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Last fall break we made a trip to Hammond’s Candy factory. I thought that would be something fun for Nathan, Evie, Allie, & Katie. They have free tours, and then they have a candy store. All of their candies are homemade, even the marshmellows are homemade. So after lunch we loaded up in the bus and the suburban, and headed into Denver to the candy factory. Andrea drove the suburban and I drove the bus. It took a little longer to get there since we had to take the bus. We made it though, and it took long enough that Katie and Olivia got a little nap. The kids seemed to have a good time, and there were several people in the factory making candy so they got to see first hand how they make all there candies. I took a few pictures here they are.

Thursday after school Chloe and I left for a father-daughter camping adventure. With it being so late in the season, many of the roads to reach many of the trailheads were closed, or too far to make it before dusk. For this reason our destination on this trip was Mt. Bierstadt We made through Guanella pass early enough to stop and admire the view before heading on to find a place to pitch camp. Over the pass and down into the valley we found some great disbursed camping spots and decided on one. Being so late in the year we saw nobody during the evening, and only heard a few automobiles pass through the area. We spent the evening enjoying some backpacking instant food and coco around the fire. Another event of note is that Chloe lost another tooth, and seemed quite relieved to have it gone. As the stars came out we both headed to the tent for some rest. Chloe was fine, but I froze over the night. I had only packed my 40 degree sleeping bag and quite honestly was not prepared for the temperature to drop below the freezing point. Lesson learned, and I should know better anyway.

Early the next morning we rose, quickly packed up camp and headed back up to the pass. This Mountain is the first real 14er that we have attempted to summit so we were quite unsure of how it would be like. It was cold, but not windy when we stared out about 7am. As we gained elevation the thinner air became quite apparent, but we headed on. Chloe did a fantastic job of keeping up, and led the way most of the way up. By mid morning the sun was finally over the summit so we were in sunlight, but the wind had picked up quite a bit. It became apparent that we were not going to make it to the top, but we pushed on for a bit more and ended up turning around 13k feet we made the decision to turn back. Perhaps next year we will make it to the summit, but for now we will just have to look forward to the next attempt. We took a few photos. photos

Andrea and her kids came to visit us in Colorado. Finally!! There flight arrived at DIA at 5:00 pm, and I was there to meet them. Jason stayed home with all of our kids. The suburban won’t hold everyone! They had an uneventful flight which was good considering it was the first time that Andrea’s girls have flown. So they are here for a week. We will try and show then what we can. I took a few photos of them playing in the yard.

While I was sleeping the rest of the family went out to the Parker Cemetery and got to hear different interpreters who had stories of people who lived during different times in Parker all the way back to Mr Parker, who helped to establish the town we call home. Steph took some photos here

The Fall Campout for the Pack went well and we had a great time. Unlike last year’s spring campout the weather was fantastic. It was the first time we had ever been to Cherry Creek State Park and we had a fantastic time there. The camping facilities are great, and the only downside being it’s right in the middle of Denver so light pollution and noise is a bit more than other parks. Photos here

While I was sleeping during my work shift, Wyatt’s Boy Scout Troop 88 held their Fall Court of Honor. The rest of the family had a great time eating on some good BBQ pig. Photos can be found here

We made our trek east for High Country Bus Festival.

Trip report can be found here

Photos are here:

We had a combined birthday party while visiting Tennessee for Daniel and Olivia. Some of the photos can be found below.

We made it back with no problems at a decent clip. I have put photos of the trip up and they can be found below.

Over the past week we spent time in the First National Park of the US. The trip was fantastic and expect photos to follow, we are still on the road back home.