Labor Day = Hiking, Grilling, Relaxing

Aww, I LOVE long weekends because that also means SHORT work weeks!  

Our first Labor Day in Colorado included a hike to Maxwell Falls.  This was a nice hike near Evergreen, Colorado.  The only problem... the falls were pretty dry by this time of year!  Some hikers we ran into recommended that we try it again in July.  The trail wasn't busy at all so we let Hubble off of his leash.  He was our trail leader the entire route.  We started at the Lower Maxwell Falls trail head- the hike is 4 miles round trip. 

 

After the hike we stopped for dinner at Beau Jo's Pizza in Evergreen.  Yum!  It was recommended that we try the Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs... so when we saw it was an option in Evergreen we dived right in!  They charge you by the ingredient for the pizza... or you can pick one of their specials.  We had 1/2 Skier Mike, 1/2 Hamburger Combo.  Save the crust for last and dip in HONEY. mmm!

 Look who joined us for dinner!  Evergreen had elk EVERYWHERE!  These guys were in the stream that flowed right behind the Beau Jo's restaurant.  We sat on the patio so we got to watch them.  They make the weirdest sounds!  It's like a high pitched squeal.  Not what I expected coming from these guys.

Next, I got to tour Jason's new School! Ben Franklin Academy opened for students on Tuesday.  The school is literally 1000 feet from our apartment complex.  Jason gets to walk to work in 5 minutes, I get to drive 35 minutes... fair?  The school is very nice - he is VERY spoiled.

 

The beautiful mountain view + iPads + MacBooks = Jason's Dream Classroom

 We wrapped up our Labor Day weekend with grilling at the Chatfield Reservoir.  We bought a State Park pass that allows us access to 42 state parks in Colorado.  We're lucky enough to have Chatfield about two miles away from our house.  I was craving cheddar turkey brats cooked on charcoal instead of our george forman type grill that we have at the apartment.  It was a nice relaxing evening at the park.  Hubble decided to have a special dessert while walking along the water.  He found a nice 1/2 of a dead, dried up fish.  Ugh. Gross.