For the first time ever, we met up with more friends than we ever have at SMR… with a grand total of 62! Also for the first time ever, we stayed for 3 weeks, so spreading out the visitors helped a bit, but we met most of them during our first week there. The first night, we were able to get together with the Marsiceks and Rogers, and it was so good to see them!
Only in Granby do they have a parade like this… and we were able to hang out with the Rogers for a bit, help them plant a new tree, and do a little neighborhood 4 wheeling.
The next day, we were able to connect with the Grahams on their boat. The kids loved hanging out with their pup, and learning how to wakeboard.
Of course, we had to play a few games before heading back to Snow Mountain to greet our next visitors.
We had been talking about Snow Mountain with the Cossas for years, and were so excited they were finally able to make it out. We had the most epic game of golf ever, along with hanging with the huskies, visiting the cave, and a hike to the waterfall before more friends arrived.
As more friends arrived, we took a hike up 9 Mile Mountain with the Lumings, Cossas, Rogers, and Beintums to put a few prayers in God’s mailbox.
The new addition at Snow Mountain is an amazing park complete with mini zip line, rock climbing wall, and more.
The Kiva was a great place to gather together in the evenings. By now, we had the Smiths and Maldonados, two cross country families, in addition to the Yuns, a family from Chuck’s school!
Some of our favorite Kiva activities include roller skating, basketball, human Hungry Hungry Hippos, and the loft full of games.
We played lots of mini golf too, and sometimes night golf after the Kiva closed for the day.
The summer tubing hill is a great place to gather with large groups, as each session fits 80 individuals.
Snow Mountain has always been laid back about bears visiting the dumpsters, but just a few years ago, the garbage cans in the campground were upgraded to the “bearproof” variety. Here’s what the bear thought of that this time around!
One of our favorite hikes is the Adam Falls/East Inlet Trail out to one of the most beautiful meadows.
One of the best parts of this hike is heading back to Grand Lake after for ice cream and beach time!
If we let them, the Hoffs might choose to spend the whole vacation in the craft shop working on ceramics. Here are some shots of what we worked on this year.
Weekly bingo in the craft shop is always fun too.
Ethan was set on making a shelter this year for one of his scout merit badges, and the kids convinced us they should sleep in it. Most of them made it out there all night! In the morning, we went out to invite them back into the camper when we heard thunder. Crazy kids!
One of the highlights of our trip is taking the sled dogs for a hike with our friend, chaplain, and musher Steve. I think it’s safe to say this was a highlight for everyone who joined us this time!
The Beintums were so excited about bringing the truck out this year just to have everyone jump in the back to head across camp, and boy did the kids have fun with that!
The older the kids get, the more fun we have playing games with them. The library is a great place for gathering together for a puzzle or game when a summer storm comes through.
Campground life was fun as always, and the big camper makes everyone feel right at home. The kids loved taking over the camper with their crew and favorite games, but we pulled them away to play in the trike park, gaga ball, and more.
I’m sure the kids will hate me for this someday, but we always have to take an annual trip down to the homestead to dress up in the old fashioned clothes 😉
When the Marsiceks came back up, to Rick’s amusement, he was able to pull out a tooth for each twin, Laney’s at the beginning of the summer, and Ellie’s at the end.
We made one more trip to the East Inlet Trail with the Kinsellas, and hiked up well past the meadow this time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to head to the lake as we fought for daylight.
We love seeing Hawkquest at SMR, and this year was no exception. The kids love posing with the eagle.
We were able to check out a new ranch in Grand Lake, and the kids got such a kick out of the pigs and goats.
We also snuck down to the homestead again for lollygagging with llamas. The kids are getting better at keeping these sassy guys on the right path after a few years of walking them, although the biggest attraction were the sweet golden retrievers who came with to drop off the llamas.
We took an amazing sunset hike up Nine Mile Mountain, and found the berries in prime season, so we made sure to take a partial trek up daily to retrieve more berries each day.
Rock climbing continues to be one of our favorite activities, and we were able to climb outdoors and indoors with some afternoon storms one day.
The Kinsellas, Marsiceks, and us also made a trip up Snow Mountain, but stopped at Peak 3 to avoid all the loose rocks up top.
After most of our friends left, we were fortunate to run into the Silders, who had seen info on SMR on our blog and fell in love as soon as they arrived. They were able to snag our favorite campsite, and the campground hosts had the kids painting birdhouses, rocks, and all kinds of things before they left. It was so nice to meet them!
We all went to the Fraser Rodeo one night, which was a nice change of pace.
Ethan used part of his vacation souvenir money to rent a flat tire bike for a couple hours, and was in heaven on the new course.
After everyone left, we decided to try a new hike. Robert convinced us to head up to Meadow Creek Reservoir, head down to Monarch Lake, and jump in his boat in Lake Granby. His original intention was to boat us to his car, and then shuttle us back up to Meadow Creek. However, when we got down to Monarch, we invited him to hike back up to Meadow Creek, and we dropped him off with his friends in Fraser. What’s another 12 mile hike, right?! We bribed the kids with unlimited Wendy’s, which they were more than pleased with 😉
Because our summer stay was longer at Snow Mountain than back at home, we participated in the summer reading program in Grand County. The big kids received free day passes to Winter Park…. how cool is that?! So, the last day of our stay was spent on the alpine slides and more. The little ones stopped by to take a run too.
That evening, we loved spending time with Steve back at his house. The kids went on a bone hunt, finding an astonishing number of bones in his yard, and managed to get lots of cuddle time in with the dogs.
Last but not least, we were able to film a little mission moment with Gretchen about why we love Snow Mountain so much. I don’t care for myself on video, so I won’t share the link, but good luck finding it 😉 (travel dates 7/14-8/2/18)
