Sylvan Lake Camping Trip

We went camping July 8-10 at Sylvan Lake State Park, south of Eagle, Colo., in the mountain wilderness between Vail, Aspen and Glenwood Springs. It was our first time camping with all three children. We truly had a super, fantastic, amazing time. Beautiful weather, not a drop of rain, the kids all did great.

Day 1
So exciting to get the tent set up and enjoy the gorgeous view.

Connor was so excited to help cook dinner over the fire, which we were all excited to enjoy!
The campground was on a stunning mountain lake, which has a 1.2-mile trail circling it. We did that hike a number of times. It also had a beautiful river flowing into and out of the lake.
We saw some wildlife - lots of chipmunks, which the kids loved trying to feed.
Several deer-
A cute duck family; this was a favorite for the kids. As they swam by, we could hear all 13 duckling chirping - that's a lot of babies!
And we even saw a moose! (Connor thought he was so funny when he found this branch and told us all he was a moose)
It got pretty cool at night so we had to bundle up-
S'mores are the highlight of any camping trip!
Day 2
Connor got ready for fishing by practicing casting into the grass. He has really gotten more into fishing, and he and Brian took every opportunity they could to cast a line. One time, I was helping him to cast, and accidentally threw his entire rod and reel into the lake! Oops. I grew up fishing, and have no idea how I did that, except I'm not used to such a short little fishing pole. Luckily it was retrievable. Connor told me, with a big grin, that is was OK, but that he's "never had a mother do that before."
We found a perfect little cove off of the lake; Brian and Connor fished on one side of it, while Isabel, Lucas and I threw rocks into the water on the other side.
After lunch we drove to Glenwood Springs (love G.S.!), and enjoyed a cool, sweet, messy treat. The kids loved this mural in the ice cream shop-
But not as much as the ice cream!
We went to Two Rivers Park, and played on a playground for awhile-
I've seen playground equipment similar to this, but not one that doesn't stop moving! We had to take a video, and couldn't stop laughing at poor Connor when he got stuck on this-


And then we splashed around in the Colorado River-
Connor has become such a big boy. He is so athletic, and cannot get enough climbing, jumping, hiking, running, fishing, sliding, and whatever else activity he can find to do. He is 100% in his element in the mountains, a true nature boy. Not one complaint, murmur or whine from him the entire trip, until it was time to go home and he said he wanted to live in the mountains forever.
We drove into breathtaking canyon outside of Glenwood Springs for more fishing, hiking, rock throwing and river wading. It really was a glorious afternoon.

Day 3
We took our time getting home, stopping first for a picnic lunch and short hike on top of 10,666-elevation Vail Pass.
Then we stopped in Georgetown, one of my favorite little mountain towns, with its quaint old-fashioned main street, cute shops, gorgeous scenery and restored little houses
Much to our delight, we discovered a new playground since the last time we were there. This was like the mother of playgrounds. It was unbelievable! SO much stuff for the kids to play on, and it was huge! I would make a trip back to Georgetown just for this park. Incredible. I tried to capture how cool it is. And I LOVE the playground rules. I wish more playgrounds would have clear smoking prohibitions.
Whew! What an action-packed 3 days. We surely made some fun memories to treasure forever. Connor was a true camping expert, Isabel (with the exception of one very tired morning) was excited and full of life about everything she discovered, and Lucas was a delightfully darling little trooper. One night I woke up to Lucas, his face pressed right up to mine, smiling at me. When I saw him he rolled over and went right back to sleep. Oh, how I love these little people!