We spent our fourth of July weekend in La Veta, CO with our dear friends the Farmers at their cabin. Our favorite part is the time spent catching up -- the babies aren't babies any more.
We went into Cuchara for the fourth. (Naomi misssed the trip because she had work shifts.)
Cute little parade in a cute little mountain town.
Travis took Sarah and Clifton out on bikes in the canyon.
And the kids did their annual fourth of July ride up and down the canyon as the sun set
Heading home with the Spanish Peaks in the background
Sarah freehand embroidered these little bugs on her skirt in anticipation of the upcoming Noah Kahan concert (stay tuned, coming in August!)
Chris and Sam visited from Michigan for a week with their kids and we spent a day up at Dave and Val's cabin
Doing cabin-y things like paddleboarding...
...and fishing -- Naomi trying out Jeremy's waders.
There were two moose hanging out by the lake.
Chris keeping a distance while trying to get pics.
Cousin Night at Red Rocks -- it's crazy to think how far we've come that we just let a bunch of teenagers loose on the town while we go to bed.
Jeremy locked in as driver, not taking his eyes off the road for a pic.
This was some of our kids first trip to the iconic Red Rocks as well.
Mini DeVotchKa concert followed by a showing of Little Miss Sunshine
They spent a few days painting a customized Jenga set for the Hartemink family -- featuring blocks for each cousin, memories from various family reunions, etc.
A night in Lyons down by the creek
Sarah riding the rapids
Naomi and Lily prefered floating and watching the rapids
The gang at the start of Mt Sanitas
Almost to the top
At the top!
Always easier on the way down...
Exploring Pearl Street in Boulder
Summer sunsets at the lake with Longs Peak in the background
While the rest of us were out having fun, Annika was working every day with the Boulder County Youth Corps, doing trail maintenance at Buttonrock Reservoir. Someone's gotta pay the bills.
Window shopping in downtown Longmont.
Naomi and Lily got up early to do some watercolors of the mountains.
We played pickleball one morning -- somehow I have no photos of parental dominance, but Sarah did get this photo of Naomi pretending to be a pickleball player
Cooling off in the pool (since our AC broke during the hottest week of the summer when we also happened to have company...)
Timothy lost a bet.
The girls dyed a section of their hair in solidarity.
With the bros -- just missing Alex!
Family dinner!! 💙
Last night -- paddleboarding at the lake at sunset.
Cousin Harry Potter Clue
We went and watched the new Denver Summit women's professional soccer team at their first home game in their temporary stadium.
Sarah and her team were on the field for warm ups!
I may have never been hotter in my entire life.
After the game Annika got this selfie with Sophia Wilson (Smith)!
And Sarah got her signature on a soccer ball!
And Lindsay Heaps (Horan)!!
Totally made their year!
We spent an evening playing Top Golf
Where we learned that only Clifton should be allowed to play golf.
But the rest of us had fun being terrible.
Annika climbed Mt Sherman with her friend Grace and her coach Nikki.
Lots of dog swaps happening this summer. At one point we had these four crazies.
Annika on lunch breaks at work this summer -- not so bad.
Annika cut her finger on a saw at work, had exactly this much blood and promptly passed out. At least she's done it enough that she was able to tell her team leader not to worry, because she was about to pass out. And then she did. Med school not so much in her future.
Wrapped up July by heading to Oklahoma. I don't love an 11 hour car ride, but as Naomi gets ready to fly the nest, I feel extra grateful for the time we have together, seeing this amazing sunset, and blaring old VBS songs and the Hamilton sountrack as we all belt it out. Full heart.
