National Wildlife Federation's "Hike & Seek"

Andrew had his first of three MCSA certification tests on Saturday (he passed!). I told him that the kids and I would keep busy so he could spend the morning studying without interruption. I stumbled across an advertisement for a kids' event called "Hike & Seek." It's an event hosted by the National Wildlife Federation in a number of different cities around the country. While ours in Denver was last weekend, there are others in October and November in different parts of the country. The website said it's an event designed for kids ages 3-10. Each city has a hike that's between 1 and 2 miles long (ours was 2 miles). There are stations set up along the hiking path for kids to learn about trees and various animals. It sounded fun! I wasn't sure if I could do the hike by myself, so I asked my parents if I could sign them up, too. I'm so glad I did because it took all three of us to juggle the two kids!

On Saturday morning, we set out for Carson Nature Center in Littleton, near the Mineral lightrail station off of Santa Fe. I'd never been to this nature center before. It's really stunning, although it is very close to the highway. The event wasn't too busy when we arrived. We quickly found a parking spot, helped ourselves to some coffee Starbucks had donated, and spoke with a man who got Oliver set up with a notebook and backpack. There was someone dressed as a raccoon for the event, and Oliver was not happy about that. 

Oliver had been looking forward to the hike, but, once we started out, he just had meltdown after meltdown. We ended up putting him in the stroller for the hike and carrying Jo.

At the first station, we learned about trees. Oliver was grumpy at first but then enjoyed picking a leaf for Jo and one for himself. They made leaf imprints, and he got a sticker for his notebook. He was still too grumpy to walk, but things were improving!

At the second station, Oliver learned about amphibians. He told my mom he got to color a picture of a frog because he couldn't say, "salamander." He did get a frog sticker, though.

The third station was about birds, and Oliver started to get really into the stations. He wanted to go to each one to get a sticker. Once he was interested, his mood drastically improved. He agreed to walk so Jo could ride in the stroller. That made it a lot easier!

Joanna was very easy-going throughout the event. She loved looking at all the trees and playing with the rocks and dirt. At one point, a woman from the National Wildlife Federation came up with a camera and asked to take Jo's picture as she played in the rocks. I wonder if we'll see her on their website or on their Facebook page!

Here's my dad by the Platte River, wearing Oliver's Ranger Rick backpack.

Oliver walked almost all the way from station 3 to station 4, which was probably about a third of a mile. Then, he needed a break, and Jo got to hike with Grandma Judy.

When we got close to the next station, Oliver wanted to hike again. I was so happy that he started to get into it!

At the mammal station, Oliver learned about smell. He was a little mad that the person running the station wouldn't let him have the mammal sticker for his notebook until he smelled all four of the scented boxes they had set out around the immediate area, but then he got really into it! He ran around with grandma and smelled them all.

Here's Jo running up a hill on the way to the last station!

When we finished, Oliver was getting cranky again. He didn't want to see the animals on display, but Jo was eager to look at the bald eagle and owl with me.

The Hike & Seek event was a lot of fun for us, but I thought the hike was a little too long for little ones. Almost all of the other kids we saw at the event were a little older--school aged. I think those kids got more out of the stations, too, but Oliver still enjoyed going and getting his stickers. It was really nice to get Oliver outside and exploring, so it was a definite win. I would do this again as long as I had help juggling the kiddos like I did this time! It was perfect for family groups.

Colorado Hikes: Roxsborough State Park

Happy Labor Day weekend! Andrew's up in the mountains with some friends, and my aunt and uncle are in town from Iowa. We decided to check out Roxborough. I'd actually never been there before, even though it's a popular day hike.

The day was perfect for hiking. We have had the craziest weather for Colorado, and I love it. It was overcast and cloudy, as it has been for much of this past month. It made for cooler temperatures and good hiking weather. I don't recommend doing this hike with kids on a hot, sunny day because there was no shade. It wasn't a problem at all for us today!

Unless you have a state parks pass, the entrance fee is $7. I didn't even think of that when I agreed to go with my family. Thankfully, my dad offered to buy our entrance fee! My mom brought her jogging stroller along. What would I do without my parents?

The main trail that we took (the Fountain Valley Trail) is mostly flat. We accessed it from the visitor's center. As we walked, there were a few lookout points to hike up to. We chose to do those, and they weren't all that easy with little kids. I wouldn't have been able to do those parts with the kids myself.

After the first part of the hike, we switched and put Oliver in the stroller. I carried Jo almost the rest of the way! At one point, my mom tried to relieve me, but Jo wasn't having it.

We left the stroller behind to hike up to Lyons Overlook. Oliver hiked up there himself! It was beautiful.

There was sand near the overlook that the kids played in. Oliver declared that it was brown sugar.

We didn't do the full loop. My dad helped me get the kids back to the visitor's center after Lyons Overlook. The visitor's center was air conditioned, and the kids got to color and relax. It was nice. They had a board on the wall that marked all the animals people have reported seeing and on what days. There have been a lot of black bear sightings recently! In July, there were a lot of mountain lion sightings, so definitely don't let any little kids wander off.

Happy (Early) Anniversary!

Andrew's aunt and uncle are coming into town from Texas next weekend, so we made plans to celebrate our wedding anniversary (6 years!) a week early. Grandparents watched the kids, and we spent the weekend in the mountains! For the first day, it felt really, really nice to have some space from the kids. I started to miss them today, and, by the evening, I was happy to be home to them. Sometimes, a couple days away is exactly what I need!

Andrew and I tried to hike to Hanging Lake with the kids last year. When we got to the trailhead, we saw that it pretty much went straight up. There was no way we could hike it with the kiddos. We had to turn around then, but we tackled it this weekend together! The trail was hard because it was so steep, but we had a lot of fun. I even packed a picnic for us to eat when we made it to the top! It was stunning. We had a great time.

I blogged about our mountain adventures on my travel blog. Those entries are here. 

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the hike:

This afternoon, Andrew took me berry picking (again!) at the Goose Creek Trail in Lost Creek Wilderness. We didn't have to hike very far at all! We found dozens of raspberry bushes all along the trail. I picked them and tried to decide what I would tell Oliver we could make with them. He loves making new things. Maybe we will try to make a raspberry-topped cheesecake.

 

The kids got to hike, too! My parents took them to Rocksborough State Park. Apparently, the kids were more interested in exploring the dirt and rocks than hiking, but they had a good time!

Picking Wild Raspberries at Meyer Ranch

This morning, we took the kids on a short drive up to Meyer Ranch Park near Conifer. From Denver, all you need to do is take 285 south to S Turkey Creek Road. When you exit the highway, there is a parking lot just on the south side of the highway. We parked there and hiked with the kids for about a mile (mostly uphill). We stopped when we finally spotted some of the wild raspberries.

I read the first week of August is usually the best time for wild raspberries, but Andrew and I are busy all next weekend, so we decided to check it out today. I'm glad we did! There were enough ripe raspberries right off the trail to keep us busy for 15-20 minutes. We saw even more raspberries that weren't ripe yet, so next weekend should be a great time for others to pick.

The hike up was difficult because we had to carry the kids much of the way. If we go again, we might try out a stroller next time because the (unpaved) path was pretty smooth most of the way up!

There were a few forks in the path. We mostly stayed south and west at the forks. When we turned onto the Lodgepole Loop trail, we finally spotted raspberries! Andrew said there are many more off the trail, but we didn't want to venture too far from the trail with the kiddos. So, we picked the ones right on the edge of the path.

Jo wasn't so sure about trying the raspberries at first.

Oliver, who had been grumpy about the hike, immediately perked up when we found berries to pick!

You can see the Foxloop Trail behind Andrew. So, we didn't need to go off the beaten path really at all to get raspberries!

After finally trying the raspberries, Joanna couldn't get enough! She wasn't too keen on picking them for herself, but she eagerly ate the ones we gave her. "More!" she said with mouthfuls of raspberries.

At first, Oliver just ate them all. I finally convinced him to save some, and he kept talking about how he wanted to show "Baby Sawyer" the raspberries he picked.

This part of the trail was nice and forested and shady.

Me and my berry picker!

Check out his loot!

 

Oliver was so happy from berry picking that he ran the entire way back to the car! Going back down the trail and not carrying kids was a lot easier than going up!

My berry-pickin' family.

This was my first time ever picking wild fruit. It was fun! Sure, hiking uphill for a mile while holding 25 pounds wasn't easy, but it was worth it once we started picking.