Life with the Bauers: Colorado 2016

There are few things I love more than our annual trip to Buena Vista, Colorado. I love a week of family time. We get Dad home for a whole week, we get to be outside and escape the Oklahoma Summer heat, we get beautiful views and fun activities, and most of all- we get to be together...a lot.

Here we are setting off for a drive. The kids did awesome in the car!

Our first night in BV we walked to dinner and the kids climbed a boulder and played on it.

Our first night there- a beautiful double rainbow.

Our first night there we stayed in a hotel and the kids loved it- they had so much fun jumping from bed to bed and all staying together in one room.

First hike on day one.

We were so grateful that Gigi and GPa got to come stay with us for a couple of days! It was so fun to have them with us! On their first day here we went to the beach. It was a cool and cloudy day and the kids had so much fun. The water was sure cold.

A really fun treat was that our friends were in BV the same time we were, but they were camping. One night we got to visit their campsite! It was so much fun- we ate walking tacos and got to chat while the kids played. So so fun!

Every day we would take little hikes as a family. It was so fun. The kids usually carried walking sticks and their favorite part was stopping at every creek to throw rocks. The older two walked the whole time and did awesome- but they admittedly loved the constant breaks for snacks and water!

Ben and Anniston shared a room and loved being together. We had a monitor to watch them at night and I caught them looking in the mirror and hugging each other. Ok, I guess it's fine you aren't in bed yet...

Just passing some deer on our walk to dinner.

A couple of the nights we would have outdoor movie nights where we would make pallets in the grass, set up an iPad movie, and watch a movie together under the stars. We all loved these moments.

We go to this lake and hike around it every year. It's always fun to come back.

One of the last days we did a hike that was a bit more challenging- a lot of steep parts. We didn't make it all the way to the top this time but we made it pretty far and the kids did so great! It will be one we will return to I'm sure to keep working at it until we can all make it up! I love seeing how we get to grow and do new things each year!

We loved driving through the tunnel and yelling "ECHO!!!" as loud as we can.

We were so grateful to get to stay in a lovely house this year. It had a fenced back yard that the kids could play in and plenty of room for our family. We loved cooking our meals there and it was the perfect place to come back for rest.

Definitely one of the highlights is our nightly trip to Louie's for ice cream. We walk to the ice cream store and then we stay there and play with all of their outdoor games. It is so much fun for all of us. The kids come home so so messy...but happy and exhausted!

One of the things we make space for each year is a special date with Dad. Anniston goes to Evergreen Cafe every year for a lunch date, and this year Ben got to start his own tradition- breakfast with Dad at the bakery!