July 4th weekend in CO

We possibly had one of the most fun filled 4th of July weekends in Colorado this year ever. . .because we had a couple of folks with us who had never been to the mountains of CO, we did some extra things to give them a fun memory. . With us this year in Gunnison were Georgia, (our daughter), Jordan Monroe (Georgia's boyfriend), Brittany (Austin's wife) and Breanna Irvin (August's friend who has lived with us this summer while working for Dr. Dale Rollins, the A&M Research Center's wildlife biologist). . .Jordan and Breanna had not had the CO mountains experience, so we crammed alot of activity into the 3 days they were with us. . .hiking, biking, kayaking, 4th of July parades, hot air balloon lift off and fireworks.

Here are a few pics from the weekend. . .

This is Brittany kayaking on Blue Mesa Lake near Gunnison. . .

Here is Georgia climbing up Mt. Crested Butte. . it was a hard scramble the last few hundred yards. .The rest of the crew is above her. . .

On the morning of the 4th of July, we got up early to see 18 hot air balloons lift off from the park in Gunnison. . .it was beautiful. . .

It was a perfect morning. . . I've never seen the balloons hang so long in the air like that. .

The little town of Crested Butte swells to about 4-5 times its normal size for it's 4th of July parade. . .it has a lot of "flavor" to it and is pretty entertaining. . .it's a small town celebration at its finest!

Todd, Jordan and a friend from Gunnison, Chase Davis did a 20 mile bike ride down Taylor Canyon near Almont. .

Georgia and Jordan heading down the Gunnison River for a kayaking adventure. . .

Todd and Breanna launching off for a ride down the Gunnison River. . .

We had such a great weekend with all the guests and loved being together. . .the only thing that would have made this weekend perfect was if Austin and August could have been with us. . .but maybe next year! :)