summer mountains: stitched panorama

I have a little more free time with Mr. Z in Kindergarten this year, so I decided to play a little bit in Photoshop.  I like to learn new things, but it feels fairly overwhelming unless there's no pressure and it's just for "play."  

I haven't edited many photos lately, so I began with some summer photos taken on top of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was the end of June and the wildflowers were at their peak.  I had some nice shots (first two below), but as I looked at them I wondered if I could combine them. 

I'd heard about "stitching" photos together in Photoshop, so I googled it and found a quick 5 minute tutorial. Turns out it's super easy.  Here's the result below.  I like it, and will definitely have to try this again!  This is three photos stitched together.  Next time, I'll have to remember to take a few more photos for a nice wide panorama.

Cloudscapes

Last spring I spent a few nights at the YMCA in Estes Park.  The sunrise over the mountains was beautiful, mainly because of the extraordinary clouds.  They are so dreamy!

devil's backbone open space hike [loveland]

By far, my favorite thing about moving back to Colorado has been enjoying the great outdoors.  It's like food for the soul.  The kids don't just LOVE hiking, but every time we go, they always come back refreshed and happier than when we left.  There is something about being in nature with all of her colors and textures, sounds and smells that both relaxes and stimulates the senses.  We've sort of made a commitment that as long as we live in this awesome state, hiking and outdoor adventures will be part of our lifestyle.

Devil's Backbone open space was a great, shorter 2 mile trail for us, though there are lots of longer options too, if you want to go further.  We took Kelly Pepper on her first hike here (sorry, no photos of her--she was too busy enjoying the trail!) and didn't want to go very far from home.

The kids had a great time on this hike.  We will definitely be going back.

If you're interested, you can check out some of our other family hikes below.

Arthur's Rock [Lory State Park]

Calypso Cascade [Rocky Mountain National Park]

Fern Lake [Rocky Mountain National Park]

Lily Lake

Colorado in the fall {Estes Park}

We were so lucky to be able to take a trip back to Colorado a few weeks ago.  Our timing was perfect (with no credit to us!)--we just happened to hit it right as the leaves were at their peak, and just before the first cold front and hints of snow hit.  It was an amazing week.  We got to hike a few times, enjoy catching up with old friends and experience Fall.

My heart felt happy and my soul was refreshed by our time there. 

my favorite Colorado things...

I never knew that I'd be so glad to see dandelions. They make me happy.


So does real grass.


And, of course, the mountains.


Loving Colorado! It just feels "right."

bok tower gardens

David's parents were visiting us over the weekend. We love visiting new places, so we headed to the Bok Tower Gardens. It was gorgeous!


The "singing tower" was built in 1927 and is is home to the carillon. What is that you ask? It's basically a keyboard that is mechanically attached to a set of bells. 60 of them to be exact.


Here is the size of the largest bell.


And here are the keys.


The tower is built on Iron Mountain, Florida. I got a chuckle out of this. The "mountain" (290 ft.) is the tallest point in Florida, and overlooks beautiful orange groves. We enjoyed listening to carillon concert from this spot. We also spent quite a bit of time sitting at the summit reading books and relaxing.






This place was very kid friendly. At the visitor's center, we checked out a little book bag of kids' nature books with a little picnic blanket. We also got some "magic paper."


There were 8 posts located throughout the gardens. Each of the posts depicted a different creature.


Here's the magic: upon rubbing the white stick on the shiny side of the paper, voila! The creature appeared. The girls eventually got tired of this, but they finished 6 out of the 8 posts.




I had to get in at least one shot.






Grandad and Abuela.