we celebrated our independence by starting the day on a family hike.  the scenery – oh my gosh – the scenery!  (lindsey, you’re not in these because you were running 7 miles in crazy altitude – no big deal)

oh my – these boys sure love each other.

next we went kayaking on dillon lake in frisco.   we went with chad and lindsey and rented a couple of tandem kayaks.  it was a picture-perfect day – sunny with big lofty clouds and about 75 degrees.  would have been great to hop in the water, but we didn’t swim for two reasons – the lake was 40 degrees and they don’t allow it – but mostly because it was 40 degrees.

jared might look like he’s selling tickets for the ‘gun show’ here, but he’s just trying to even out his farmer’s tan from a few days before.

we headed back into breckenridge to meet up with my parents and the short guy.  turns out, breck throws one heck of a party for the 4th.  they have a parade (which we missed), and then main street stays blocked off for running around and hosing off kids.  the kids were having a blast, and the fire-fighters could not stop smiling.  no one could.

and b-man donned his captain america shirt for the occasion.

 well, now that i’ve assaulted you with pictures, i’ll be on my merry way.  a great time was had by all, and we enjoyed the purple mountains’ majesty, and saw a whole lotta amber waves of grain on our drive home through kansas.

i’m back in the saddle on this here blog, and hope to see you again soon.  until then…