Knowing we were heading up to Breckenridge (Colorado) this summer, I asked my children what sort of things they wanted to do while we were there. A ‘14er’ (aka fourteener) topped their list since they knew hiking would without a doubt be on the agenda. This way they could obtain a personal goal (doing their first 14er) and appease me with a hike. The bonus for me and for them turned out to be the numerous mountain goats we saw on the way up and down Quandary Peak! We checked out the weather and picked a day during the week that had the littlest chance of rain, and hopefully, thunderstorms. Then we went online and made our reservations which are necessary in order to hike Quandary. We decided to be at the parking lot by 6am so that we had plenty of time and would hopefully miss those dreaded summer thunderstorms.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for spring! I love when the blackbirds return, the animals start frolicking outside again, the bulbs start blooming, nests are built, and the baby animals hatch or are born. Every day in the spring is an adventure and I plan to record my outings and post here on my blog. The first edition of my spring blog will focus primarily on the blue herons return to Northern Colorado and their nesting habits.

A couple of nights we decided to brave the negative temperatures in Eden, South Dakota and take in the sunset. After we’d walked around town we found we still had twenty minutes or so until the sun went down. In order to stay warm we had to get a little creative and silly with a reenactment of Star Wars. Not much after that, one person started to get cold and had to go in, forcing us to come up with something new to keep us warm. I decided I needed to photograph my dogs in the gorgeous light running and frolicking with each other. Remarkably, those ended up being some of my favorite pictures from our trip to Eden, South Dakota.