We decided that if we were not going to go camping, we wanted to hit up a few areas around Loveland that we do not spend a lot of time in.  One of the places both Brian and I want to get to know a little better is the Indian Peaks Wilderness area.  We always admire the peaks from Estes Park and thought it might be a fun way to spend one day.

Unfortunately, the information we found online was incorrect.  We drove all the way there only to discover that the road leading to the trail head was closed.  We were able to find a trail to hike called Sourdough.

After a quick picnic lunch that was a total and laughable disaster (children screaming, dogs pooping, food dropped, rain), we started out on the trail.  Elias had a complete meltdown and was obviously very tired but didn't want to sit in the carrier.  So I decided to try hiking with him attached to my front, thinking it might calm him down a little.  He fell asleep fairly quickly, which meant I had to hike downhill with him that way (which isn't easy).    The trail was down hill and lead to a beautiful river.  There must have been a storm recently because there were several trees laying over the path.  It was slightly amusing trying to climb over trees while keeping Elias asleep and not falling on my face.


Once we got to the bottom, Elias woke up.  We didn't stay there long.  Elias enjoyed the hike back up and did most of it himself.

Day 3 of our stay-cation was super fun.
We decided to meet up with Brian's parents after church to go to Estes Park and hike.  We had a picnic at one of our favorite picnic areas on the way up.

Then we hiked up to Fern Falls. 

Day 2 of our stay-cation was super relaxed and fun.

We slept in as late as our 2 littles would let us.  Then we made waffles, as is tradition. 

Then we picked up Ultra Grandma (what we call Elias' great grandma) and took her to the Swetsville Zoo.  This isn't an animal zoo but a local art exhibit of sorts that features dinosaurs and the such welded from old car parts and other metal objects.  It is fairly small but free and fun.

What a fun way to spend a Saturday.

Brian, my husband, had some unused vacation/personal days that he needed to use up before the end of the fiscal year at work.  Unfortunately, because of some constraints with his new position at work and training his replacement for his old job, we didn't have much time to work in a whole weeks worth of time.  I wasn't able to request the time off of work because it was such short notice.

So instead of going somewhere, even though we would both love to, we decided to just hang out around here. I had high hopes of camping for two nights but the hubs isn't into camping and it was all very last minute.  So, instead of making my husband's week off more stressful with trying to fit in something he doesn't even like to do, we decided to make the best of the mountains and free stuff around here.

On Friday, Brian only had to work a half day, so the kids and I tagged along.  We dropped him off at work at went to a hiking trail near his work called Green Mountain.

Then we got hopelessly lost drove around until we found Red Rocks.