Friday, July 16, 2010

colorado

We had a great trip to Colorado for a Kaylor family reunion. We were there for just about a week. We started the trip out on our own for the first day, and visited the Denver zoo.



The girls check out a mongoose and porcupine exhibit (Elizabeth is in the background).


Vanessa's favorite animal we saw were the polar bears. This polar bear had just been in the water, showing off a very nice back float. Elizabeth liked the lions best, and wanted to see them twice!



The next day was a day for meeting up with family. Elizabeth and Vanessa were so excited to see their cousins Bryn and Jadyn.



Vanessa still sometimes expresses her affection through squishing... Good thing Jadyn is so patient with little ones!



I had so many pics from so many places (thanks especially to my uncle's brother Rick), that I didn't manage to get them entirely in order. Oh well. This series of pictures is from the low ropes course at the Estes Park YMCA, about half-way through our time in CO. Vanessa was a little slow to warm up to all of the folks in my family that she didn't know yet, but by the end of our time at the ropes course, she allowed uncles and second cousins to help her over this six foot wall (the objective was to get everyone in our party over it). Here, her uncle Jake is helping Vanessa get down as my cousin Brett looks on.

One of the activities involved walking on a wire, supported by a partner and monitored by spotters. The wires that the two partners are balancing on get further and further apart as the partners progress along them. Here Jadyn and my cousins' cousin Megan are getting pretty far along the wires!


Bryn was kind enough to partner with Vanessa when Vanessa got up the courage to try out the wires for herself.


Vanessa even tried out the rope swing that was part of the most difficult of the challenges on the ropes course that day. Also in this picture are my cousin-in-law Mark, my brother Zak, and my Dad. Low ropes courses seem to be all about people supporting each other -- I had my hands kind of full so I felt like I was even more grateful for the support of all of my family there. Vanessa also thrived in all that support!


Here is the rock-climbing wall from the day before the low ropes course. James is climbing up on the left side while Jadyn is scaling the right.



Here my cousins Mark, Sean, Nick, Danielle, and Brett, interspersed with my Dad, my Aunt Teri, and Jadyn and Bryn all harnessed and waiting for their turns on the climbing wall.


Me. :)



I certainly wouldn't have been able to go up a climbing wall without several sets of hands to watch Elizabeth and Vanessa. Here Elizabeth is basking in the attention of ladies from three generations (from left to right), Oma Phyllis, Grandma K, and Hannah.



Four cousins on a rock. Because they have such great rocks for climbing in Colorado! This one overlooked a river with a few small waterfalls.



One of our last activities in Colorado was going up a cable car to the top of one of the mountains in Estes Park. Here are Jake and Bryn on the cable car ride.



Not only were there fabulous views from the top of the mountain, but they also had a large population of very tame chipmunks which were accustomed to getting fed peanuts by the tourists. This was a very great joy for Bryn, Vanessa, and Elizabeth. (Jadyn was off having fun riding a horse on this day!)

Here are Vanessa and Daddy waving from one of the rocks where we fed chipmunks. Elizabeth is busy looking for chipmunks among the lower rocks.



Here is Elizabeth feeding one of the chipmunks. If you look closely you will see that this chipmunk, like most of the others we saw, already has his cheeks crammed full of peanuts!


We had a blast in Colorado. James and I also flew to Chicago last weekend to see Paul's wedding. What a treat to have a trip just traveling by ourselves, and with adult friends to celebrate with! For now, we are quite content to be back home for a while, and finished with our big trips for the summer.