An epic entry, or...

Well, this may be an epically long blog, or it may be very short, depending on how long I can keep my eyes open. In case I don't make it to the end, or you (very understandably!) don't read to the end, the trip to Colorado was great, the mountains were beautiful and we made it home safely. (And I still have to write about Max's birthday and fourth of July... I think that will be tomorrow at least!)

After spending July 3-July 6 at Dave's parent's in Chicago, Abby and I started out on our trip. It was fun to spend some time with Abby, and the funny things she would say. Out of the blue she started talking about things that are "unpossible." Like, if she said bananas were falling out of the sky, that would be unpossible. But it could rain out of the sky. Yup, I guess that's true! She also spent a lot of time putting pictures in picture albums for me. I got each of the kids their own album and ordered a bunch of pictures from baby to where they are now. She sorted them all and put them in albums. Then took hers out and redid it again, and again and again! In fact, all the pictures are back out now, waiting for her to sort them now. Anyway, the first leg was from Chicago area to Ames, Iowa, where we spent the night with my friend Lisa. They've only been in their house for a little while and it was so nice to see her, her husband Ben and son Connor. And it just so happened that her mom and dad came that day too!



Here's Abby, holding her pictures that she sorted and put in albums.






On Monday, before my mom and Uncle met us at Lisa's house, we went to the Botanical Garden, which was nice. Here's a picture of Lisa, Connor and the lady that works in the butterfly exhibit, letting Connor hold a butterfly.


Abby pumping water out of the frog's mouth.



Connor and Abby in the whale.



My mom and Uncle John came just after noon on Monday and they left the car in Lisa's driveway and took off in the van. I soon realized that we wouldn't be going very far without frequent stops for John! Here's Abby and Mom checking out the art/playground equipment at the first stop.




My Uncle John with his liquid refreshment at the first stop.


We made it through Iowa, and into Nebraska. What a flat, boring state! We made it to North Platte, Nebraska around 8 on Monday night. We were excited to see that the pool was open all night, but then equally disappointed to see that it was under maintenance and we couldn't go in. We woke up early on Tuesday and started out for Colorado. After the last of the flat Nebraska and flat eastern Colorado, we finally made it to the mountains.



They were really beautiful, and only a little challenging to drive through. It only made me a little nervous when the signs started telling us about what to do if our brakes go out, and had areas for run away trucks!



We got to the house we'd be staying at around 4 on Tuesday, unpacked and went grocery shopping. It was really nice to have the space--three bedrooms, three bathrooms, living area, kitchen. It had lots of movies, books and games, and we spent great downtime using all three. It definitely couldn't be beat!




Here's the pool... nothing like a pool and two whirlpools with mountain views!




These were the signs on the garbage area. A little scary, since it says mama bear and baby bear were there the morning we checked in. Uh oh! I'm glad we never saw any of those!



Here's other pictures of Abby around town... on a horse,



On a wagon, and...



on a dinosaur?? Yup, everything has a saddle around here, I guess!


After a good night sleep, I got up for an early morning walk and about halfway through, a little elk came down the hill next to me and onto the street. I don't usually get that close to a deer, much less an elk! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but it was pretty neat. On Wednesday morning, mom, Abby and I headed to Fish Creek Falls. There's a good trail to the waterfalls there, and then a fairly steep trail heading up the mountain from there.


Here's mom and Abby at the trailhead.



Abby was a natural rock climber and even became our tour guide, telling us where the tricky rocks were.



Fish Creek Falls



More rock climbing Abby



Gram and Abby pondering the universe


Enjoying a picnic after the hike


From the lookout tour to the Falls


From there we went mini golfing, and then went through the human maze.


Unfortunately, we saw this sign a lot. After awhile it just wasn't fun anymore... we couldn't find our way out!


We finally made it and went and relaxed in the pool for awhile.

And that ends day 1 in Colorado, day 3 of the trip! I want to finish but need to hit the sack tonight. I've put in the highlight pictures below and will write about them more tomorrow.
































My favorite picture!!