Rocky Mountain High

Growing up, my family was fortunate enough to go on a summer vacation. The vacations started out in Holden Beach at the beloved Lone Star (thanks Robert for finding this -- looks like the place could use some updating). While I don't necessarily remember all of the details of these vacations (other than Tom pretending to be a shark in the water and grabbing at my legs until I screamed for help). But I do remember that it was a lot of fun hanging out on the beach with my entire family.

As the Blackford clan continued to move south and west, we found a new spot for our yearly vacation -- Estes Park, CO, home to Rocky Mountain National Park. For those of you who haven't been, it is absolutely gorgeous. We were lucky enough (thanks again to Robert) for finding a pretty awesome cabin that looks right out on the Front Range of the Rockies. There are too many good memories to recount here (including Tom pretending to be a mountain lion and scratch at my window in the middle of the night...are you seeing a pattern here?).

Well, I haven't been back to Estes in almost 9 years. My parents, however, have kept up the tradition. This year Tom and Stacey went with them, and my Dad ran in the Estes Park Half Marathon, placing third in his age group. I'm hoping that I can get away next summer and bring Derek with me.

This year, we are headed to Captiva, FL and it can't come soon enough. Only 4 weeks and counting until I get to see my whole family -- it's been too long!

Here are some pics from previous vacations:

One of my favorite pictures at the beach

Our first trip to Estes (check out Robert's shades and Tom's fanny pack)

In other news, the home improvement streak continued this weekend -- we finally painted the kitchen and actually made a small step in actual renovation-type stuff...we replaced a baseboard and a light fixture (and by "we," I of course mean Derek -- my job was to watch him and freak out about him electrocuting himself). We've only got two more rooms to go on the painting front, and the novelty has really worn off, so we may have to take a little break these next few weeks. The weekend also involved some frisbee time with Reg and a trip to my second favorite ice-cream restaurant, Dairy Queen, for a Reese's Blizzard...yum.

Here Comes the Sun

It finally stopped raining this weekend! We have had a record amount of rain over the last month, and we've all had a little bit of cabin fever. Well, after a pretty gross day on Friday, the sun came out on Saturday morning. It worked out perfectly because my firm had a hike planned for the summer associates. So, I woke up early, picked up some co-workers, and we drove about 60 miles west of D.C. to Sky Meadows State Park. We did about a 3.5-mile hike, and there were a couple of scenic overlooks. It's no Rocky Mountain, but it was really pretty!

After the hike, I drove back into town and headed to my second home, otherwise known as Home Depot to pick up some more paint. The next room on the list is the master bathroom. We definitely underestimated the amount of tape that was required, but after that was done, it went by pretty quickly.

We also got Reggie out of the house for some much-needed frisbee time. His paws have recovered and we finally found a good field for some long frisbee-throws. I also had the joy of giving him a bath on Sunday. While I hate doing this (and Reggie isn't exactly thrilled about it either), it was so much easier now that we actually have a hose and I can wash him outside, which is MUCH easier than doing it in the bathtub!

Pic from the Hike

Bathroom Before

Bathroom After (painting the mirror took twice as long as the bathroom itself!)

I hemmed up our new curtains this weekend -- mom would be very proud

Here is a pic of part of our dinner on Saturday -- grilled artichokes (with brats) -- de-lish.