River R&R - the best way to relax!

It's relaxing for me just looking at this picture. My river rat boys enjoying their spot. We returned from almost 5 days at the river this evening and we are reluctant to get back to reality. It was great to have a lot of time with Tracy.

A chairs and towels fort on the deck.

Someone added this beautiful green wrought iron bench to a road next to the river recently and I was so happy to see it and instantly planned the photos I would take with it. There is some of our stretch of the Colorado river that we love.

Look really close - there is a white shell on the end of his pointer finger.

Dana, Genni and my little baby niece who took her first trip to the river this time.

Flyin' kites and hangin' out at our favorite river beach.

It was windier than normal on this trip so we got several good kite flying sessions in.

TMac and his cousin flying kites. They were really good at it.

There are 5 little black tadpoles in this sand bucket. Usually the tadpoles swim away too fast and we can't catch any but there were hundreds of tiny tadpoles that were really lazy and totally catchable. It was weird how they didn't move at all, even when you were going to step right on top of them. I bet we did step on some because they were that lazy. In almost 7 or 8 years of going to the river I have never seen lazy tadpoles like this. TMac was loving it.

Tracy was able to get some good fishing time in several times and one afternoon Tracy and TMac fished for almost 4 hours while Tot and I napped which was so great for me!

The boys loved to run on Dana's boat while it was anchored on the shore (don't worry - you can't tell from this photo but below the grass is several feet of dirt/sand and then very shallow water for a few feet so no lifejackets are needed). I love how Tot is just laying down and relaxing while staring at the water. It was a simple trip this time with no pontoon boat or jet skis because it's maintenance time for all of our toys but it was great to have Dana's boat there to cruise in.

Popsicle time!

Nap time!

More playin' on the boat at the shore. The photo looks so dangerous but it's just the angle of the shot. I have plenty of photos of crying boys who are unhappy in their lifejackets!

More kite flying.

Blanket fort in one of the motorhome bunk beds.

I don't know why I get such a kick out of cutting open those little cereal boxes to make the cereal boats where you pour the milk right in but I do!

Strawberries, marshmallow dip and some TV after a fun filled day. Life is good.

When we get to our park and motorhome we usually just drive right by it to go straight to the water and see what the water level is and say hi. Well, when we got to the water the boys wanted to go straight in without changing out of our driving clothes and into swim trunks first so that is what they did. It's still a little cold this time of year in the water since it is snow melt run off from the mountains of Colorado but that doesn't stop my boys. Look at the joy on their faces (it took TMac a little longer to get out to Tracy's depth from the shore because he was reluctant at first but Tot was laughing and all smiles). Another side story is that whenever Colorado is getting bad snow storms Tracy is so happy because their snow becomes our river water so when he hears on the news that there are blizzards and schools shut down in Colorado he is cheering!

The very first dip of this trip = happy boys.

Good times. We hung out, we swam, fished, ate, BBQ'ed, napped, slept in, laughed and lot's of playing and relaxing. We can't wait to get out there again!

One other story that cracked me up - One of the nights TMac had played hard all day and right before falling asleep said to me, "Mom, I want to go home." I was shocked. Then tears start rolling down his face and he's doing an honest, heartbroken cry and he says, "I have to color every day!" He really does spend hours every day coloring and cutting out his paper creations so he was upset that days had gone by without coloring. He told me that we could never go on a trip again without his art supplies and huge roll of paper. It tugs on my heart when he is honestly sad. It was so cute that I was trying to be serious and not laugh. We did so many fun things while we were there but he must color every day!