A Fair Fall

We had such a beautiful fall here this year.  The temperatures were perfect to be outside and play, so we took advantage of it and kept up with more adventures in between the kids activities.  

This hike to Independence Monument is nearby, but we had never done it as a family before.  A few years back I was able to do it with Maren and her school class.  It is one of my favorites, and was fun to share with Dave and the boys.  Such incredible scenery.

These bighorn sheep must really like this canyon we hiked through to get there, because both times I have hiked this they have been there.  They are pretty amazing to come across and see up close.

 We made it!  The hike is not easy, it has lots of big steps but the boys were troopers.  We even decided to go down a different trail that is less developed, but still used a fair amount.  It was a liitle sketchy at times, but we all made it down in one piece.  I think next time we will stick to the main trail.  The monument is an area icon, and every 4th of July rock climbers scale it to place a flag on the top.

  Dave and I got out a lot mountain biking this fall.  It was nice that the weather cooperated with his days off so much, and I wasn't biking as much with my girl friends.  We did a few longer rides, including this one out in Rabbit Valley.  

And these pictures below, are on the Palisade rim trail.  This trail has been intimidating me since it was built.  When you read such descriptions as sheer cliffs, and exposed cliffs, it leads you be a little nervous.  But we took the challenge and it is well worth it.  Luckily the technical sections and the cliffs were not in the same spota.  And besides the really hard climb to get up to trail, which I admittedly mostly did off my bike, it was a fun flowy trail that I would do (and will do) again in a heartbeat.

With fall comes the fun things that only come around when the leaves start flying.

Like jumping in awesome leaf piles.

Taking family pictures...

Hitting the local pumpkin patch for some fun in the hay.

Taking our annual trip up to the grand mesa for our fall hike and BBQ with friends.

 And of course Halloween!  The kids had a lot of fun this year coming up with costumes.  Maren and Spencer both made their knight helmets, Maren also sewed her whole costume pretty much on her own.  Dave helped them make the helmets, and the swords.  I was impressed with how much they did on their own though.  

 Amanda dressed up as Sherlock, and her friend as Belatrix Lestrange.  They had fun "supervising" the boys while I stayed home handing out candy.  

Maren participated in some MESA field trips this fall.  She did MESA last year, but only one field trip.  But this fall she already doubled that and did two!  This one was the pop bottle rocket competition.  She had a lot of fun with it.  

Spencer and Jacob both participated in a Lego club this fall.  They worked together on teams to create a Lego environment for an animal.  And as part of their environment they created a Lego robot.  Spencer thrived in this and designed and programmed his teams Lego spider on his own.  I guess all those hours of playing with Lego's is paying off.

They had a fun showcase day in which each team got to present to judges and get some feedback.  Everyone came home with a trophy, and enjoyed the other math and science activities the older kids prepared for them to participate in that day.

 Jacob started taking gymnastics, in his quest to be a ninja warrior one day.  I just hope he gets some strength and flexibility along with it.

  

Amanda participated in select band this year for the 3rd time.  She had a beautiful solo and I managed a halfway decent band photo!  WE had a scare when she realized that she had left her back back in the trunk of the band directors vehicle.  But luckily was able to get homework from friends, and manage OK without it.