The Clarke Family: Garden of the Gods

We usually visit Garden of the Gods when we have company and I have thought the past few times we visited that it is so close and easy,(and free), that I ought to go more often with just me and the kids. We don't need a special occasion beyond a rare warm day in late winter. It was nice to be able to take our time and just meander and spend 10 minutes examining rocks or 20 minutes playing hide and seek in the trees. I let Caroline out of the stroller and she was thrilled to be free to run, play in the dirt, and squeal at all the passing dogs. She has finally started to feel better after being on antibiotics for her 3rd ear infection since Friday. I can't even describe how nice it is to have my happy girl back. I think it has been three days since I have wiped a runny nose, which is a record for the past month at least.

There are lots of deer and rabbits that roam Garden of the Gods and leave plenty of droppings behind. At one point, Rylan discovered a pea-sized, dark brown pellet on the ground. "Look mom, a buried treasure!" he exclaimed. He held it up and showed his prize to me with great delight. "Actually, Rylan," I explained gently, "I think that is poop, deer poop."

"Oh," he looked so disappointed. "Mom, I accidentally touched it."

Oh, well, there could be worse things, I suppose.

On another note, you may have deduced my laptop is fixed. Yay! The hard drive and keyboard were replaced, so it is practically brand-new. It makes catching up on blogging and other things so much easier, although I have to admit, I was more efficient at getting other things done when the computer was gone. :-)

Caroline wouldn't look at the camera for anything today. Notice the mud on her knees. She had a matching print on her bottom by the end of our morning. I had to take her pants off before I put her in the car seat to go home. Thankfully it was really warm in the car by then.

Caroline busy exploring and too busy to bother with looking at mom.

I have never been to Garden of the Gods in winter before and seen this much snow there. It made for negotiating a lot more mud and icy spots, but was still fun. The snow looked really pretty against the red rocks and brilliant blue sky.