A new photo post on The Voyagers Blog today.

Q's dress by Enchanted Enfant.

 Q and the Golden, CO park dragon...warming up to plant a kiss smack in the middle of its scaly nose.

 We were in Golden (just north of Denver and south of Boulder, home of the famous Coors brewery) to meet my husband's dad and the rest of the family at the local mountain club, where there is a mountain-climbing museum and a great number of resources for hikers and climbers.

 With the spring runoff as heavy as it has been this year, Clear Creek was flooded over its banks when we took the dogs for  a walk in town.

In downtown Golden, bike racks disguised as bikes.

 Inside the mountain climbing museum with its many wondrous displays.

 The skies brooded a bit as we wound our way up the canyon to Lair o' the Bear, our own hiking destination...but in the end it turned out to be a lovely day for a leisurely hike with the family.

 Found walking sticks.

 Cousins atop brothers.

 Isacah and her uncle.

 Cooling her heels.

 A favorite spot on the trail.

A cool respite in the arms of the big tree before heading back along the trail. (And yes, that look on the face of my three-year-old that makes her look like a sullen teenager is entirely due to the camera pointed at her at close range).

New dresses in The Voyagers Shop today...go here for details!!

 For the past couple of weeks, Q's daddy has been back in his whites, helping out in a friend's restaurant a couple of nights a week. He left the restaurant business (after many years of cooking) back when we were in the final stages of the adoption process, knowing that the food biz is a difficult one for a new father. But cooking is in his blood, he's good at it, and he enjoys it. Q misses him terribly when he's away, but she could not be more proud when she gets to stop into the restaurant and peek in at him through the food window. She loves his white uniform, and she loves to watch her daddy cook for other people, and she sometimes tells me that when she grows up she'd like to cook, too.

 When her daddy and I were first dating, and he was the culinary director at a sushi restaurant in the Vail Valley, I used to watch him through that same sort of window, with the stacked plates, and the rows of well-used pots and pans behind. So I love to look through that window and see this.

 Tonight, early on a slow Monday evening, Q had the privilege of being in the restaurant kitchen with her daddy while he whipped her up some pasta Alfredo for her supper. Oh, the pride and adoration on that face! It warms the heart of a mommy and proud wife.

This is maybe my favorite set of photos ever, ever. My family. The ones that I love. 

How lucky can one mommy be?

 Daddy cooks a couple of nights a week in a friend's restaurant, leaving Q and mommy to their own devices.

 These long, languid summer days provide plenty of opportunity for strolls through the neighborhood, bubble-blowing and rose-pruning. But we tend to use the evenings for creative time.

 Sometimes, we go big.

 This particular session went so big that the evening ended with a bubble bath for Q and a mop and bucket for mommy. Oh well, the floor needed cleaning anyhow!

 Warning: We are professionals. 

Don't try this at home if you were not raised by artists, and/or if you do not have a very understanding husband ;)