It was our fourth year visiting beautiful Telluride, Colorado, over July 4. In some ways, it feels like the kids have grown up here. Each summer we remember the things that they've done the years before and marvel at the new things they can do. This year Miles (who often asks us to carry him on walks around the neighborhood) surprised us with his love of hiking, especially when it involved climbing over big rocks. While Grant cruised around on his big-boy bike, Miles was now zipping down hills on his strider bike. We remember just a couple of summers ago when Miles was being carried in the baby backpack and G was zooming around Telluride on his strider bike.
One thing is the same: We are forever impressed by the beauty of the mountains.
It rained a lot this year, probably more than any other year, but we've learned to be prepared, always carrying rain coats with us. Even a downpour is over pretty fast in the mountains.
We've also learned that you have to get to the 4th of July parade route super early if you want to get a good seat. Kent arrived at 6:30 a.m., and was only able to score a spot in the second row. But luckily the friendly people in front of us (who set up their chairs at 4:30 a.m.!) were kind enough to let the boys crouch in front of them.
The parade didn't disappoint. The boys collected lots of candy and traded water gun fights with the people on the floats. We were pretty soaked by the end of the parade. Miles was especially thrilled about a float that appeared to have fire spouting from the roof. He was not crazy, however, about anything that had a loud noise, especially the fighter jets that kicked off the parade and appeared to nearly touch the rooftops as they whipped by overhead.
The rest of the week was spent hiking, biking, riding the gondola and meandering around town.
We spent one day at Box Canyon in Ouray, about an hour away. The boys, who didn't remember visiting a couple of years ago, were fascinated by the giant waterfall and the "bear cave" at the top of the trail.
We spent a lot of time chasing Miles around town on his bike. His favorite thing to do was speed off without us, whizzing down hills and shouting "Wheeeeee!"
