The night before we left, the kids got to sleep in their clothes and on the floor! It was extremely exciting.
We left first thing in the morning and made it to Wichita, KS by the afternoon. Thank goodness. The kids did... about as well as you would expect 4 kids to do in their carseats with minimal coping skills and limited conversational skils.
Charlie slept in his first closet of the trip. He was to sleep in many more closets before the end of the trip. Closets are ideal for him. Dark, small, no distractions.
On our way to Denver the next day, we stopped at this great little diner. I don't know what year the diner started seeing patrons, but its significantly aged decor seemed genuine. It has been there a long time. The food was great, and Papa and Daddy were good enough to take the kids out to explore while we were waiting on--and after we finished--our food.
The morning after we arrived in Denver, we explored and delighted in the Children's Museum of Denver. It was amazing.
The ball section was fantastic. The kids loved standing under the "ball release," which would dump a bunch of balls every so often. Oliver liked loading the balls into a certain tube and then watching them get sucked up to the ceiling and then back down to be played with again. The thing Elliot was playing with... I never quite understood. But there were cranks. He liked it.
Charlie and I snuck away for a bit so I could feed him, and the room we found was just gorgeous and empty, so I couldn't resist a quick little impromptu breastfeeding selfie. It's just such a precious, short time in life. And after how many complications and how much work I've put into breastfeeding, it feels nice to capture a peaceful moment of it every now and again.
The last part of the children's museum was hay bales outside (good for jumping!), a picnic, and then water play. Lucy loved jumping from bale to bale. Oliver adored the water play.
On day 2 of our Denver stay, Nonnie and Papa (and Mimi and Papa) stayed with the kids so that Daniel and I could enjoy The Forgotten Gospel Conference at The Sanctuary Downtown. It was so fun to be there. Great speakers and good people. I enjoyed re-connecting with some friends I hadn't seen in about a year.
The next morning was very special -- Oliver and Charlie were baptized! We had been looking forward to this day for a long time. We are excited to raise these kids, teaching them about God's abundant love for them and for all of mankind.
Keeping Charlie entertained during the weekend was not the most enjoyable task. He played in the luggage room... got walked up and down the street by Papa... got held by me (a lot)... and got held by my good friend and kindred spirit Deb, pictured in the top left corner.
All the volunteers at the conference worked so hard and were so hospitable. Pictured above are Susan and Peter Hiett of The Sanctuary.
I was hoping for a family picture while we were all in our Sunday best, but I settled for a kid picture.
After church, we headed west toward Glenwood Springs. It's a charming little tourist town in the mountains. We ate a really good/interesting toco dinner that night, and Papa entertained the kids with his magic.
The next morning we made use of our hotel's awesome pool and slide!
No minimum height requirement on the slide meant we rode that thing all. morning. long. So fun.
The next day we took the gondolas up to the caverns and amusement park.
We rode the Ferris wheel, made our way through a maze, played musical instruments, saw a cave...
...but the part the kids really enjoyed seemed to be the sandbox.
The hotel was great. In addition to the pool and slide on the ground floor, the kids loved the waffles in the morning and the carpeted fire escape we used to get up and down from our third floor room.
Oh, and the jacuzzi tub! They loved that. Let me tell you, you can make an impressive amount of bubbles with hotel-filtered-water and some jacuzzi jets. Impressive.
We celebrated Nonnie's birthday with a night on the town at a "modern barbeque" restaurant that was delicious.
The next day, we went to the hot springs to swim. It would have been tons of fun, but Charlie aspirated some water and quickly started having breathing troubles.
Papa and I took him to the ER, where they put him on oxygen and admitted him to the ICU for monitoring overnight. He perked right up and did fine that night--thankfully!
The next morning, after we were discharged from the hospital, we drove north east toward Estes Park. It was interesting, coming into Estes Park from that direction. We drove over Trail Ridge road and the Continental Divide. Turns out Oliver gets super carsick, just like me (and Lucy, I think). He puked as soon as we got out of the car.
We arrived at Sprague Lake in time for a quick hot dog cook-out with Aunt Karen, Mimi, and Papa.
Unfortunately, it rained before we had a chance for s'mores. But that was okay. We used Papa's sterno fire to roast some marshmallows back at the cabin afterward.
Mmmm... s'mores.
Mimi had kindly rented us a boat load of books from the library, and the kids enjoyed hearing Papa and Mimi read from them that night.
We cram packed the next day with activities.
We watched the hummingbirds...
...we did a nature walk with one of the YMCA staff...
... we painted a jet, a train, and a cupcake a the craft shop...
... we played on the play ground...
... and we went on a hay ride! There was a fire ban, so no roasting of the marshmallows for us. But Lucy and Elliot still very much enjoyed eating their four marshmallows each. They told lots of people how lucky they were.
On our way home from Estes Park, we stopped for lunch and a quick visit with good friends Sarah and Bryan. It was such fun to see baby Georgia, whom I hadn't seen since she was just a week or two old!
And that, my friends, was our vacation to Colorado!
No comments:
Post a Comment