A trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

It was the perfect weather to make a day trip to Rocky Mountain and see if the Aspen trees had started changing colors yet.  The girls were a bit angry that we wouldn't let them watch a movie in the car on the way up (our family rule is that they can only watch TV in the car if we are going to be driving for longer than an hour), but soon we started hearing comments like, "This is beautiful", "Look, the trees look like they are on fire", and "This is the best day ever".  So, even though Mike and I couldn't chat as freely as we'd have liked due to the fact that the girls' ears weren't covered with headphones, we loved that they were appreciating the beauty of nature and taking in the fall sights. 

The view from Trail Ridge Rd.

Apparently, Jessie was very kissable today.

See what I mean?  No one can resist!

After stopping to enjoy the view and driving along Trail Ridge Rd. for quite a ways, we decided to stop and have some lunch at one of the observation areas.  It was the perfect place for a picnic, until the very aggressive chipmunks decided to show up to the party.

These little guys were crazy! They would literally come up to you and try to steal the food right out of your hand.  After a couple of close calls, we packed up the food and headed back to the car and drove to the Gem Lake hiking trail.

Though we didn't make it anywhere near the 3.4 mile round trip hike (and needless to say, we never saw even a glimpse of "Gem Lake"), everyone was in a great mood and Mike didn't end up carrying anyone the entire time!

Nothing like a little dose of Mother Nature to bring sisters closer together.

Taking a break inside the mouth of a little cave.

Our last stop of the day- the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory- where we spent $25 on two caramel apples and two little bags of gummy bears! As you can see, everyone seemed to think it was worth the splurge!