4th of July in Telluride!

We were lucky enough to celebrate July 4th with a fabulous long weekend in Telluride with our good friends, the Dunlaps. Boots and Kirsten invited us to drive up and stay with them at the Franz Klammer - sooo much fun. The timing was great as we were just really starting to feel the effects of what is sure to be a BRUTAL summer heat - needless to say, we jumped at the invitation.

Can I just say that Telluride is one of the prettiest places I have EVER been to? We went a few times with my family when I was a kid for ski trips, but never in the summer - it was BEAUTIFUL. The altitude at our condo was a breathtaking 9,200 ft - some of the peaks stretch to 14,000 ft. The scenery this makes for are unbelievable ... such a quaint little town nestled in the mountains ...


Some of the highlights ...

The primary mode of transportation once we were settled into the condo was the gondola, which runs from Mountain Village (where we stayed) to the town of Telluride. The boys LOVED riding the gondola ...

Our first day we hiked down from the top of the mountain back to the condo with all three of our boys. It was beautiful ... our two littlest needed some assistance from the daddies to make it down - Jared trucked down with his usual 4 yr old enthusiasm.

These three had a great time together all weekend. Seeing them in action makes me excited to welcome the third Barrett boy in October!

How cool is this old fire truck?

Evening bath time and devotions are
even more fun with three boys ...

On the day before the 4th, there was a free concert and activities for the kiddos...

Jared had fun in the bounce house until we had to
pull him out soaking wet from the afternoon storm!

Boots, Kirsten, and Hugh bear watching the concert.

The boys all danced their little hearts out to some great tunes.

... and were fascinated by this police horse
(who slept through all the attention).

On Sunday, the 4th, we headed into town for a small church service in Telluride and the parade. Kirsten scored us some great seats and we enjoyed the day, the scenery, and some ... eclectic ... participants in Telluride's Independence Day parade.

Cutest family ever.

Tim and the boys ready for the action.

Later, we headed home for naps. We woke Jared up early for a special treat. He did a good job showing patience and a good attitude so we let him do the giant trampoline. So fun!


Again ... the gondola was probably the highlight ...




We built up the loading and unloading to be quite a big deal. It was always a race and "GO! GO! GO!" Absolutely hysterical to watch these three little boys run their gondola drills a few times a day...

Sunday evening, we headed back into town for a pizza dinner and to try to watch fireworks ...

By the time the sun set and the fireworks were to begin, a pretty serious rain storm had moved in. No worries. We just rode gondola up and down a few times and watched it from the air. Not the best views, but these boys were sure not disappointed!

Packing up on Monday ...

We decided to stick around until after lunch on Monday and drive home a little later. Neither Tim or I were excited to return home to Phoenix's triple digit temps any earlier than we had to. So ... we bid farewell to our fabulous hosts and headed to the end of town to get a good look at the waterfall ...

Jared and Tim made it partway up the trail before turning back around to meet up with Will and I. Will does not yet share his brother's enthusiasm for hiking. Will told me, "My wegs are wittle" (legs are little).

Best dad ever.

Following our little ... "hike" ... we picked up sandwiches for a short picnic at the river before heading home. The boys got the last of their wiggles out and we enjoyed the last of the cool weather.

Jared perfecting his self portrait photo taking skills ...

Great weekend, great friends, great fun. Muchos gracias to the Dunlaps. Hope to have make some more memories with our growing tribe and theirs.

As for our two little seasoned travelers, the eight hour drive was a piece of cake - they both slept for the first 2+ hours. We were blessed by easy traffic coming home. I think it helps that we leave late - no one is nutty enough to pull into their driveway in Phoenix at 9pm after a holiday weekend! We've definitely grown accustomed to how portable these two are ... it will be interesting to see how number three fits in the mix.

Who are we kidding though? The more the merrier! ;-)