Colorado Golf Trip and Assorted Summer Activities

Summer is officially here!

The first big item on my summer activity list was the 40th Birthday Trip that me, Alan, Aaron G, and Aaron B. had planned for early June.  We decided to go golfing in Colorado, which none of us had ever done before.  We stayed in Westminster (a suburb of Denver) and had two days of golf scheduled.  First up was Breckenridge, which is a scenic, 90min drive away.  The day after that we had a tee time to play at Fossil Trace in Golden, CO.

The Starter at Fossil Trace took this one and the next one.  He thought we were funny.  This is our attempt at an "old west" style photo where everyone has a straight face.  Instead of shotguns, we have golf clubs. :)

And this one we were watching one of our LONG drives go forever in the altitude.  :)

After we all met up on Thursday, we drove to nearby Golden Gate Canyon S.P.  It's close to Denver, but sort of hidden away.  The weather was kind of drizzly...

After dinner on Thursday night we played mini golf to practice up for the following day.  :)

The Golf Club of Breckenridge is just north of town.  It's elevation is about 9,300ft.  Almost twice that of Denver!

And the scenery...

I mean WOW

The forecast (get it?) was for t-storms intermittently throughout the day.  Typical rocky mountain weather.  We got off lucky.  It rained on 2 holes on the front 9, then got sunny, then cloudy again as this storm rolled in.  Luckily we beat it out and got done just as it started sprinkling.

The altitude got us though.  Not having had a chance to acclimate, we all ran out of juice on the back 9.  We ended up playing best ball the rest of the round because no one had the energy to play their own ball.  But we made it, and it was SO MUCH FUN!

After golf, I took the guys to a few of our favorite places.  We went to the Breck Brewery and had a few beers, then up to Hoosier Pass, then to Eric's for Pizza.  After that we headed back to Denver.

Saturday, in Golden at Fossil Trace, the weather was absolutely perfect.  75 and sunny with no humidity.  And the course was BEAUTIFUL.  Probably the nicest course I've ever played.

It was built on an old mine site, so there were still some relics around.  Like this crane.

And there were boulders in the fairway.

Really freakin' cool!

After golf, we drove up in the mountains again for some sightseeing.

Sunday, we had some time to kill before our flight, so we drove out to Redrocks Amphitheater.   What a beautiful place to see a concert.

What I didn't realize, is there would be 500 people there exercising.  After that we hit the airport and all few home.  We had a great time and it was so much fun hanging out with my friends.  We'll have to do this again sometime.

Back to the kids...

Owen is right in the middle of his baseball season.  Last week we had 2 games and this week we have 3 more!  He is enjoying it, and there are 4 or 5 boys on his team that he kinda knows from school.  Team pictures were last week...

Elsie had two games last week too.  She's been hitting really well.  Last year she struggled some, but this year her coordination and timing are a lot better and so is her confidence.  Also, at her very first game this year, she said not to take a picture of her when she was batting because it jinxed her.  I haven't taken one pic of her batting this year, so that is obviously why she's doing so well.  :)

But I can take a pic of her scoring!

The Divas got their first win too!  Way to go girls!

And then there's the pool...

Going to the pool has become VERY popular at our house.  We have swim lessons 2 nights a week, then there is Sat and Sun,  so we go at least 4 times a week.  And the kids have been swimming SO good.  Today they each proved that they could swim all the way across the pool by themselves.

                                         

A couple of weeks ago, Elsie had Girl Scout Camp.  She really liked it.  They got to do fishing, canoeing, and all sorts of other outdoor activities.

Happy Campers

The girls all made these little tradables and traded them at camp.  

Crazy hair day
Last week, Elsie and Owen went to Camp Invention.  It was a STEM based camp and they got to do all sorts of sciency things.  They got to take apart electronic devices, and build alarm boxes, castles, rockets, and snowball catchers.

Crazy Hair Day for Elsie too

Assembly on the last day of camp

These are the alarm boxes that they made.  Supposed to sound an alarm if opened.

Nothing says summer like going over to your neighbors house for a BBQ.  We hung out on the back porch all afternoon (it wasn't so hot that day).  The kids played and played and played.  Owen had over 20k steps!

Early summer, before the really bad heat and humidity set in, is actually pretty nice.  It's a great time to be outside and soak up the sun.  The days are long and there is always something to do!

See ya,

Ryan, Sarah, Elsie, and Owen