No wonder I feel so busy...

As I look through all the pictures I've taken since we got back from the east coast, I can see why I've felt like our summer is flying by. We've been BUSY! It's all the fun stuff a summer is supposed to be filled with, so I'm not complaining!! Right after we got back from Virginia, Murphey's aunt Mary Fred and cousin Liz came out for a visit. We missed seeing Mary Fred's son Murphey, but hopefully we'll make it out his way soon and catch up with him.

We tagged along for some adventures showing Mary Fred and Liz all the great things the Front Range of Colorado has to offer. One evening we went to the Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder for dinner and a fantastic sunset. It rained the whole way there and was still drizzling as we ate. After dinner, the rain stopped and the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen my life showed up. The pictures won't do it justice, but it was the brightest, most vivid rainbow. To top it off, there was a fainter second rainbow next to it.

Her now 'signature' camera face:

We also took them up to Rocky Mountain National Park one day. We got some nice sightseeing in and had a lovely picnic with riparian entertainment (for all you "Keeping Up Appearances" fans out there). We drove by the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Click on the link here to see what's special about this hotel.

Half-girl, half-gila monster...  She loved that this rock was warm and wanted to lay down on it.

I've decided that this outfit makes her look too old, so she's no longer allowed to wear it, or stand like that.  (She was trying to sweet talk someone into letting her climb that rock)

One of our other favorite summertime things is a series of free outdoor concerts the city puts on.  It's held in a large grassy square, so there's plenty of room for Nora to run around, do somersaults, dance, and pretty much do whatever she wants to.  It's never really crowded and we usually sit towards the back to give her the most open space.  Kids usually are around us playing catch, throwing frisbees, etc.  As she'd run around playing, she'd often stop at children who were playing ball, stand a little ways back from them, gaze downward and cup her hands together near her belly, waiting, hoping that they would throw the ball to her.  It was so sweet, and sad, because we never remembered to bring a ball to play catch with her!!  She'd stand like that for a few moments, then move on to running around again.

Fun at the concert with Grandpapa

In other summer events, I took pictures of my friend Kim and her son Sam as a baby gift to them.  It was so much fun, and they are so easy to photograph!  

And finally, another picture of Nora stuck.  This time she chose to pull out the drawer to her train table and sit in it to play.  Once again, I heard "Mommy, I'm stuck!"  And of course, before getting her un-stuck, I had to get the camera...