The view from our lodge just before sunset
11 years ago
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Great Sand Dunes National Park
We had a wonderful time playing in Medano creek at Great Sand Dunes thanks so some great advice I received in advance from my mom and sister. On the off chance anyone reading this is planning a trip I'll share the pro-tips: Bring inner tubes for floating (kids only - there isn't enough water for adults to float - and this applies in the spring only as the Medano creek dries up), bring bug spray, and don't bother sledding the dunes. It was way too hot to try to attempt to hike the dunes. That didn't stop plenty of people but I'm glad we just took it easy and played in the water.
The view from our lodge just before sunset
The view from our lodge just before sunsetDurango
We spent a day in Durango between visisting Mesa Verde and Sand Dunes. We toured the historic downtown area, played at a park and visited the Train museum. We spent the afternoon and evening with our friends the Owens family and playing in the Animas river. 
Mesa Verde National Park
I was about Norah's age when my parents took me to Mesa Verde and it made quite an impression on me. This was my third visit to the park and I was still astonished. I hope Norah will always remember this trip - we will have to go again for Alice and Freya. When we toured Cliff Palace Alice actually asked me "When are we going to do the fun parts?" And when Freya became impatient in the backpack she called Bryan "bad daddy" ha! Poor Alice was a little on the small side for all the walking we did and yet too big to be carried. Norah had a great time and enjoyed both asking and answering the park rangers questions. 
I didn't take a lot of photos of the dwellings because it was hard to get shots without tourists and there are better professional photos online than I'll ever take. - but I couldn't resist taking some of Cliff Palace. 
It is always fun meeting other tourists on park visits. We chatted with a gang of Indian Motorcyclists who had traveled from Illinois for a rally (or a convention? I can't remember). I had never heard of this brand of motorcycles before but they are the best looking motorcycles I've ever seen and the riders were also the best looking motorcyclists I've ever seen. They were classy group. There were several self described biker-girls who declined to be photographed with Alice and Freya but proudly let us pose with their bikes.
I was watching this raptor swoop over and over again from Balcony House
Park Rangers are so friendly! We had a great time chatting with this one during Balcony House
An example of a seeping well - the Ancestral Puebloans main source of water
Peering into a Kiva at Long House
Being sworn in as junior rangers - I doubt any Mesa Verde junior ranger has been more informed than Norah!
I didn't take a lot of photos of the dwellings because it was hard to get shots without tourists and there are better professional photos online than I'll ever take. - but I couldn't resist taking some of Cliff Palace. 
It is always fun meeting other tourists on park visits. We chatted with a gang of Indian Motorcyclists who had traveled from Illinois for a rally (or a convention? I can't remember). I had never heard of this brand of motorcycles before but they are the best looking motorcycles I've ever seen and the riders were also the best looking motorcyclists I've ever seen. They were classy group. There were several self described biker-girls who declined to be photographed with Alice and Freya but proudly let us pose with their bikes.
I was watching this raptor swoop over and over again from Balcony House
Park Rangers are so friendly! We had a great time chatting with this one during Balcony House
An example of a seeping well - the Ancestral Puebloans main source of water
Peering into a Kiva at Long House
Being sworn in as junior rangers - I doubt any Mesa Verde junior ranger has been more informed than Norah!
Monday, June 12, 2017
Lindsey's birthday
I turned 33! We had a nice a family dinner at Ashley and Matt's house and my mom made me a strawberry rhubarb pie - perfection!
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Owens' Family Visit
Our friends Rachel and Adam Owens and their three boys came up from Durango for a gymnastics meet and spent a few days with us. It was wonderful catching up and meeting their younger boys. We hadn't seen them for 7 years! Here are our collective kids in order of youngest to oldest.
Friday, June 2, 2017
Alice's Preschool Graduation
Alice had a wonderful year at Hope Center. She loved her teachers Ms. Carol and Ms. Flor and made lots of friends. Her school worked very hard on a graduation performance. They sang "Hero" and "True colors" and we enjoyed listening to her practice singing every morning.
We had a little bit of a crisis getting to graduation. Right before it was time for us to leave Freya got a bead stuck up her nose and we couldn't get it out. I talked to a nurse at their pediatricians office who wanted us to bring her in but we would miss graduation so the nurse told us to blow really hard into Freya's nose. I was on the phone talking Bryan through the instructions while Grandma Lorraine held Freya down. Freya was thrashing around but Bryan managed to get a good seal on her nose and pop that bead out. His beard was covered in snot but we were so relieved to get that bead out. We made it to graduation on time and we went to Chic-fila afterwards to celebrate.
We had a little bit of a crisis getting to graduation. Right before it was time for us to leave Freya got a bead stuck up her nose and we couldn't get it out. I talked to a nurse at their pediatricians office who wanted us to bring her in but we would miss graduation so the nurse told us to blow really hard into Freya's nose. I was on the phone talking Bryan through the instructions while Grandma Lorraine held Freya down. Freya was thrashing around but Bryan managed to get a good seal on her nose and pop that bead out. His beard was covered in snot but we were so relieved to get that bead out. We made it to graduation on time and we went to Chic-fila afterwards to celebrate.
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