Salida with Grandpa Nick

At the beginning of last week, we headed up into the mountains to see Grandpa Nick, Jesse's dad, who lives in Salida. His house is strategically located across the street from a great playground where we spent quite a bit of our visit.



Getting ready to come down the big slide.

"Oh, fun!" That's Elliott's newest phrase.

Walking to town with Jess.

Having a rest with Grandpa Nick. 

Salida is a really cool little town with great restaurants, a ton of art galleries, and a well-known whitewater rafting/kayaking scene. I love this cool tree art.

And this beautiful bridge.

One day later, back to the same park. Elliott scaled this climbing wall/mountain with ease. I'm constantly amazing by his fearlessness, agility, and ability to fall without seriously hurting himself.

Made it to the top!

Is there anything greater than a kid's smile on a swing?

Elliott loved getting pushed higher and higher.

Nick and Jesse started goofing off on the swings. Elliott quickly copied them.

I'm not sure what I love more. The facial expression, the off-kilter hat, or those long legs!

Elliott up in his first tree.

These two are a little out of order. It was cold one morning while we were there. We needed to get Elliott somewhere to run around so we went to Murdoch's, one of those awesome farm supply stores that sells everything you could ever need. Their kids' toy section was great and Elliott loved it.

And there was a big boy toy section too!

Elliott loved playing with Grandpa Nick. Right before we left, E fed his Os to Nick.

Here is a video of the cute sharing.

After leaving Salida, we stopped in Buena Vista for lunch. Jesse lived in BV when he was very young and then again in middle school. Elliott loved seeing this big train!