Avoidance

I was standing in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher on a Saturday morning.    Thinking about all the chores that needed to be done.  The list kept getting longer and longer and I was feeling a little overwhelmed.   Avoidance....I thought.  I have to find Bryan.

I heard the lawn mower start and ran outside to start my avoidance tactic.  "Bryan, do you want to see if there is any rooms up at Grand Lake"?   We had talked earlier about going up the mountain to see the fall colors.  I was doubtful that there would be any rooms left on short notice....but, I took a chance.  And, it was one of those things in life that was just meant to be. You are in the right place at the right time and life just seems a little sweeter. 

I could officially avoid all the housework.  We were going to the mountains. 

Our room was booked and we started getting ready for our adventure not knowing how special it would really turn out to be.   A weekend of the unexpected.

We drove through Rocky Mountain National Park and it was magnificant.  The fall colors and the mountains were breathtaking.

On our way through the park we were able to see elk and big horn mountain sheep.  The boys were really excited to see the all the wildlife.

When we arrived at our cabin we overheard rumurs that Grand Lake was having a firework show.  We were surprised that there would be fireworks in the middle of October.  Our neighbor explained that they were unable to have their firework show in July because of the fire danger so, they moved the event to this weekend.  Wow.  It was amazing because we had the best view in all of Grand Lake from the porch of our cabin. We were perched on top of a hill overlooking the lake.  We didn't need to fight the traffic or people, we just needed to set up our lawn chairs.

 

The boys LOVED the fireworks!  Each firework was more exciting then the last and Eli kept everyone around us entertained by yelling "fire, daddy, fire".  It was an unexpected event that made our whole evening more exciting.

Bright and early the next morning we were up and ready to head out to hear the elk bugle.  Of course, the boys had to wait patiently for us to get ready.  Our boys never wait very patiently but, here they are trying their best.  Laying in their top bunk.....

In the quiet, still morning on our walk to the lodge....I heard my first elk bugle.  We couldn't see them but, we could sure hear them.  We all stopped on the path and stood for several moments and listened intently.  Another unexpected event that made my morning more special.   It was very cool!

After a quick breakfast we headed back to Rocky Mountain National Park and it wasn't long before we spotted a huge bull elk in a clearing.  We pulled over and spent some time watching and listening to the bugeling elk.

Here are the boys watching the elk.

It didn't take the boys long to run off and explore....trying to find a place to fish.  

Here are some pictures of the boys as we enjoyed the fall weather and listened to the elk.

Bryan and I love this picture.  We were trying to get the perfect picture with the mountains in the background.  Needless to say, we never quite got that perfect picture.  But, we love this one because it says so much about all three boys.  They certainly aren't going to pose nicely when asked.  Instead they will climb and play and be wild.

 After many attempts....the perfect picture of our little Eli.

"Mom, when can we fish"?  "Dad, are we going to go fishing?"  The boys were asking us every 5 minutes about fishing.  They had watched enough elk.

So, fishing we went.

As the boys fished, Eli and I walked around the lake and went to the Tahoe to take a nap.  Just as I was falling asleep, Gabriel knocked on the window.  "Mom, look at my fish". "I caught it all on my own".  He and his dad were very proud.  No help and he caught a big one!  Another unexpected event....realizing my son is old enough to fish on his own.

Eli and I wanted to watch the boys fish so we headed down to the dock.  The boys were having a great time.

 

And, Owen and daddy even caught a fish!

As Eli and I were standing by the water skipping rocks, I heard a strange noise from behind me.  It was some sort of grunting noise.  Who is that? I thought  And, I turned around.  Right behind me was a moose.  Way to close for comfort!   I froze and looked at Bryan with panic.  Then, I made sure that I was between the moose and Eli and I just stood very still.   Thankfully, he didn't pay a bit of attention to us and ran right by us. 

 

He was headed towards the river.....on some sort of mission.  He ran right by the boys and Bryan was able to snap a few pictures before he ran off.

 

Here is a picture of Gabriel watching the moose swim across the river. 

Really, I never wanted to be this close to a moose.   It was just another unexpected event that made my day more exiting and gives us a really cool story to tell.

As I look back over the weekend, I am so thankful that we decided to go instead of staying at home and doing chores.  There were so many pleasent surprises on our trip.  And, yes my avoidance tactic worked....for a little while anyway :)