The Clarke Family: Manitou Lake Park

On Saturday, Charlton had a guys' day out, so I was trying to think of something fun to do with the kids. It was supposed to be nearly 90 in the Springs, which is way too hot for me this early in the season. Also, I had been really itching for some spring mountain scenery. We left early and drove to a really fun donut shop in Woodland Park called the Donut Mill. Rylan enjoyed an entire chocolate iced sprinkle donut and Caroline and I shared a cinnamon twist. I forgot my camera in the car so I didn't get any pictures of their delight, but it was definitely a highlight of their day. Caroline didn't say much, but every few minutes she would gaze at me lovingly and stroke my arm with her cinnamon sugar covered fingers. I think that meant she liked her donut!

After a google search I found this park. It was more crowded than I had hoped and much windier than I had expected which was disappointing. I was kind of wanting a "get away from it all kind of experience" which wasn't very practical on Memorial weekend with two kids. And even if I did find such a magical place, we might have gotten eaten by a mountain lion!
My other mistake was hauling Caroline in our baby backpack while also carrying another backpack with our picnic. That turned out to be a huge pain in the back and neck. Rylan managed to walk the entire mile long path around the lake, but not without a good deal of whining. I did enjoy some pretty scenery but have to admit, I was glad to climb back in the car again!

A lovely view of the west side of Pikes Peak, a side we aren't used to seeing.

When is she going to grow out of the "put everything in your mouth" stage? We had just eaten lunch. (Last week, Caroline licked my toilet plunger after it had been recently used. I guess this is much better in comparison.)