Raymond Cousin Camp

The day after we drove back to Boston from Ohio, we got on an airplane (this time with Scott - yay!) and flew to Colorado for a reunion with his siblings and their families. We rented a house in Breckenridge and made the most of the many outdoorsy things to do there.

 We went to this "pump track" a few times during the week. The kids had a blast zipping around this man-made mountain biking course.

 Pretty much every single day ended with a dip in the backyard hot tub. Phoebe especially loved it. We went to a rec center where the hot tub was limited to ages 16+ and she was ticked off at that. "I'm coming back in nine years," she said.

We rode the free gondola from town up to the ski resort. Once we got to the resort, there were all kinds of ways to blow money so we got back in the gondola and rode down.

 More pump track. More smiles.

 We had a baby shower for Lana, who is pregnant with her fourth child. She got lots of girly clothes and the kids devoured all the desserts we made.

 I did some running while there, but not as much as I'd originally intended. I think I forgot just how much of a different altitude makes. Our cabin was just above 10,000 feet in elevation, so the first two days I had a headache, felt nauseated, and was super tired and sluggish. Scott and Bruce had headaches. Oliver and Phoebe threw up. The elevation just killed us low-landers. So those first two days I didn't run much, and the rest of the week I still felt like I was gasping for air the whole time. I did get a few beautiful runs in though; pictured above is Quandary Peak at 14,265 feet. I hiked to the top, then ran down and back to the cabin.

It rained almost every afternoon in Breckenridge, so we often went to the rec center. The kids loved the slides and pools; they could have just done that for the whole week and been satisfied.

 We went whitewater rafting one day. I didn't get a picture (too wet/ crazy for cameras and phones), so here is Bruce getting lunch afterward in Leadville (home to one of the most famous distance races ever). The rafting was really pretty though and just barely out-of-my-comfort-zone gnarly.

 A big group went biking down a canyon one day. I was the shuttle bus driver. Scott pulled Oliver in a carriage and Bruce biked it too. Phoebe wanted to hang out with her younger cousins that day, so she went scootering with them instead.

 At the end of the bike ride was a great little park, a big lake, and a well-deserved picnic.

This is the view of the driveway from the cabin's front porch: if you look closely, you'll see a moose crossing it! Phoebe spotted it first and was very proud of herself.

One day we went to an old mine and went panning for gold. We got a little lesson and spent an hour or so trying to get some gold. The kids found itty bitty flecks and saved them in vials and are planning on getting really filthy rich someday.

We watched lots of Olympics at the cabin. Lots of swimming, track and field, gymnastics. We also watched fencing, which Oliver decided was the coolest thing ever: "LIGHTSABERS!"

On the final day of our trip, we drove to Scott's parents' house in Pueblo and relaxed. The kids played in the river and played with Bridger the Dog. Phoebe claims to have trained Bridger to lay down using only her mind power. That night they drove us to the airport and we took a red-eye flight back to Boston. We flew JetBlue and Phoebe was excited about the free snacks and TVs. She fell asleep just before boarding and woke up as we landed, so was disappointed to have missed out. Bruce and Oliver slept too, and Scott and I dozed on and off. We were happy to get home and into bed for a few hours!