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.