Hunter exploring...
Here's Gary on the first day... we flew in that morning. We all hiked out to the copper mine, and he's just coming back up out of it. Nathan and Hunter are in the background -- they made it all the way back with Ben. 
Felicity and Grandy
Here's Ben going into one of the old mining shacks. Notice the copper-dust on his rear... they all slid down the hill to get down faster! I wish I had a picture of all of their backsides!
Nathan is inside the mining cabin. He had such a great time!
Hunter here, in the same cabin.
Getting ready to start a fire in the fire pit. Roasting marshmallows for S'mores, and hot dogs. So delicious!
My lungs could only take blowing up one layer of this pool. (Out of 3) But it made it just right for the kids to be able to get in and out by themselves.Other highlights...
On Monday, Nathan, Ben and some other adults went on a big 6 hr hike down the Gunnison. Nathan did really great! He was so glad that he went. While they were gone, Hunter, Gary, Felicity and I got the pool filled. We played in that for a little while, then we packed a picnic, and drove out to the alabaster mine. We explored the cabins there, and had a picnic lunch. Hunter and Gary both got to help drive back!
One day, Ben and I took all the boys fishing at the lake. We took turns going out in the boat. Nathan was lucky enough to catch a trout! He was very pleased. Ben helped him clean it, and I cooked it, and we all ate it! Yummy!!
We went up to Grand Junction one day and spent some time at a dinosaur museum. It had a lot of really neat things to see, and to interact with. The boys had a blast! Then we went to McD's for ice cream cones, and some play time, then we drove through the National Park there, and did a little hiking.
One of the days, Nathan, Ben and Hunter left with a bunch of others, and went white water rafting in Telluride. It was an 8 mile ride, and Ben said they did really great until about the last 15 min.... at that point they were too cold to have much more fun. They had a great time telling me all about it when they got home, though. They loved it!
Hunter, Ben, Grandy and I took a couple mile hike out to the gold mine! I'd never been out to it before, and it was incredible! The rocks around it and getting up to it were just beautiful! There were so many that I wanted to take home -- all different colors and kinds. Ben picked out a few huge ones to decorate our living room with someday! The scenery was amazing. You have to be there to believe it. On that hike Ben and Hunter went off exploring while Grandy and I rested, and came back quicker than expected... turns out they had come across some deer pelt. Ben figured it had been killed by a mountain lion, and decided that was our cue to head back to the ranch! It turns out he was right about it being killed by a mountain lion, but it was killed back in the winter. (we talked to the ranch caretaker about it)
Everyone had such a great time, and we were sooooo not ready to leave. Ben says next time we're going to have to stay for a month! All the kids did a great job on the plane both to and from. Everything went very smoothly and we can't wait to do it again!
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