Monday

We started out the day with a fantastic breakfast of bacon & eggs made
by Ty!

We took a short drive to the town of Grand Lake. Just past there is a
short hiking trail called "Adam's Falls." It was very pretty! There
were some little water falls and beautiful scenery. The hike was so
short & easy even the kids could do it without any problems. In fact,
they were constantly a few steps ahead of us!

We went back to Grand Lake and stopped at a little gift shop thinking
maybe they would have a yellow airplane for Blake. They did. But, it
wasn't a J-3 Piper Cub so he wasn't interested. He just wants to talk/
whine about the yellow airplane at home. I think what he's doing is
called "stimming." It's self-stimulation that some autistic children
do to show excitement (good or bad) or to calm themselves. I think
he's trying to calm himself because we are so far out of his routine
and so far away from everything that is familiar to him back home. Or,
he could be expressing some excitement/anger that he's too
uncomfortable with being this far away from home. Anyway, it's not
easy to deal with and sometimes it sucks the life out of me. Mostly
because I don't know what to do about it.

After the gift shop meltdown we had a nice lunch on the lake shore in
town. The kids played in the ice cold water for a little bit and then
enjoyed some ice cream. These seemed to calm Blake down for a while.

After lunch, Ty & Linda took us to Monarch Lake. It was gorgeous! We
walked a little trail to the part where you see the kids' pictures
below. We would have liked to have gone further and stayed longer but
the mosquitos were THICK! We still enjoyed it and didn't let them
ruin the afternoon.

After that busy day we headed back to camp. The big kids rode bikes,
while the little ones and I colored. Ty & Linda made some delicious
chicken burritos for dinner. They were so good! It kind of reminded
me of Q'Dobas but better. Luckily they gave us the left overs for when
we hit the road again. Thanks guys!!!

After dinner we watched the movie "RV." It's funny and worth a rental
if you'd been wanting to see it. We had to show it to them because it
takes place in Colorado.

After all that we sat around the campfire and made s'mores and
visited. It was a good day full of beautiful scenery and great friends!

Tommorrow we start heading towards MT. We plan to get there
Wednesday. I'm hoping for a somewhat peaceful drive !

Brandy