We got donuts to celebrate 30 years in the Air Force on September 9th.
I had some use or lose leave, so I got to spend a day with Kristi. We hiked Garden of the Gods and then tried Sally’s diner for lunch; our first date in quite some time.
The kids continued thriving at Thomas MacLaren. On the morning of the 23rd, we decided to head to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. We left around 9:30 and drove through beautiful mountain country.
We made it to Florissant and ate snacks. Ella and Teddy were the only ones who wanted to do the program (Zach and Anna had done it a couple of times before).
A bus of senior citizens pulled up while we were snacking and talking to the ranger. I told Kris that we needed to hit the trail before the grey nomads started it (Bluey reference). We decided to hike the trail in reverse order.
We started down the trail on the clear, cool day. The kids ran ahead of us, chasing each other, looking at flowers and a cactus. An older gentleman told Teddy that he could find elk tracks just ahead. Teddy ran to his siblings and said, “A grey nomad told me there are elk tracks ahead!”
We walked through the forest, read signs, and looked at the fossilized redwoods. Kris took a lot of pictures of flowers. And us. We stopped at the biggest fossilized redwood tree and got some pictures from the benches next to it (again, like we did a few years ago).
The kids gave each other piggy back rides up and down the trail.
We finished the trail, got the badges, and went to Casa Grande in Woodland Park, the restaurant we had gone to a few times before the last time we lived here. The kids all got burgers. Kris and I shared fajitas and an enchilada.
We drove home and rested.
She gave him a smile with a future in it. 