Lunch by the Arkansas River

Joel packed a picnic lunch and we were off to the Arkansas River to this great little spot that Joel's sister Ashley showed us. The drive to where you park is a bit sketchy and from there it's about a mile hike. We got to the fire road and to our surprise it was now a private drive and the road was graded with no trespassing signs posted. We of course checked it out and sure enough there is a new home being built at the top of the hill. We turned around and found another spot to park. We were in for an adventure as we were not sure of the trail and the terrain is pretty rocky. We did carry both kids the whole time (and neither of them are light) but it was worth it. We all had a great time.

Super-dad. Evie loves riding on Joel's shoulders but it made Ethan fussy. Turns out he is a little cramped for space with Evie's bottom basically in his face. She got mad because he was shoving her out of his way.

Joel and Ethan scoping out where we need to go from here....

Mommy's turn to give sauce-pants a ride...

We made it to our destination but there were a few rafters using the picnic table area. It's a good spot for them to stop and have lunch. Occasionally there are campers also.

Evie loved waving to the rafters - I think they loved it too.

Evie's grandma Joyce got this swimsuit for her and I love it! I love the sun protection, that it's stylie and that it's comfortable. I just ordered her one for next year. If you're interested the site is: http://www.tugasunwear.com/

Ethan is such a foodie. I thought it was cute that he was just chilling with his hand on Joel's shoulder waiting for Joel to unpack his lunch. He was so curious about what was in the bag.

To be able to play in the mud and then walk over to the river and wash up and then do it all over again...Evie was in Heaven!

Evie was pretending to be a swamp monster

It was convincing too...I didn't want her to touch me

There is our 'solid' Ethan. "Husker football here I come"

Ethan enjoyed an apple as big as his face. I'm not sure where it's going to go...his belly is so full from lunch. He kept digging around in the lunch bag every time we turned our back and pulled something else out of there. He only dropped the apple on the ground about 10 times. A little dirt and sand never hurt anyone, right?

And the cherry pit spitting contest. Unfortunately, and I still can't believe it, but our camera wound up in the water yet again...so this is the last picture I have from our day. It's drying out again but unfortunately there is sand everywhere possible. I have never dropped our camera before let alone in the water and this trip to Colorado our camera has been in the water twice! Thankfully Joel was the culprit this time - which somehow makes me feel a little better. We're still hoping it comes back to life.