Colorado

We took a trip to Woodland Park, Colorado with a few of our friends to attend a conference.  While there we did a little hiking/sightseeing and after the conference we met up with Tommy & Jena in Aspen. This is Garden of the Gods.  I've always wanted to go there and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's FREE!

Our conference we held at a beautiful place that looked out at Pike's Peak.

It rained every afternoon and one of those days there was a full rainbow.  (Plus a small 2nd one).

We saw lots of these guys.

Hiked one day at Red Rocks Canyon.  We could see Garden of the Gods in the distance.

We hiked in Maroon Bells with Tommy & Jena.

This is the lower lake.  Maroon Bells Lake.

Beautiful aspens everywhere.

This is the upper lake.  Crater Lake.

More tomorrow.....

Michigan's Upper Peninsula

After we left the rest of our group, Steve and I headed to the Upper Peninsula.  Our first night was at Paradise, MI.  The town had 1 gas station, 3 hotels and 2 restaurants.  The food was actually pretty good!  We looked out our hotel window across  Lake Superior to Canada. The next morning we headed to Tahquamenon Falls.

We drove west to Marquette, MI.

 A boat tour on Lake Superior to Pictured Rocks was a highlight of the UP.  Apparently this is the place to be if you like to kayak.

 We saw an eagle!

 The view out of our hotel window.

Michigan 2016

We made a trip to Michigan in July.  Steve and the guys went ahead of the wives so they could hike on Manitou Island.  This is a beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan.

We took our first Segway ride.  Other than sore feet we had a great time!

At the top of Boyne Mountain.

Cross Village, MI

 A fun trip to the candy store.

Of course we had to stop at a winery!

Mackinac Island

Bridge leading to the UP (upper peninsula).

 The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Mary's 8th Birthday

Steve & I took the girls to Big Cedar to celebrate Mary's 8th birthday.  We had a ton of fun!  All you have to do is look at Marys face to see the joy!

 A lot of time was spent swimming.

They say smoke follows beauty!

It's hard to see (Iphone pictures) but that is Catherine kayaking.  She went out by herself and did a great job.

A little paddle boating.

Swimming in the lake and hanging out on the lily pad.

We went on a cruise on the Showboat Branson Belle for the Princess and Pirates Cruise.

The girls loved getting their pictures taken with the Princesses.  Mary is wearing a dress that Heather wore in our wedding almost 39 years ago!

Catherine is wearing a dress my mom brought home from Hawaii more than 40 years ago.

4th of July

We had our annual 4th of July get together.  The festivities started off with silly string.  Even Edie got in on the fun.

Amber and Steve were the last to leave the table.  She was not leaving as long as there were crab legs on the table and Steve was picking through the leftover shrimp.

And then it was time for fireworks!

Gussie still is a little afraid of them.  On the other hand Edie loved them!

This is one of everyones favorites.  We love to see the lantern fly up in the sky.