Spring Break

Grandma and the grandkids

Grandma, the kids and the grandkids

Noah and Anna hamming it up

Anna wanted to try out a contemplative pose

The Garden of the Gods - the way the light plays against the rocks it's hard to not appreciate the beauty

Julia the super strong - holding up "balance rock"

Anna had a case of the giggles on our Royal Gorge train ride

To counteract her giggles, Anna tried to be very serious, which only encouraged Noah to ham it up instead

Noah and Grandma enjoying a beautiful day in the Royal Gorge

Noah was playing photographer and the girls were all too happy to oblige

Anna and Uncle Scott at Dinosaur Ridge

Julia wanted to have one final picture with Grandpa

This was the setting of our final farewells to dad.  This service was honoring to his memory as a serviceman, a healthcare provider and a father.

Noah commandeered one of Uncle Scott's friend - David, and they shared many laughs one afternoon

Anna and Aunt Brenda - this is basically how they always look

Something about the altitude brings out the strangest faces in people

Daddy couldn't help but enjoy this kind of snuggle

This is currently my favorite picture of Jonah that we have.  He looks so handsome!

Mixed into our Colorado visit was a trip to the ER.  Elevation aggravated dehydration looks a lot like a shunt malfunction, and since we'd rather be safe than sorry....So thankful that all of the imaging was normal and that a bolus of fluid seemed to get him back on track.

We had an unplanned brunch date with my Aunt & Uncle from Montana.  They had been vacationing in Arizona and stopped on their way through Colorado for a bite.  

Another spring break, another trip to Colorado.  There's nothing like loading the van up with 4 kids at 4:00 in the morning for a 13 hour drive in the rain to make memories that will stick with everyone forever.  Luckily, our kids are pretty versed road trip-ers and other than long, the drive was pretty uneventful.  

We referred to this trip as our staycation in Colorado.  We knew we wouldn't be doing anything remarkably fun or typically Colorado, but we did expect to get some good family time in as well as pay final respects to my dad.  Our trip was a success as we were able to accomplish both and then some.  We spent a few days with my mom, we visited Garden of the God, the Royal Gorge and Dinosaur Ridge.  We visited Savory Spice Shop, a great spice shop in Colorado Springs owned by the parents of one of Simon's good college friend.  I reconnected with a high school friend, we had a pizza playdate with some good friends close to Denver and we had breakfast with an aunt & uncle my kids have never met.  We had a visit to a local emergency room because Jonah was extremely lethargic and we were worried about his shunt functionality, but it turned out he was just dehydrated.  And we were able to pay our final respects to my dad in with a military honors service that would have made him proud.  

There was no skiing, snowmobiling, cute mountain towns or other traditional Colorado fun, but all in all, we made some lasting memories, we built into relationships and we avoided major medical complications, so it was a good spring break.