Colorado Trip 2019 Part 2: Denver Area

Morrison, Colorado

   On June 12th, we woke up, finished packing, and cleaned the house we were staying at in Colorado Springs. The next house we were staying at was in Lafayette, Colorado, but we were making some stops before getting there later in the day.

   First, we wanted to see the Red Rock Amphitheater. It is such a beautiful landmark and you can see it from a distance because the two main rock formations are so tall. It was gorgeous and full of activity. Other tourists like us were there as well as many people who use the space to work out. We had a picnic lunch on a patio area then enjoyed looking around for a bit.

   Next we went to Dinosaur Ridge, which is very close to Red Rock Amphitheater. You can pay for a tour and ride a bus to see the fossils or you can walk the trail. We chose to walk. It was hot, but we had water and sunscreen. A little ways in you can see some dinosaur footprints that were left in what used to be a muddy river bank. Further down you can see some fossilized bones in the rock. The bones were a rusty red color and smoother than the surrounding rock. It was a fun hike with the kids and nice to be able to touch history.

   After hiking Dinosaur Ridge we were all tired and ready to get to the house in Lafayette. It was not exactly what we expected but would work for a few days. The kitchen was very cluttered so I just moved some items to the closet. The parking was further than we were used to and the house didn't have air conditioning, but the kids were happy and it was a place to stay.

Estes Park, Colorado

   On June 13th, we woke up to drive to Estes Park. It was a beautiful day! We were really fortunate to have such nice weather for most of the trip! Once we got there we had to find our way around. We settled on doing a drive to Bear Lake and then a hike around the lake. The drive was gorgeous; shortly after getting into the park we saw some elk grazing. We stopped along the way to enjoy the sites, take pictures and enjoy the amazing smell of all those evergreen trees.

    We arrived at the lake and had a picnic. There were some overly friendly chipmunks and squirrels. One of them jumped on the bench we were sitting on and almost stole August's sandwich. He did not even notice as I swatted it away.

   The walk around the lake was beautiful and had nice views of the mountains. The kids enjoyed seeing some of the snow that was still left and climbing on rocks of course!

   Riley spoke to a park ranger before doing the walk around the lake and was working on filling out a workbook to become a junior park ranger. Keenan and I didn't realize how excited she was about it. She had the entire thing read, filled out and was ready to talk to a park ranger to get her badge. She discussed her answers with the ranger and answered some extra ones. It was about not littering, not feeding wildlife and not picking wildflowers (leaving our surroundings as natural as possible). She answered correctly all on her own and took a pledge to get her junior park ranger badge. I don't like littering but don't try to do it in front of Riley because she will have something to say about it!

   After activities at Bear Lake we told the kids to take a nap in the car, which they did happily. We then took a drive down part of Trail Ridge Road. I loved every minute of this day and appreciate Keenan for doing all of the driving. The kids woke up and walked with me to look at an overview of the mountains. A butterfly landed on Riley's finger and she was overjoyed. After this, it was getting late and we drove back to Lafayette.

Just caught this moment

Bear Lake

Sitting in front of the snow

Becoming a Junior Park Ranger

The kids fell asleep right away

This is the butterfly on Riley's finger

Denver, CO: Aquarium

The last day (June 14) we went to the aquarium. This was really expensive but it was a lot of fun to walk through with the kids. They had many different species. I enjoyed the jellyfish and seahorses. It is also fun to walk through the tunnel and see stingrays, it looks more like they are flying. There was a large tank with different types of sharks. There were also 3 tigers in the rain forest exhibit. I am not sure why but they were pretty. The kids enjoyed the stingray touch tank at the end.

That evening we went to another all gluten free restaurant. It is called Reelfish Fish and Chips in Lafayette. The food was amazing; Keenan and I shared some fish and chips and the kids got chicken and chips. Not exactly a healthy meal, but tasty and not something I would make at home.

Leaving Lafayette

June 15th we packed up the car, tidied the house, and drove away from the mountains and back to Iowa. On the way out of town, I saw a drive through coffee place; I got a latte and Keenan got a burrito. Not a bad way to start a long drive! We loved our vacation but we were all excited to get back home. Someday we would love to go back to Colorado.

Thank you to Carmen, our neighbor, for looking after our garden and Punky while we were gone. The garden looks great; I can't wait to harvest some tomatoes and cucumbers!

 

Colorado Trip 2019: Part 1, Colorado Springs

    A trip to Colorado has been in the works for a while. We wanted to take in the amazing views of the Rocky Mountains. Then back in 2015 our friends, the Koppenhavers, up and abandoned us for that beautiful place, and we knew we had to make the trip to visit! So we set aside some time this year to make that happen.

    I spent a lot of time planning the trip by researching things to do in the area (my friend Emily Koppenhaver helped a lot with this), looking at the housing options, and trying hard to find gluten-free restaurants in the area. Instead of hotels, we decided to rent a couple houses through airbnb; we specifically wanted to use a kitchen to prepare food in a more controlled environment (using a few pans we brought along as well). A few days before we left, I started making trips to grocery stores to stock up on food. Salads, sandwiches, eggs, cereal, and fruit were our primary food sources when we didn't go out to eat.

    We had a good travel day to Colorado on Friday, June 7th. The kids did awesome in the car, even though it is a 12 hour drive. I should probably mention that the driver did well also! As we were getting close to Colorado Springs, there was a storm, so we could not see the mountains on the way in, but there was a nice lightning show and the rain in the distance was pretty neat looking!

Colorado Springs

   We arrived at the house around 6:30 or so (local time). The kids loved exploring when we first arrived. They were exhausted but they were out of the car, so that was the important part! Riley immediately tried to claim the biggest bed but settled for another one. This house was the perfect home away from home and was a pretty relaxing place to be after sightseeing. We often got back for naps for the kids, and downtime for the parents before going out again.

Garden of the Gods

    The first full day, Saturday, we had amazing weather! Our friends guided us around parts of the Garden of the Gods. The scenery is amazing there and I have never seen anything like it before. The kids had a great time exploring and acting like goats by climbing on the rock formations. There is a nice view of Pike's Peak from there.

America The Beautiful Park

    After seeing The Garden of the Gods, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at this park, then the kids played in the fountain for a while. We finished up the day at the Koppenhavers' home for some delicious BBQ chicken.

    The view from this park really is beautiful. It was nice to take in the mountain views while eating our lunch.

Scenic Drive to Cripple Creek 

    On Sunday, we drove to Cripple Creek because that route is supposed to have spectacular views of the different mountain ranges. Unfortunately, it was really foggy, so we actually didn't see anything. We headed home for the day and took naps, etc. and then went out for supper to our first 100% gluten-free restaurant, Coquette's. The food there was great, and it was so reassuring to know that everything was safe for Riley to eat.

    Since we had bad weather on Sunday, we tried the Cripple Creek drive again on Monday morning, and it was great! These pictures don't do it justice, but they still showcase the beautiful scenery we saw on that drive.

Dinosaur Resource Center

    After the Cripple Creek drive, we headed back and went to the Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park (in between Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek). We had a great time here! I did not take any pictures of the inside, but there is plenty to see and learn. I like how they had it divided up into land dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, and ancient sea creatures. I will not be able to remember all of their names, but they had a nice variety of real fossils and casts of fossils. There were some really impressive skeletons to be seen, along with details of what injuries they had when they died and what time period they were from.

    I liked reading about the local explorers and paleontologists in the Colorado area and where some of the first really impressive finds were. The kids had a great time looking around and asking questions. There was an area where the kids could pretend they were finding fossils.

    The kids also used some of their own money in the gift shop. Riley bought a pink rock and August bought a stuffed animal turtle.

 

    While in Woodland Park, we went to a restaurant called Carmen for lunch. It wasn't 100% gluten-free, but it had great gluten-free options and the staff were very knowledgeable and friendly. Seriously, this whole Celiac Disease thing really changes the way we approach a lot of things that we used to take for granted.

    On Tuesday, we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is situated right on the side of a mountain and is pretty unique. I thought the location was beautiful but we didn't see that many animals. August did get to see a moose, though; he's been using it as a size comparison for months (Dad, are you as big as a moose? etc etc). I probably wouldn't go next time (it's expensive) but it was a nice experience.

    After naptime on Tuesday, we met the Koppenhavers at a pizzeria in downtown Colorado Springs called Bambino's. This place was fantastic; great wood-fired pizzas and an excellent understanding of the extra steps needed to ensure that Riley's pizza (loaded with black olives and pepperonis, of course) was safe for her to eat. Only $10 per pizza, too - not bad at all. Anyway, it was wonderful to have another opportunity to hang out with Andrew, Emily, and Ross before leaving town and not seeing them for awhile.

    We went back to the house and got the kids in bed and ready to leave the next day for Lafayette.

... to be continued ...

Spring 2019

Riley's 7th Birthday Party

April 27

Riley's 7th Birthday

May 3rd

This year my baby turned 7! She loves to create art, help in the garden, read, and swim. She is an excellent big sister and I love getting quiet moments with just her. She is a very thoughtful and caring person. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

 

Mothers Day

Riley made this lovely Mothers Day card this year. I love the care and thought she put into the drawing and the writing!

 

Quinny Died
May 15

On the evening of May 15, Quinny died unexpectedly. I was heartbroken and shocked. I found him when I went to put him back in his cage, before getting the kids ready for bed. ISU performed a necropsy and discovered that he went into congestive heart failure and had pulmonary edema.  All of this after getting a healthy report from the vet in February. The Dr at ISU told me that cats are really good at hiding their pain. 

I will miss having him as a friend for the kids to play with in the backyard(He was so patient with them), to follow me around when I gardened, and to sit on my lap. He was a very affectionate cat and liked to lick my nose for some reason. He was also an excellent hunter!

 Riley's Last Day of 1st Grade

May31

 Riley is an excellent listener and loved her teacher. She had a great year and improved so much in writing and math throughout the year. I am really proud of all of the work that she put in! She is also enjoying reading at a whole new level and likes to read to her siblings. Yes, Punky often looks that disgusted at me when we go outside and she can only sit in the windowsill.