ScotFest 2014

I need to do some end of the summer catch up.

We enjoyed going up to Estes Park for the ScotFest in September!  

It is always so much fun to see B march with the pipe band.

This is clan Murray, but I didn't get a good picture.

The kids and I went into the festival, as well, and got to hear the band play with some other bands.  Lots of pipes and kilts!

Family

 

These last two days, B and I had the pleasure of going on a mini-vacation to Estes Park!  Thanks to LivingSocial, I got a good deal at a nice lodge, Murphy's River Lodge.  Thanks to my mom, we had someone we love and trust taking care of the kids.  Unfortunately, we had a few issues with the room temperature not working correctly and hearing everything above us, but the room was nice and the staff was really friendly.  There was a jacuzzi in our room, so we got to relax in that and watch movies in the evening.  Believe me, it was hard not to pick an animated movie, but we did it.:)  The river was frozen, so B didn't do any fishing.

The town was beautiful and quiet.  A lot of the shops were closed, and we weren't used to not seeing hordes of people on the street.  We did discover a nice knitting shop, which was my favorite, but I didn't by anything.  I love perusing knitting shops and I LOVE alpaca yarn, but at $15-$20 a skein, I can't bring myself to buy it.  Maybe when we become rich.:)  We did buy some souvenirs for the kids, though.  F and Cb's love Brave, so we bought them each a bow and arrows.  Cb's bow has black bears carved on it and F's has moose.  The tips are rubber, so they can't do too much damage.  I didn't think they'd be able to shoot them, but they figured it out quickly.  I set up some stuffed animals in the living room for them to "hunt".  Let's just say, the angry birds and stuffed pug didn't make it.  Little A loves sorting things, so we bought her some nesting dolls.  The shop where we bought the nesting dolls was awesome!  They had so many cool nesting doll sets.  B bought a cute Winnie the Pooh nesting set for himself.  Tiny A doesn't like too much, yet, so we bought him a stuffed moose.  He's more interested in playing with whatever everyone else doesn't want him touching.:)

Before leaving for our trip, I took some pictures of these adorable faces.  Enjoy!

Celebration

I spy with my little eye...new life!  We are celebrating the coming of new little birdies, again, here at the Maston household.  I started reading about Robins and how they lay eggs and learned that the momma bird lays one egg a day for four or five days.  She doesn't start sitting on them to warm them until she lays the last egg, so that they hatch at the same time.  I wanted to see if this was true, so the kids and I checked the nest everyday, and guess what...

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

day 5

it was!  The poor momma Robin flies away everytime we open the back sliding door, but that comes with the location of her nest.  We'll try not to bother her too much.

This week we also got to celebrate an amazing husband and father...Brad!  He really is something spectacular!  

The kids made him some guitar picks,

I made him an ipad cover, and bought him a color changing mug that reveals family pictures when hot water is poured in and bought him two movies he wanted.  We are so blessed to have Brad as the head of our family and I hope that he got to rest a little on Father's Day.

To finish off our weekend celebration, we headed up to Estes Park for the day.  We played in some water, had a picnic, and walked down Main Street to pick up a big cookie (for me) and candy (everyone else).  I love this family!

Romantic Getaway

 We were blessed to have my mom stay with the kids this weekend and scurry off for a little getaway in the mountains!  It was wonderful!  We were able to relax, sleep in, fish (Brad) and knit (April).

 
We're on vacation!

Cottage Entrance

 We stayed in this quaint and cozy cottage.  It was perfect!  It had a lovely bed with cozy quilts, a warm fireplace, a tiny kitchen, and a balcony overlooking the river with a grill and hot tub.

Preparing to fish

Heading out to fish

 Brad went fishing straight away on the first day and caught one fish!  He set off early the next morning to try again, but came back and climbed back into bed due to his line and hands freezing up.  Personally, I'd rather be in a warm, cozy bed...and I was.

Hot tub in the snow

Hot tub fun

The hot tub was a wonderful treat!  It was extremely relaxing and peaceful to sit in the warm water, listening to the running river, talking with my sweet hubby.  It was snowing the second night, which made it even more fun to sit in the hot tub.