Chips the Racoon ~

The Chips saga continues...tonight as i pulled in late, tired from a day in town shopping, Chips tried to help me unload the groceries from the car! Seriously...he came over and tried to take a bag out of my hands...damn near tore the bag open. When i told him i didnt need any help, he tried to follow me into the house with the bag. When i shut the screen door, he went back to the trunk to see if he could get some of the other bags....little stinker. I had to toss him a biscuit so i could unload the rest of the car (each time, having to close the trunk to keep him out of there). Justin decided to come outside and help unload the car...and then had a little talk with Chips. It didnt help that he was eating a burrito when he went out there to chat with him, the tease! Im not sure if you can tell by the photos or not...but this racoon is HUGE! I tried to get a few shots with Justin and Jordyn for scale, but not sure if you can tell from these. Anyways, when we were done unloading the car, Chips snooped around the car trying to figure out a way in in case i left any important bags inside. Im sure he'll be back after we go to bed for a late night snack!

 After demolishing the biscuit, Jordyn tosses Chips an apple slice to distract him while we unload the car.   I think Chips weighs as much as Jordyn.

 Justin gets serious with Chips, and keeps a pole handy in case Chips decides not to keep his distance. heheheh...When i was unpacking groceries, i had to put my shoe up near him to keep him back, since i didnt have a stick for protection. I dont think it helps that hes eating a burrito while he chats with him. Chips is clearly distracted by the food...and not listening to a word hes saying.

 Chips gives me a sad look as he longs for his own burrito....Justin, however,  knows better than to take his eyes off of Chips for even a second. heheheheh

 Justin still talking with Chips about neighbor etiquette and not being greedy...Chips can only focus on the burrito and hears nothing of what he says!

Justin appears to be training Chips for the circus...however, he was really trying to keep Chips off the wood pile, since he was trying to climb up on it to get closer to that burrito.
And that concludes tonights story of Chips the Racoon.  Stay tuned for more adventures with Chips!

The Last of the Fall Colors ~

 Seems im getting wayyyyy behind on blog posts :(  Dont mind me while i try to get  caught up! :)

 Lots of girl scout activities took place the last few weeks...so stay tuned for those photos as well!

 In the meantime, enjoy these gorgeous shots of the canyon colors before they all blew away!

oh...and a shot of the locals too :)

Fezes Are Cool!

 Time for our annual Halloween photo shoot!  If you arent familiar with the show Doctor Who, then this costume wont make any sense to you...but my little Whovian wanted to be the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith)...her favorite!  So here she is...fez and all!  Geronimo....

Happy Halloween...Bring on the Candy!

Dinosaur Ridge and Casa Bonita ~

 National Fossil Day was October 11th at Dinosaur Ridge and also Girl Scout Day, so naturally, we had to go check it out!  Justin was able to come with us this time, so that was fun!  First stop...visiting Mr. Bones!  The girls love Mr. Bones, and he's the highlight of their trip!

 There were over a dozen booths set up for the girls to learn and explore...they learned about erosion...

 panned for gold and gems...

 painted fossils...

 sifted through rocks to find fossils and teeth...

 explored the museum of dinosaurs...

 

then ventured back outside for more booth fun!

Then it was time to take the shuttle up the hill to check out the dinosaur bones and footprints...

 this booth taught the girls about earthquakes...

and how Red Rocks Ampitheater came to be!

 This is one of my favorite spots...lots of dinosaur footprints...

 What a great time we had!  A big thanks goes out to my drivers...Brian, Angie and Justin!  Without your support these adventures wouldn't be possible!

I hope the girls had as much fun as i did!  We LOVE dinosaurs!!!  Did you know the state fossil of Colorado is the Stegasaurus, and the first Stegasaurus was found in Colorado!  Cool Stuff!

Next Stop...Casa Bonita!

 

I worked it out ahead of time that the girls that rode in our car would spend the night at our place...that way we could take our time at the gift shop at dinosaur ridge at the end of the day, and if we wanted to go to pizza somewhere or stop in town on the way home, we could.  Well, Justin and i had a thought...since we were so close to that end of town, why not stop at Casa Bonitas!  We didnt say anything, but just pulled into the parking lot as a surprise.  Well, as it turns out, Jordyn was the only one who recognized where we were...Nicole and Rehna had never been there, so they had no idea what they were in for, and Jordyn couldnt wait to get them inside!  :)

The girls quickly ate their dinner, then headed off to explore the restaurant!  If you've never been to Casa Bonitas, its quite a treat, and a tradition in our family!  Every year when we came out to visit as kids, we always looked forward to our adventure at Casa Bonitas.  There's even an entire episode devoted to it on South Park :)

We dined right above the Sopaipilla stand, with a pretty nice view!  After dinner, it was time to check out Black Barts Cave...

and of course the cliff divers and water shows...

And of course, the gift shop!  I have never been here during October, and they had all kinds of really cool Halloween decorations about!

We even timed it perfectly to enjoy the puppet show!

And what trip to Casa Bonitas would be complete without an old-timey photo!  Look at our cute little thieves!

Exhausted but filled with memories, we headed home!  Two hours was a looooong drive home after all that, but it was totally worth it!  Jordyn fell asleep in the car right before we got home, while Rehna and Nicole were still wide awake!  When we pulled in, Jordyn headed up to her room and went to bed.  I asked her, "dont you want to sleep in the living room with your friends?"...She said, "No...goodnight!"  She was so wiped out!  :) Rehna and Nicole stayed up for another hour before i finally made them shut out the lights...but im pretty sure they were ready for bed too!

What a great day!