Scottish Festival in Estes Park

Last weekend we drove up to Estes Park for the Scottish Festival. This was our third year to attend, but the first year to stay at the YMCA Estes Park. Previously, we had stayed at Jellystone, which was fun, but a bit expensive for the teeny tiny cabin.
The kids LOVE this festival, mostly because all the children have swords and they all battle around a big boulder in the park. Michael and I love it for the views, the weather, the music, the Belhaven Scottish ale and the scottish highlander games. We all love the dog show, the meat pies, and the jousting. It's a win/win.
We spent Friday night at our cabin and around at the YMCA. I cooked dinner, we watched the elk attack a vehicle in our front yard, we roasted marshmallows and played in the sweet memorial game room and then came back to the cabin to play Rivals of Catan and drink red wine. It was nice.
Saturday morning we woke up early, made breakfast and drove to the festival. The weather was stunning and we had a great time enjoying all there was to see at the festival. I was a bit disappointed because the McLeod clan wasn't represented this year. Still, we enjoyed all our favorites and I even found a scotch that I liked.
That afternoon we went back to the YMCA and went to the craft shop to try our hand at some tie dye. Then we went back to the cabin for rest time. Michael and I had our rest in our air lounj's and almost got attacked by an elk. After that adrenaline shock, I made snack and we watched the elk and when they left, we all went back out so Davis could fly his kite. Much fun was had. That evening we went back to sweet memorial for more ping pong and foosball before more games and wine and dinner in the cabin. It was so cozy and so fun to be with the family.
Sunday morning we relaxed and I did some yoga and then we packed up and checked out. We went over and did some family archery, but didn't stay for the full time as the arrows were blunt and the equipment bad. It wasn't nearly as good as the archery we did at Snow Mountain Ranch. We stopped at the craft center to pick up out tie dye and then drove into Estes Park. We had coffee by the river and Sam skipped across the rocks before dashing himself in the cold water, necessitating a quick change in the car. Then we went to a fun game store where Micheal bought us Knights and Cities of Catan! We eventually found a Mexican restaurant by the river for lunch that was not very good, but had a nice patio. We ate lunch and drove back to Denver, arriving in time to watch the Broncos game with friends at Suzy and Jasons house. We ended our evening at our place with a trial run with Suzy and Jason of our new game. Verdict? It's fun!
It was lovely weekend in our beautiful state. September is one of the best months here. We love the festival, but may explore some other of the festival offerings next year. Maybe. Kids would be disappointed. We have also decided that we much prefer Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA to Estes Park. Still it was a really wonderful family weekend.