Panning For Gold

On our last day in Colorado we got to try our hand at panning for gold at a mining museum.

The kids quickly learned that it was hard work.

With no results other than the enjoyment of panning for gold!

Even binky boy joined in.

The museum also had a "pretend mine" that Nathan thoroughly enjoyed playing in.

And Andrew got to try his hand at mining by hand!

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike

While we were in Pueblo, my brother Mike drove up to visit for a few days.  It just so happened to be his 40th birthday, so we got to have some fun celebrating.  We went out to eat at Applebees and there was a man there who made balloon animals for the kids.  This is Nathan's snake.

This is Alex's fish.

This is Elizabeth's monkey in a tree.

And here is Andrew's frog.

The man truly was amazing.  He made this motorcyle for my father.

We gave Mike a few presents back at the hotel.

Got to love the Dora and the Carebear wrapping paper!

It was fun to see Mike laughing.

The kids couldn't wait for him to finish with gifts so that they could have dessert.

Alex hung out in a chair with a bright smile on his face most of the time.

The cake - not bad for decorating in a hotel room!

Milkweed

Alex found milkweed along the path leaving Bent Fort and had a delightful time playing with it.

It stuck to his hands and his clothes,

but it didn't seem to bother him one bit!

Off to search for more with Daddy.

Getting ready to let it go.

Dance of the Milkweed!

Love how happy he was here... feeet in the air and all.  :)

Bent Fort

On of the highlights of the trip for Andrew was going to see Bent Fort in Colorado.  It was used as a trading post in the mid 1800's.

The fort had thick adobe walls.

The kids liked walking along the second level of the fort and looking out over the top.

The inhabitants of the fort used to trade for buffalo hides and the next picture is a picture of the press that they used to consolidate the furs before shipping them.

The original fort burned to the ground, but they did a very nice job of reconstructing the fort.

An outdoor oven.

Nathan and I enjoyed following this peacock around.  I liked the reflection in the water.

A store inside the fort.

Andrew loved seeing all the guns, but didn't like it so much when they did a demonstration with the cannon shortly after we arrived at the fort.

Alex and Elizabeth liked this quill and ink.

I found it interesting that they used buffalo fur/hide to make weather stripping for all the doors and windows.

Believe it or not, I still haven't finished sharing pictures from our trip!  :)

Royal Gorge

On Wednesday Hutch and the kids, my mom and my brother all went to the Royal Gorge and walked across the world's largest suspension bridge!

I stayed behind and visited with my dad and his wife.  But I "swiped" these pictures that were taken by either my mom or my brother.

The kids rode a special train up the side of the cliffs.

They also walked across the bridge.

I'm not sure I could have done it if I had been there.

Then some of them rode the aerial tramway back across the canyon while others rode the trolley back across the bridge.

The kids all LOVED getting to know their Uncle Mike and spending time with Grandma.

I am not sure that I would have survived the day's activities had I gone with them.  I did, however, enjoy a relaxing afternoon and got lots of time to visit with Dad and Barbara.