Great Sand Dunes National Monument

We got back from our Colorado trip almost a month ago!!  Hopefully I can finish blogging everything soon because there's other things I want to blog about.  It was a little overwhelming going through about 700 pictures.  Anyway, after we stayed at Palo Duro Canyon for a couple of days, we went to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado.  Here is the boys' campsite.  That big brown thing is a bear box.  Apparently they get bear in the campgrounds so we have to keep all food and trash in the boxes.  We've never seen any bears here though, except at the restaurant that's about 5 miles from the campgrounds.

We saw lots of deer!

My pictures are out of order, but the next few are from a bike hike Tony and the guys did at a big mountain called Crestone.  Looks like they found a pretty spot to stop at for lunch!

And a good climbing tree.  If you look really close, you can see Anton in the middle of that tree.

Close up of person in tree - it's John!

Breakfast at the campsite.

More deer.

Tony had fun taking some pretty sunset pictures one night.

The girls liked putting on Tony's straw hat.

Here's few family/group shots taken right outside the restaurant..  You can see the dunes in the background with the Sangro de Cristo mountain range behind them.  The boys saw a bear here one night.  They were inside eating and saw the bear outside the window.  Too bad we weren't with them!  We actually had a wild animal scare one night.  I always take the girls to the bathroom in the middle of the night to avoid accidents (sleeping bag with no washing machine - don't want to take any chances).  One night I was bringing Anna back from the bathroom when I heard Tony say "there's something by Junior's food bowl!"  I looked over where we fed Junior and saw some glowing eyes in the dark!!!!  I jumped in the tent so fast!!!!!  Normally I'm not freaked out by wild animals.  I worked at an adventure camp one year where there were 3 bears around almost every day.  I just yelled at them to go away and they would run off.  But somehow being in the dark with my small children changed things a little bit.  I laid there with my finger on my car alarm and listened to the animal scuff around for a while.  My silly dog, who was in the tent and who barks at EVERYTHING, DID NOT MAKE A SOUND THE WHOLE TIME!!!!  The next morning we investigated the area and only saw small tracks that was probably a deer or maybe a coyote.  I don't think I'll ever forget to put Junior's dog bowl in the bear box again though!!!  (it was empty, but just the crumbs attracted the critter).

My little cuddle bunny!!

We all hiked up to a pretty waterfall one day.  It's a nice short hike (1/2 mile uphill) but about the max the girls could do. 

At the trailhead.  We had to drive up a ways on a gravel road to get to it.  It's called Zapata falls if anyone wants to know.  The dunes and Sangre de Cristos are in the background.

A few pictures from our campsite...

This was Anna's idea. :)

It was a little chilly in the mornings and evenings and pretty hot during the day.

Those little specks on top of the dunes are the boys. At least that's what we think. Tony took this picture from the campground.

More pictures from the guys big hike at Crestone.

I love watching her sleep.  Anna wakes up before I do about 99% of the time, so I don't get to take pictures like this of her.

Junior liked the dunes too.

I took the girls on the dunes one night.  They loved it!

Sand angels...

random out of order picture at campsite.

We spent a few mornings around this spot at the base of the dunes.  It was too hot during the day for me to want to take the girls on the dunes, but they were content to play in the sand in the shade. 

Facebook will be forcing me to convert to the timeline format in a few days (which I do not like at all).  I think I will use this picture though.  Tony helped them write their names in the sand with a big stick.

The girls liked to visit the boys at their campsite a lot.  Somehow I didn't manage to get any pictures of them there.  It was 3 campsites down the road from us.

More waterfall pictures...

The actual waterfall is behind that big crack behind Anton.  He and Tony carried them up to see it.  You had to wade a little bit in the freezing cold snow-melt-off mountain stream to get up there.  I REALLY don't like cold water, and I had been up there a couple of years ago, so I just watched from the bank.

The boys rented a snowboard and a sled to play with one day.

There they go...

The girls and I stayed in our shady spot and enjoyed a little nature program with one of the park rangers.  He had a salamandar (sp?) that he let the kids hold.  SO EXCITING!!!!  We were planning to take a turn with the board/sled later in the afternoon when it wasn't so hot, but there was a thunderstorm.  Luckily the girls had so much fun doing other stuff they didn't seem to feel like they missed out.

The ranger was goofy.  We were imitating some kind of bug that kicks his legs up on the sand.

Later on we were at the visitors center and the ranger let the girls come back to his office to see his other salamandar.

On the day that the boys went to Crestone, I took the girls into the town of Alamosa.  It just so happens that a good friend from my former life lives there.  This is her little girl Edith.  She just turned 3.  The girls had fun playing while we visited.

 This is Mandy.  I worked with her at an adventure camp ministry in 2002 (the place with the 3 bears).  She's one of the coolest people I've ever met.  I love the outdoors, but it was something I didn't discover in my mid-twenties, so I had a lot to learn about enjoying certain things like backpacking and mountain adventures (and scaring off bears).  Mandy spent many a summer as a backpacking guide, so she was a great mountain girl mentor, and also a great Christian sister.  We had lots of adventures together camping and hiking up mountains.  Her husband runs an adventure program at a little college in town, which was only about 45 minutes from our campsite.  It was SO FUN to spend the day with her and Edith!!!

 The girls got some Junior Park Ranger booklets from the visitors center, and we had to do some nature type activities in it. 

 Then we took the books back to get inspected and they officially became Junior Rangers and got a pin.  So cool!!!

 After 4 nights camping we packed up and headed north.  I was a little nervous about 6 nights camping (2 were at Palo Duro), but it was great.  We managed to get in a couple of showers.  I so love God's beautiful mountains!!!  More to come!