The video is the fun overview of this trip, but I added photos anyway because I've lost photos too many times in the past, and my blog keeps at least some saved. Anyway, we had planned to go to North Dakota and float the Missouri on our canoes for our first overnight canoe trip, but it was raining and storming near Minot and Bismarck, so we adjusted and decided to go to Colorado instead since the Midwest was literally covered in storms. So off to we went to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
We spent the first night on BLM land. There was other campers around despite what you see in this picture, but there was no trees or cover and the kids were not happy about having to find shallow dips in the terrain to go to the bathroom in. Not much privacy. Anyway, we got in late, and it was blowing like crazy, so we only set up two tents and most of the kids slept in the car and in the trailer. I cooked some hotdogs and s'mores on our camp chef grill because no way we wanted to roast them over the fire with the sand blowing everywhere, and we managed to have a mostly sand free dinner. We felt like we were in a sandstorm and both our tents were filled with sand by morning. It howled all night and the trailer and car were rocking in the wind. I was afraid it would destroy our new tents, but they held up.
The next day we headed to the Great Sand Dunes after renting some sleds and snowboards. I didn't expect to have so much fun!!! It was awesome!
The kids had a great time. And it was just so different than anything we normally do.
Efraim just kept walking off into the distance, and it was driving me crazy because he would just disappear behind a dune with no thought or worry of getting lost. I was worried though. Leo had to track him down multiple times. Usually he's a cautious kid and not one to want to hike far, but that day he just didn't stop.
The sand made weird noses when you walked through it and underneath the top layer (and despite the chilly day) it would burn your feet it was so hot. Crazy how insulated it was.
By afternoon though the wind had picked up again and the sand hurt it was blowing so hard into our skin. So we headed back. We hadn't made reservations or anything because of the last minute changes, but there was one open campsite at the National Park campground, (miracle!) and we were so happy to have toilets and water. It was a really pretty campground too. We had a great time at the sand dunes, but I would probably only recommend staying there two days.
We hiked to an ice cave near there the next morning. It was a short little hike, but kind of neat.
Leo hiked with all the kids back to the sand dunes from our campsite, while I made dinner. And Isabel borrowed my camera and took all these pictures. Then they went back to watch the sunset. It really was a gorgeous, unique area.
Our campground the second night. Vault toilets are heavenly.
I am *hurray* a stay-at-home mom. I retired many years ago from a long,(4 yr) illustrious career in nursing *boo, hiss*. Most of all, I love Leo (mi papacito esposo de Colombia) and Ana, Elena, Isabel, Sebastian, Nicolas, Jubal, and Efraim (mis hijos). My other passion is also dark and rico and from South America--that would be chocolate. Basically I like to eat chocolate, eat chocolate icecream, eat frozen hot chocolates from Dairy Queen, eat Peppermint Yorks, Junior Mints, and of course dark chocolate truffles. Okay, now that I've wiped the slobber off my chin from thinking about all of that, I'll get on to the rest of my blog. Oh, and I'm trying to learn Spanish but spend too much time blogging here instead.
"Managing a home involves much more than keeping a house clean, organized, and attractive. These skills are important...but these skills are only a means to an end. The paramount objective is to create a setting where family and friends are comfortable and happy, where there are good dinners and good times, where there is fun and laughter, where children acquire good habits and are taught life skills and how to be self-reliant and responsible, where challenges are faced by coupling temporal endeavors with eternal perspectives, where joy through gospel teaching and living prevails, where kindness and respect reign supreme, where love is strong enough to bind the family forever, and where children are nurtured toward eternal life."
--Daryl Hoole
“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.” Elder Boyd K. Packer - November 1993 Ensign
"Dear Prude,
Sober of not, I am forever yours."
-Percy French, a letter to his wife (1776)
"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories."
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