July 4th-5th

We began our 4th celebrations at our ward's breakfast.  Our boys participated in the flag ceremony and we all ate a yummy breakfast.

We left from there and headed out to Ouray for its parade.  I really wanted a parade this year!  It has been four years since I took the girls to our local parade (which is kind of lame; the boys were out backpacking that year and so they didn't come) and seven years since we've been to a "real" parade (Provo, UT).  I wouldn't quite call Ouray's parade a "real" parade (you know, with patriotic floats and bands, etc), but it was still fun - and wet.  A hallmark of Ouray's parade is the water-fights!  We got wet for sure!

After the parade, we headed out to the West Fork area and set up our camping spot.  It was a great spot and allowed room for Brigham to roam and run free.  Bella tried to follow him as much as she could, but that made me a little nervous.  The grass/flowers/weeds were all way taller than she was!  I was worried she'd get lost and we wouldn't be able to find/see her!  :)  But it was fun to have Bella - the kids tried to make a play-place that would keep her enclosed.  But Bella is not one to shy away from jumping over whatever to get where she wants to go!

The kids had a fun afternoon and evening playing on their hammocks and down at the little stream.  After dinner, Ben and I noticed that Brigham "wasn't right."  We couldn't tell exactly what was wrong at first - maybe a limp or something - but then we could tell he was definitely not right.  He would lean over to one side and almost collapse.  He couldn't really walk a straight line.  His eyes just seem glazed and I couldn't even tell if he could see.  I may have lost it at one point.  It was so scary to see him like that and be so helpless.  The girls were sad, too - Emmy especially so when she actually saw Brigham fall over.  Miles was in his own not-facing-reality-world and was fine and thought Brigham was fine.  Which he totally wasn't.  So that sort of put a damper on the night for us - especially Ben and myself.

When we got up in the morning, Brigham was still "off."  Not walking normal, weak, etc.  We had decided not to do our planned-hike and to head home.  Then we fed Brigham and he ate just fine and then he hopped out of the truck - still a little weak.  He went to the bathroom a couple of times and then slowly started to clear up.  He walked straight, even ran a little, etc.  We gave him some time while we ate and such, and then decided we'd give the hike a try.

Brigham was all over the hike - running here and there and everywhere.  Sure, he was more-than-his-usual exhausted afterwards, but it looked like he'd be just fine.  Sheesh.  I told him this was the first of his 9 lives and that he better not use the rest of them too soon (Ben reminded me that Brigham was a dog . . . I reminded Ben that Wilson had 9 lives . . .:)  ).

Anyways, I'm so long-winded.  The hike was great - except when it wasn't.  The girls complained a lot.  Emmy's a little under-the-weather and so that could explain her.  She's usually leading the pack with Miles.  But it was a super-hard hike and I was exhausted myself!  It's only 1.8 miles up, but with an elevation gain of 1,800 feet.  So it's steep.  Jonas rocked it, though!  Usually he's in the back with Lucy, but this time he and Miles kept the lead.  It was awesome to see.

Everyone was happy on the way down and we even got some sprinkling of rain (we've pretty much forgotten what rain feels like . . .).  We got back to our campsite (I had convinced Ben to let us not pack up camp before our hike and he conceded!) and the kids played some more, we got packed up, ate some lunch, and then headed out.  It was a good camp-out and hike!

Oh and we really have no idea what happened to Brigham.  Ben had thought maybe some carbon monoxide poisoning, which seemed somewhat plausible.  But I'm less convinced now that's what it was.  He probably just ate some toxic plants or something?!  Who knows, but I'm sure glad he's okay.

Okay, now on to the pictures GALORE:

 We had to bring our dogs to the ward breakfast and parade as we were heading out from there to camp!  Bella was a hit, of course.  Brigham enjoyed a walk, then was corralled in the truck during breakfast.

 My cute and festive kids at the parade!  Miles had a shirt, too.  We made them on Monday and let me just say Pinterest made it look so much easier to get desired results . . . (The girls' shirts were second-attempts . . .)

 Water, water, everywhere!

 Two wet babes.  Luckily the water did cool us all off!

 I ran in to a friend and she took our picture.  Fun!

 After the parade the kids (all except Miles) participated in the foot-races.  Go Lucy!

 Go Emmy!  (Can you spot her?)

 Go Jonas!

 The water and all the other excitement wore Bella out!

 Bella's play-pen at camp.  The kids built up the walls - and that kept her in for a bit.  But just a bit.  She did take a nice nap that evening in there.

 Bella's first time exploring water.

 The kids played some jousting game up there.

 Our awesome campsite.

 Ben, Bella, and I went on a walk that evening (while Brigham was convalescing).  It was a beautiful walk.

 We played a little bit of Catan . . .but then we checked on Brigham again and I lost it after that.  So we just decided to call it a day and go to bed.

 Oh, but not before we enjoyed the 4th of July treats I had made.  Yum!

I had bought these fun glow-in-dark glasses and the kids loved them.

 Lights out - awesome.

 Thursday morning . . . on our hike.  This was about a mile up the trail.  A friend at our ward breakfast, after finding out we were going hiking, ran home and got her puppy-pack for Bella. Jonas had fun carrying her in it for a bit.  She also did a good amount of hiking - for a pug.  :)

 Jerky time!  We all enjoyed the jerky - dogs included.

 At the top of Courthouse - 12,152 feet.  The vista from here is amazing and I can't believe I didn't get a shot of it!  You can see at least three 14ers from this point.  It's incredible.

 Bella was exhausted!

 I had accidentally left the puppy-pack at our break-spot, but I improvised and used my camel-back to stuff Bella in.  She slept in there (snores and all!) the whole time I climbed down the crazy rock-scree area and the whole time I slid on my bum (purposely) down the slick and steep dirt areas.  Cutie.

 The boys at the bottom of the rock scree area.

 Lucy making her way down the trail.

 Fun, huh?  Yep, Bella was out this whole time!

What an adventure.