Beautiful Colorado

We're back in Ohio after 2 weeks in beautiful Colorado without any computer access. Did we miss anything while we were out of www contact? No. But now that we're back in the realms of civilization, I figured I would tell a little bit about our trip. The boys traveled very well. It took 3 days of driving (about 1700 miles to get there), and our friends let us borrow Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre presentations of some of the Chronicles of Narnia. Wow, are those spell-binding! We listened to "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian", and "The Silver Chair" on the way out, and that made the miles pass by so quickly. In fact, we visited Focus's headquarters while we were there and bought the entire set so we could listen to the others on the drive back. We also bought "Anne of Green Gables", but I just now made the disappointing discovery that somehow I bought the cassettes instead of the CDs. Gee, I wonder how I could have made a mistake like that, considering all I had to be distracted by was 4 tired kids (one of them, Jonathan, fussing and squirming to get out of the stroller!) who were ready for lunch after the tour of the admin building! Oh well. I am recommending these series to any and everyone, though--they are really well-done. 

The first week we were there, the boys and I went to a lot of museums in Colorado Springs that Bob and I had never been to while we were there. We visited the Mining Museum, the Money Museum, Pioneers' Museum, had a picnic at Memorial Park, and of course went to the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods. We also did some shopping at places like Media Play, which they don't have in Ohio or Virginia, and I also got the boys' picture taken at Kiddie Kandids. The pictures turned out really well. I have always had good experiences there, and I so wish they were back East too! It's a challenge to get 4 young boys to all smile at the same time, but the photographer we had did a wonderful job. Bob had his class every day and got back to the hotel around 5:00 or so. He enjoyed it, so it was a good TDY for him too. We did things like walk around Manitou Springs in the evenings, and on Saturday we went to the Rock Ledge Ranch, which is a living history place with volunteers who dress the part and do things the old-fashioned way. That was really interesting. 

Then our good friends the L's from Virginia got there too, and we had a lot of fun the second week with them. We went to the North Pole Amusment Park Sunday, which was Nathan's big wish. The clouds kept coming in and going out, and it sprinkled a few times, so there weren't very many people there. The boys could ride whatever they wanted and stay on for another ride if they so chose, so really it was a perfect day. We visited the Ghost Town Museum, the Van Briggle Pottery Factory, and Focus on the Family with the L's the next week, as well as the Flying W Ranch for dinner. We actually ate outside there for the first time ever. It was a gorgeous night. Wednesday night our family went to the Ringling Brothers'/Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was Opening Night, and tickets were only $10.00! The boys were transfixed by all the action and excitement. It started at 7:30, and Jonathan was mesmerized for about 45 minutes. Then he just was tired and wiggly, so I felt like I wrestled through the last half of the circus to keep him on my lap and quiet. Actually it didn't much matter if he was quiet or not, since the whole place was so loud! On Friday, our last day in Colorado, the boys and I hiked with the L's. We hiked to the Crags, which is one of my favorite trails. It's only about 1.8 miles one way, but at the end you are on a big rocky promontory, and you have views like you are at the top of Pikes Peak, even though you are only around 11,000 feet. Of course, I didn't really pack for hiking, so I didn't have a baby packpack or anything for Jonathan. Ed carried him most of the way up, with some help from Jessica, and Anthony carried him (and my regular backpack!) most of the way back down, while Jonathan took a nice nap (Thanks, Anth!). Caleb was a real trooper, but he conked out about half-way back, and Ed stepped up to carry him the rest of the way. Caleb's quite a chunk--Bob wasn't so sorry he missed the hike when he heard about all the heavy lifting he missed! : ) I was thankful to have all the help though--I had just assumed I wouldn't be able to go all the way to the top with the little boys. It was a beautiful, cloudless day, and I must say it was the perfect way to end a wonderful vacation in Colorado. 

I will confess that after being there a few days, Bob and I were both thinking about ways we could get back out there to live! I think those mountains just stay in you after you look at them for a few years. I bought a new "mountain-y" calendar for next year. At least that way I can keep a reminder of the mountains in my kitchen!