We spent 2 1/2 hours with these wonderful creatures and I feel in love. If only I had the money right now to buy a herd I would. They are sweet animals that have the softest fiber you have ever felt in your life. Its like a silky cashmere. John the owner was great and answered all my questions. He invited me and the boys back anytime and gave me permission to photograph his alpaca's anytime.

This is something I really want to do and I will. Eventually.

Our favorites were Carlos and Norman they were was so sweet and not shy at all. They were fascinated with my perfume and gum. Alpaca's love to smell new things. They were all so gentle with my boys. They loved to smell Liam and Liam loved to touch their soft fur. Shane made a great helper and helped one of the girls there to water the alpaca's and spray them with the hose which they love. He also helped her take hay to the horses they had there.

Stargazer Alpaca Ranch has over 80 Alpaca's at the moment with a few cria's (baby alpaca) due this fall. They have a web cam on their website that you can watch when a baby is born. Their website is www.alpaca.net. Mostly they have huacaya alpaca's (pronounced: wah-KI-ya), they also have a few suri alpaca's (pronounced: SOO-ree). I really love the suri alpaca's they look like they have dreadlocks.

I am learning so much and hope that someday I too will be able to have a herd of my own.

Someday.

Here is to dreaming and hoping and wishing.

~Christina

The boys go Horseback riding

We have enrolled the boys in horseback riding lessons. Here is a slide show just because I can.





The horse's name is Six. He was a very gentle therapy horse. The boys loved him. Shane kept asking if he was his horse now. Lisa the trainer said the boys did very well, and Jared was a natural and doing things that she hadn't even told him. We are looking forward to our next lessons.

Chuck E Cheese & My 100th blog!

A while a go we went to Chuck E Cheese with the boys and their cousins. Of course the boys loved it and were really sad when they ran out of coins. Liam was so tired he threw the biggest temper tantrum I have ever seen out of him. It was so great that I thought I would document it for posterity. They got super cheap prizes but what do you expect? They had a blast putting their tokens into machines and playing games.

I made a slide show. Here is the link (Be Patient as it loads, it doesn't take too long)

Go to Slide show

This is also my 100th blog post. I am happy to say. Hooray for me. I hope that I have a few readers that enjoy these small glimpses into the crazy days of the Picker family.

Love ya!
Christina



P.S. Leave a comment, let me know you stopped by, will ya? Thanks.