Ethan helping us navigate
The kids did amazingly well in the car. I had wrapped up little gifts I got at the dollar store and gave them out whenever they got restless. For the most part, they just played with the toys we brought. There was also the super fun game we made up of who can spot hay first. Or who spotted cows first. All fun things driving through Missouri, Kansas and Eastern Colorado provide you. Who needs a DVD player (which I am happy to say we never pulled out of the trunk!) when you have an imagination? Here is a video of Abby playing with her princesses:On our second day of driving we stopped off at a town in Kansas to stretch our legs at a museum that advertised dinos. While Ethan loved it, Abby was a little apprehensive. We kept telling her the dinos were fake and not even moving when all the sudden.....the huge T-Rex you see below turns its head, opens its mouth and roars a terrifying roar. I promptly took a crying Abby out of the dino room.
We arrived in Ft. Collins Friday late afternoon. We took it easy that night after our long trip in the car. Here is the view from Craig and Val's house.
The next morning, we took a small tour of Colorado State University where Uncle Craig is a dean. The campus is really beautiful. Most things are facing the view of the mountains. For instance , you can eat lunch in the student union while looking at the mountains, you can study in the library while looking at the mountains or you can even run on a treadmill in the gym while looking at the mountains. When Craig had to get back to work, we headed back home so the kids could take a nap.
Walking CSU's campus
That afternoon, Nana and Papa arrived! We hung out with them in the evening and ate some pizza. Of course, they came bearing gifts, so it was like Christmas day for the kids opening up present after present.
The next morning we went out to breakfast and then to watch the Tour de Fat. This is an annual parade where people dress up in crazy costumes and ride their bikes through town. Here are the kids sitting on the curb watching the action
After the parade, we went for a walk through Old Town. It is a really cute area full of shops and places to eat. Here is Ethan sitting by a bear statue:
Abby was a little afraid of the bear, so she opted for the more friendly fish:
After touring the town, we went back to Craig and Val's house where we helped them harvest their garden. The picture below shows all the food we picked. The whole bottom of the wagon is full!
Then, trying to time it with nap time so the kids would sleep in the car, we left in the afternoon for Estes Park so we could go into Rocky Mountain National Park. We went to Bear Lake and walked around the whole thing. Ethan turned into "adventure mode" climbing on every rock he saw. He LOVES being outside, climbing and hiking, so RMNP is right up his alley. Here he is sitting on a bench looking adorable.
Ab also likes talking walks although she doesn't last quite as long. She was hilarious on this walk because she brought a little purse she had gotten earlier in the day. She had it on her arm the entire time....see below:
Family pic
The whole group at Bear Lake
The next day, we headed back up to the mountains to go to an area called Long Draw. It is just north of the RMNP. The drive there is so beautiful. You are going through the mountains following a river. As we were going up the mountain we actually got stuck in traffic because of an accident up the road. We decided to turn around and wait by a picnic area near the river until the accident was cleared. This was perfect because the kids were able to throw rocks in the river!
One of the draws of going up to this area was to see moose. Craig promised we would see some....and he didn't disappoint! Once we got to a high enough elevation, we saw a mother and baby along the road:
Craig showing Abby the moose
We all ate some lunch before going on our hike through the mountains. Here's lunch and the hike:
We didn't bring our backpack for carrying Abby in, so we knew the hike would be somewhat limited. Especially since this is how she traveled most the way (please note the necessary sparkle shoes and princess sunglasses for the hike):
We did have one minor bump in the road along the way. We were following a little stream that was down a slight incline. Brian thought it would be fun to go down and throw a couple rocks with the kids. All was fine until they tried to get back out. The sides were a little too steep and rocky, so Brian couldn't carry them both at one time. So, Ethan being the older one, was told to sit while Brian brought Abby up. Ethan thought Brian was going to leave him down there so he freaked out a bit. Here is a picture of Valerie coming to the rescue with her walking stick trying to get Ethan out.
Everyone made it out okay. whew. And Ethan and Abby "helped" Craig and Valerie hike on the way back:
Craig had promised we would see a lot of moose up there and up to that point we had just seen the mom and baby moose. So, I told him I was not satisfied until I saw a male moose with a big rack on its head. And look what we found on our way out of the park:
After that, I told him the only thing that would make my life complete is to see a moose like this WALKING in front of us. Strangely enough, we saw one at Craig and Valerie's house!
And then came two baby ones.
We ate dinner out that night on our way back down from the mountain. We sat outside at a nice restaurant in Old Town. It was a great end to a great day!Our final day, Monday, we relaxed around the house. After all our activity, we thought it would be nice to just have an easy day with the kids before getting back on the road. That night for dinner we cooked buffalo steaks and beef steaks which were delicious! After the kids were in bed, the 6 adults played a game of dominoes. It was pretty dicey at times especially because we had to play by the Colorado Beyrouty's "house rules". :-)
The next morning we all got up and headed our separate ways. We decided that before we had to leave Colorado we would go up to Estes Park and the RMNP one more time. Along the way we got to see sheep on the side of the road:
And I, of course, had to get a picture of the kids by the sign entering the park. When I was a kid, my family took many driving vacations across the US. One thing my parents did was took a picture of the three of us by EVERY sign. At the time I thought it was annoying, but now I look back on the pictures and treasure them. I think Abby felt the same way I did as a child. I'm pretty sure only my family can TRULY appreciate this picture and the way Abby is pouting. I'm sure if we looked hard enough we might find a similar one of me:
In the park the only real animal we saw was a male deer
Then we took the road up to the highest point in the park. Here we are at 10,000 feet
And here is 12,000 feet.
After exiting the park, we were on our way back home to St. Louis. We took I-80 home this time and stopped in Lincoln, NE on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we were home by dinner!We had a wonderful time in a beautiful state! Thank you again to Craig and Valerie for their hospitality and for showing us around the area. We really enjoyed ourselves! And thank you to Bob and Jan for making the drive out too so we could spend time with you! Hope we can all do it again soon!
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