Horsetooth Mountain & Birthday Fun!

Day Two!!

Day Two (Sunday) was a very important day in Colorado: Josh's Birthday! So we started off by going to church, and after church we stopped for a pre-lunch snack at the Buttercream Cupcakery. Josh had read about this cute little shop in a blog post of Jessica's, so we thought it would be a fun way to start celebrating his birthday (and it was)!

Laney say, "Cupcakes are delicious!"

Aunt Jessica is the best because she gives me yummy treats ALL THE TIME! :) Guess aunts are supposed to spoil, particularly the ones that live out of town!

It was a pretty small shop, so we kind of took over the place. But we each bought a cupcake and soda or coffee, plus we bought a dozen for the birthday party, so I'd say it was well worth it to them! Gotta love Daddy & Uncle "Mock" sitting with Laney at the kiddy table!

After the Cupcakery and some actual lunch, most of us headed off to hike Horsetooth Mountain. Because it was a much more strenuous hike than Devil's Backbone, we couldn't bring Laney along, so Grandma stayed home to watch her (which was MUCH appreciated). The rest of us (with the dogs) dressed cool (it was 70 degrees and sunny) and hit the road. Horsetooth Mountain is about a 5 mile hike, with about 1500 feet in elevation. Which doesn't seem like a lot, since people climb 14,000 foot (and higher) mountains pretty regularly. But, let me tell you, it was a pretty hard hike for the "flatlanders" in the group. Between the altitude alone (serious lack of oxygen for someone like us) and the steep hills, I wasn't so sure I was going to make it all the way up. But I did, and I'm pretty proud of myself for doing it! We had to stop about 976 times on the way up, but we made it! And going down was WAAAY easier! And the view from the top was totally worth it. Plus, Horsetooth Mountain is one of the most recognizable landmarks when you're back down in Ft. Collins, so it was really neat to look up for the rest of the week and be able to say "I stood on top of that." All in all, totally worth the wheezing, sweating and seriously sore muscles!

Charlie: again with the wandering off! Actually, I was totally jealous and would have loved to climb on top of this rock, but this was on the way up and I was doing good to just keep going.

By the time we saw this sign, I was absolutely dying, so I made Ruth take a picture of it. Sadly, we really weren't all that close to the top. But it gave me a little hope!

A "tooth" from up close. Just thought the sun on half this picture looked cool. And helps me remember how beautiful the weather was that day. Which was nice, since the rest of the week it was high in the 40s and windy/rainy!

The Price sisters, even if 2/3rds of us aren't Prices anymore! :)

Adorable Apostle family pic! By the way, Jess & Mike are absolutely the best hosts ever!

BFFs, Kate & Ruth at the very top. Told you: views were totally worth it!

Ruth & I at the very, very top! This is right after she sat on my finger and totally scraped it. So I'm kind of grimacing from the pain- either that pain, or the screaming pain in my legs. Either way, all pain was totally worth the view from the top!

No people, just the view! I love how you can see the cloud shadows on the ground. It's funny to be standing in the sun and look down and think "Wow, to them it's overcast right now."

After Horsetooth Mountain we headed back to Jess & Mike's for birthday dinner: mexican lasagna, YUM! We decided to celebrate Jessica's birthday, too, since it's in March. We picked up a dozen cupcakes from the bakery, opened presents, and laughed a lot! Especially at Josh's cupcake, which Mike was determined to get all 28 candles on. And he succeeded, although I seriously thought the table runner was going to catch on fire!

The birthday boy & girl, and the flaming cupcake!

Hanging out after dinner: Laney's favorite thing to do was empty Aunt Jessica's purse. She was digging for the chapstick, which she loved to play with. I seriously thought Mike was going to have a heart attack because she kept playing with the chapstick lid (which was rather the size of a small child's trachea, so I can see the cause for concern!). We eventually just threw away the lid and let her play with the chapstick. But the purse was still engrossing...

Ride an airplane with Aunt Jess! Also a classic game!

Once the birthday festivities were over, we retired to the hot tub to soothe the muscles after the Horsetooth hike. Definitely a great day in Colorado, and I love that I feel like I accomplished something by climbing to the very top!

Coming up soon: Shop, shop, shop, and Dinner Out!