Estes Day 2 (Afternoon, Aunt Gayle & SNOW!)

After a short (practically non-existent) nap back at the cabin, Gayle arrived!  And oh boy do our girl's love their Aunt Gayle  :-) 

We had to try (and I stress "try") and take some family pics by the Estes Park sign.

Do have any idea how heavy and STRONG McKenzie is??

This is about as good as it's gonna get.  Not exactly Christmas card worthy but it'll do.

After McKenzie's huge struggle with that photo-op she crashed in the car.  We then ventured into  Rocky Mountain National Park.

And actually, Macy got us all into the park for free!  Did you know that individuals who have a permanent physical or intellectual disability are granted a free Lifetime Access Card to all regional/ national parks?  I didn't until Shelly, our Early Intervention services coordinator, informed us about this (I suppose you could call it a perk - if there are "perks" to having Down Syndrome, you BET we're gonna find them ALL. :).  We just needed to present the Park Ranger with Macy's official medical documentation confirming her diagnosis.  pretty simple!  How nice. :)

 We took Trail Ridge Road (SCARY!) all the way up to the Alpine Visitors Center.  I kept reminding  Joe..."now if a car is coming toward you and swerves into our lane, do NOT turn right in an effort to avoid it, go for the head-on collision!"

brrrr.  it was cold up there.

once again, as you can see, Macy is having a blast.  Just trying to stay warm and snug in the stroller.

I only took about a trillion photo's of the beautiful scenery, lucky for you I only chose to post about 30 or so on this blog post.

SNOW!!

Dirty Snow  :-(

But FUN snow none-the-less.

ah ha...you can't tell in this pic, but I am wearing flip-flops, sweet.  I mean, it's okay to wear flip-flops in June right?  Well, maybe not up in the TUNDRA!

McKenzie playing hide-n-seek on the way back down the scary mountain.

"where did Kenzie go??"...."RAAAAAH Peek a BOO!"

Look close...Can you see the rainbow??!!?

It is unfortunate all the tree's that are effected by this Mountain Pine Beetle  :-(

I love this photo...looks like an oil-painting doesn't it?

On our way back down to Estes, we popped into our other favorite eatery...Mary's Lodge offers a spectacular view of the mountains as they reflect off of Mary's Lake.   :)

mmm. pb&j

Does this girl make a sandwich look delicious or what?  Smucker's - want her #?

mmmm...Gayle order a crab-something or other stuffed Avacodo with vegetable kabob.  I had to take a picture of the fabulous presentation.

I'm not sure what happened, but check out Macy's expression, she started screaming a second later.

But Gayle, in true baby-whisperer fashion, had Macy calmed down in a matter of seconds!

Why wouldn't we want to dance on the deck?

After a fun-filled, adventurous day, it did not take long for the girls to crash for the night...Joe, Gayle and I were able to play a game of Yahtzee out on the front porch.  This is becoming an annual tradition.  I usually lose, but this time I  kicked their @$$e$. :). Woot-woot!  Until next time.