Our 6S Full Life

Colorado Springs Day 1

We left Utah and headed out to Colorado. We watched the land change and cities come and go until we reached Colorado Springs. This would be our stop for the next two days. We did not have a set itinerary, but knew we wanted to go to Garden of the Gods and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. We stayed at the Garden of the Gods RV Park, it was clean but packed. Lots of people and not much room between spots. The little kids and Stephen enjoyed the arcade. D won two prizes from the claw game (she now thinks it is super easy) and Stephen set the top score on Gallga! The weather was beautiful and we ate outside for almost every meal.

On our first day we wanted to walk around Manitou and see the springs. Unfortunately there was no parking available for our second home. We decided to hike Garden of the Gods instead. We walked through the visitor center which was filled with information on the park and even a few knowledge games the kids loved. After eating a delicious lunch at the Bean Sprout Cafe. We watched a movie where we time travelled through history to see how the rock formations came to be. After our summer trip last year through Utah, our kids are experts at the idea of sediment, uplift, and erosion. It is always good to reinforce the concept and fun to see them predict what happened next. One of the main reasons we travel is to give our kids the gift of knowledge through doing.

After learning all about the park we headed out to see it. We walked 5 miles around the amazing rock formations. It was hot, and we definitely had some complaints among the crew, but we all enjoyed the overwhelming beauty of it all. The rocks are strikingly beautiful with reds, grays, and whites against the lush green trees and Pikes Peak still covered in snow in the background. The US is filled with amazing views everywhere and we are so lucky to get to see so many of them.

We were all happy to get back to our home and eventually back to the RV park where the kids and Stephen went to check out the pool while Jen made dinner. We finished the day with a fabulous evening of family dinner and games.

Dinosaur National Monument

From Salt Lake City we headed to the edge of Utah and Dinosaur National Monument. We do love to watch the scenery change as we drive. The US is filled with amazing scenery and all of it is so different we find surprised around every corner on our journey. Dinosaur NM is a place Stephen has wanted to return to since his family went when he was a child. While it has changed some in the last 30 years it did not disappoint.

We stopped at the Quarry visitor center then boarded the tram to the Quarry Exhibit Hall. While they are no longer excavating at the site fossils are everywhere. We had a good time identifying the bones and working through the Jr Ranger books. We spent over an hour in the center before deciding not to take the tram down and instead to hike back down the Fossil Discovery Trail.

Since it was mid afternoon in a dessert climate the hike was hot but beautiful. We were the only ones on the trail, which for most of the hike made for a very peaceful walk. The only exception was when C decided to get angry at a sibling for passing him, then he turned and went the opposite way ending up behind everyone and yelling at us to wait for him. Oh my! We all found some humor in this and he eventually calmed down and caught up.

On our hike the kids found fossilized clam shells, colorful rocks, amazing views, petroglyphs, and a little cave. By the end of the trail we were all running low on water and happy to see the visitors center again.

The kids finished their ranger books and received their badges (they now have 30 something). D was especially excited since this was the first book she completed all on her own!

After getting our badges we headed to camp at the Green River Campsite about 2 miles away. We drove around the camp areas and found a site available for that night. This was a dry camp but the views were beautiful and it was filled with kids. Our kids favorite parts of camping is running around with new friends until it is so dark we can only sit around the fire pit and watch stars. This is pretty much exactly how our evening went.

Our world is so big with more to see then we could ever get to, but at the same time it is small and we are all interconnected. This was clear as we talked to our kids newfound friends parents. One family lived outside of Houston, near where Stephen and I started our life together. The other family’s mom was a high school classmate of Stephen’s from North Carolina. Neither of us had any idea the other would be there yet on the edge of Utah we sat around a fire together. Just the worlds way of telling us how small it is.

The stars were amazing and we stayed up quite late laying on the benches watching the night get darker and picking out constellations. Another fabulous day in the books!

Utah

Our first stop in Utah was to visit Jen’s cousins in Salt Lake City. this was the perfect way to start our trip. Lucky for us we will be finishing our trip here as well! After a 5 hour drive from our Nevada stop everyone was ready to relax, splash in the pool, and enjoy a delicious dinner together. Grilling is always a 6S favorite!

With the time change we unexpectedly slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning with the kids. Then headed to Liberty park for lunch and the Tracy Aviary. We had the best tiny tour guides! The littlest kids of our group have been to the aviary before and told us all about the fast birds and the loud birds.

The kids ran around finding one cool bird after another. We absolutely loved all the different birds, even with all our travels and different zoo trips there were many birds here we had never seen before. Our big kids read as many signs as they could find. We were really impressed with how well everything was labeled.

After all that outdoor fun we headed back to the house to cool down and relax. The kids enjoyed hanging with their cousins and watching cartoons, classic Scooby Doo is always a hit! Then another evening of grilling but this time we got to enjoy celebrating a birthday and hanging out with our cousins neighbors. It is always a good time meeting new people, sharing stories, and enjoying the moment. These are the times that fill our life with joy and teach our children what is important.

Our USA Road Trip Take 2

It took a lot of packing (Jen) and planning (Stephen) but we are off on our second big family road trip. It was very hard to leave our home, pets, fruits trees, friends, and family for the entire summer. We will miss out on some of our favorite things being away this summer but we will have some amazing adventures and memories to last a lifetime. Now technically we are four days in so let’s catch you up.

We started our trip at Forbes campground at Sugar Pine Reservoir with friends, only an hour from home. Since the kids won’t be seeing their friends this summer it was great to start off with a weekend with them. This is one of our favorite day trips during the summer. Unfortunately with the current drought the reservoir is extremely low and muddier then usual. Even with low water levels a good time was still had by all. We brought our kayaks and paddle boards, sat around the campfire, enjoyed water ballon and watermelon eating contests, and the company of wonderful people. Jen’s mom and grandmother even joined the fun!

On our last night the RV cabin batteries died. After some trouble shooting we decided new batteries were needed. Stephen tried to get them that night but came back at midnight empty handed. Luckily the weather was nice and we turned the rv off till morning. We were able to acquire new batteries the next day. By the early afternoon we were on our way out of California and onto great adventures.

Our first stop was in the middle of Nevada in Winnemuca. This was just an overnight stop but the New Frontier RV Park was clean and friendly. We all got showers after our weekend of dry camping, did three loads of laundry, and enjoyed the first of many alfresco dinners this summer. In the morning we headed out on our way to Salt Lake City to visit family.

A New Beginning

We have been saying for years we need a family blog. Life is crazy and passes by quickly. What goes from being maybe next week becomes next year and then maybe the next. With our second major USA road trip in progress we decided to finally make the future now.

Our first posts will be mostly about our current trip, but we hope to eventually make posts on how we wrangle 4 kids, an urban farm, homeschool, and everything else that makes our full life.

We hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our lives. We can’t promise to always have amazing informative posts but we will be truthful, kind, and hopefully have some fun along the way.