Colorado!

4 Years, 7 & 8 Weeks.

We had the pleasure of spending the past 12 days with our family and friends in Denver, to attend a special family reunion for Papa Dave’s extended relatives.  Normally we would’ve visited during the holidays , but in the case of this year and the reunion, it gave us a reason to enjoy all that Denver has to offer during the summer season, and a chance to take advantage of activities usually shut down or snowed over in winter.  Nevertheless, we were all excited to go on vacation and escape the already stifling heat we’ve come to accept as a normal part in our lives here in Florida.

The week beforehand was a flurry of activity and preparation, as we continued to clean and pack and clean some more, in between the daily events that keep us so busy.  I took the initiative to start the laundry and packing process a whole week ahead, laying out clothes and corresponding outfits together so that it would make dressing the kids up that much easier.  Tangie and I would also be going away for a long weekend immediately after coming back from Colorado, with the kids going to stay with Lolo and Lala, so I had to plan and prepare their stuff for that too.  I had to create a systematic method to make it a seamless and easy transition between the two trips.

Table 1 for Denver.

Table 2 for Avon Park.

Backpacks filled with goodies and stuffed animals and ready to go!

The flight there wasn’t too bad of one; it was a direct flight and I had packed gifts/activities to keep the kids busy and occupied.  We left late in the afternoon on Thursday when Tangie was able to leave work, and dropped off the van at the offsite parking lot.  We were delayed on the tarmac for about 40 minutes because of evening thunderstorms, but the kids did pretty good about being quiet and patient, anticipating the first round of presents once we took to the sky.  The pilot did a good job making up the time in the air.

We were picked up by Papa and Nana with both their vehicles, as we had quite the load and luggage with us.  Fortunately the airline didn’t lose any of our bags, so we were able to get them quickly and meet the grandparents outside.  The kids were excited, especially once we got to their house, and immediately set to play with their cousins’ toys, even though it was around midnight Eastern time, all this with no naps had that day.  After chatting a while and eating some food we were finally able to get everyone into bed at 1:30 AM.

On the shuttle bus to the airport!

Family on the plane ready for takeoff.

Greeting the grandparents.

I had been in contact with our former pastor from our Deeper days who had moved to Denver with his family 3 years ago.  He is an avid cyclist and I wanted to go on a couple of rides with him while we were there.  We settled on a couple of days, and I set about trying to procure a road bike for me to use.  Luckily our friend Eric Brodis, whose wife Jennifer is a childhood friend of the Campbell’s and daughter of the pastor that married us,  was gracious enough to loan me his road bike for the week.  All I had to do was buy some $20 shoe clips that were compatible with his clipless pedals, and transfer mine out.  That was definitely a lot cheaper than renting a road bike at $70/day.  So now I was set.

We spent the afternoon at Deeda and Papa2’s house, me working on installing their new wireless handheld phone system and taking out their 1960’s leatherbound dial-ups, while Tangie and the kids went with Nana to go pick up Callen from school.  He still has 2 weeks of school left before he goes to summer break.  Once we all congregated back to the house, including Uncle Jay and Uncle Tadd, we all drove in the rain and traffic to meet Papa Dave, as well as Pastor Bob and his grandkids, for supper at the infamous cliff diving spectacle and eatery, Casa Bonita.  We would have Callen and Caylee sleep over that evening.

With cousin Caylee.

Supper at Casa Bonita.

The three youngest watching the divers from the cliffs.

The cousins all together.

They seemed to enjoy each other's company.

At least for the first part of the trip!

Braelyn crashed on our bed!

Sabbath morning I woke up bright and early and headed out to try and get acclimated to the thin air with a short 10 mile bike ride around the immediate vicinity.  It was a balmy 47º that greeted me outside, and I was thankful I had brought a longsleeve compression shirt to keep warm.  Nevertheless, I went about on my ride, my first since the crash a few weeks ago, and I struggled to breathe and keep a fast pace amidst the climbs.  Florida’s hills are anthills compared to the ones out there.  I was just spent when I got back home; the kids were just waking up and still in their pajamas. 

After breakfast we ventured out to church, attending Denver First, or Lifesource Adventist Fellowship as it is now called, where Pastor Dany preaches.  It was great to see him and his wife Lori, and it was reminiscent of the services we used to enjoy when I was involved with the music team at Deeper.  Lunch at Olive Garden followed and then they took the kids to the park while I joined Jennifer Brodis and her sister Andrea on a 25 mile bike ride tour to Bear Creek Lake and Homestead, continuing to get myself prepared for my bike rides with Dany later on that week.  The views on the ride were spectacular, and I was just happy to keep up with Jennifer as she lead us through the loop.  It was a low key night that evening and we just stayed home, me cooking some burgers for supper. 

Spectacular view made my inaugural ride bearable!

With Dany at church.

Nana with Caylee and Kohl up front for the children's story.

Maddy with Nana at lunch.

My views on ride #2.

Mostly uphill!

Meanwhile, the kids all went to a park.

Climbing on Mommy.

Sneaking up on the great-grandparents!

The teenagers hanging out on the bench.

A Caylee sandwich.

Sunday morning I took the kids to the park for a bit while Mommy got ready, and then we all drove north for an hour to Loveland where the big family reunion was going to be.   This was a get-together for Papa Dave’s relatives, from his mother’s side, who was one of 6 sisters, of whom only 2 were alive and present at the reunion.  That would’ve been the great-grandmother for the kids.  It was nice meeting and getting to know some new faces, seeing how we were related to them, and hearing all the stories of the family growing up. 

Early morning park visit.

Driving towards the Rockies.

Kids engrossed in a movie.

A barn provided covering for our group gathering.

Maddy enjoying the cow ride thingy.

Tangie and Papa having lunch together.

The youngest kids meet their Great Great Aunt Jeanine.

Selfie with Deeda!

Kohlden fishing for crayfish in the creek, just moments before he fell in and got his shorts all wet!

4 generation family reunion.

Afterwards Nana, Braelyn, and I joined Tadd, Courtney and their kids to spend the evening in their camper on a lake in Greeley, about another 45 minutes north of where we were.  They wanted us to hang out and experience their weekends up on the lake.  Tangie took the twins home with Papa and the grandparents; they would drive up to join us the next morning.  It was a nice setting, peaceful and quiet, and we enjoyed an evening of tacos, fire tableside, and movie.

Nana with the kids playing in the sand.

Tadd and Courtney's weekend escape.

Beautiful view of the sunset with the boat on the water.

The three sleeping in the same bed.

 

The next day was an action packed, water filled day of fun in the sun.  The kids played their hearts out on the water and sand, as we enjoyed the boats, wake boarding and wake surfing.   Even Nana, Tangie, and Brae got to do it for the first time ever, and it was great to capture it all on tape.  Callen had fallen sick later that evening, complaining of a headache, which we originally attributed it to dehydration, after which he felt better after we gave him some Tylenol, but then later that week he fell victim to a fever, followed by thousands of bumps on his palms and feet, which was diagnosed as Hoof ‘n Mouth Disease and very contagious.  There was a moment of worry that our kids would contract the virus but that never formulized, much to our relief.  It did, however, prevent us from seeing him and the family for the remainder of the time we were there.

Breakfast al fresco!

Enjoying the water!

Enjoying lunch!

Uncle Tadd wake boarding.

Caylee and Courtney on the surfboard.

Brae wanted to try it too!

Cooling off in the water.

Maddy loved this inflatable caterpillar.

Taking a video conference call on the dock.

The girls fell asleep en route to the restaurant.

Kohl was so tired he fell asleep on his chair at the restaurant!

Crashed hard on the drive home.

I can't see how he can fall asleep like that!

On Tuesday Nana took us all to Heritage Square Mountain, an old Western themed park with fair-esque rides.  It was a blustery dry day, windy and hot; we kept pushing water and applying sunscreen on the kids.  They enjoyed the rides immensely, although Nana and I both ended up with a little motion sickness from a couple of them, partly because of the fact that one ride was called “The Scrambler”, and partly because we had just eaten lunch.  Not a smart move on my part.

Maddy eats the biggest strawberry for breakfast!

With Mommy on the ferris wheel.

Nana and Maddy were riding buddies.

On the swinging rocket ride.

On the twisty nutcracker ride.

On more twisty wheeled ride.

Sharing a lemonade.

The 3 amigos.

The Scrambler, from Tangie's point of view!

Cutie patooties.

Yeehaw cowgirl!

On the kids' roller coaster.

Mommy and Brae get set to ride the zipline.

Cooling off and winding down from the heat!

Wednesday was another day outside, at another amusement park.  This time it was to Elitch Garden’s, or Elitch’s as it’s commonly referred to by locals, in Downtown Denver.  This is their version of Disney, Universal Studios, and Typhoon Lagoon all rolled into one park.  The rides were bigger and faster than those at Heritage Square, but they did have a pretty good sized area just for the little kids, which they just loved.  We did venture out into the water park area but the water was f-f-freezing cold and we could barely stand it!  After drying off and changing back to regular clothes we hit more rides again before the park closed.  Not as crowded as our theme parks in Florida, but then again schools hadn’t all let out yet and it wasn’t the peak of summer so I guess we lucked out.

View of Denver from atop Elitch tower.

On the carousel.

Doing the boat ride.

They just loved the bumper cars!

Twirly train ride.

Braelyn on the adult swing ride with Mommy.

Congo River Rapid ride.  They got all wet!

Water park!  Freezing!

Trying out the wave pool.

Maddy loves to try on hats!

The family under Elitch's ferris wheel.

The grown-ups enjoyed watching the kids have a good time.

Thursday was more of a relaxing type of day, and we took it a bit easy.  I was done with amusement parks and crowds for a while.  I ended up playing a round of golf with Tadd, while Tangie took the kids to go see a movie.  We joined the Reynolds and Brodis families for a birthday dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant, the Beirut Grill.  Mmmmm.

Just an absolutely gorgeous day.

I've heard of birdies and eagles…but geese?!

A fun round with the brother-in-law.

Tangie took all 5 kids to go see a matinee.

The three at attention in the restaurant.

Our entire group for supper at the Beirut Grill.

Friday morning I drove out to Highlands Ranch to meet Dany for our first of two planned rides together.  I was a bit intimidated, as I knew how good of a cyclist he was, and of the combination of inclines and thin air I was going to have to conquer that day.  He took me of a tour to Daniel’s Park, with a spectacular view of the vastness of the Rockies, taking me around for 25 miles and climbing 1800 feet in elevation!  It was tough at times, but thoroughly exhilarating; I hit a max speed of 47 mph going downhill at one point.   The morning was topped off when we got back to his house, when he treated me to some homemade Cuban coffee, as we chilled and caught up in the backyard for an hour.

We started with some off roading en route to Daniel's Park.

Some great views on our climbs.

Just spectacular!

Authentic homemade Cuban coffee!  It was great to talk and catch up with him!

Meanwhile, Tangie and Nana took the kids to the Denver Zoo, to meet with Callen’s class trip and give the children something to do while I was out with Dany.  After they returned home we packed up our things for a weekend at Papa2 and Deeda’s mountain cabin in Silverthorne.  It was a quick drive into the mountains, whilst marveling at the leftover snow still capping some of the highest peaks.   Upon arrival we gave Mommy some time to do some shopping at the local outlets while I took the kids to the playgrounds by the rec center, to give them an outlet for their energy.  See how I just used the word outlet twice in the previous sentence?  Pretty cool.  Anyway, we had dinner at a quaint tavern by Lake Dillon, reminiscent of a diner but everything made with wood inside.  It was Tangie’s birthday and we wanted to do a small celebration, even though she adamantly insisted we keep it quiet.  She’s not one to enjoy the limelight.  At least we’ll celebrate big next week.

The crew at the zoo!

You would've thought they'd take pictures with some animals or something!

Kohl intently watches the movie on the drive up.

Heading West towards them mountains!

Finally at the cabin!

Enjoying a pretty cool playground.

They loved the tire swing!

Dinner at the Arapahoe Cafe near Lake Dillon.

Sabbath morning Papa and Nana had to attend a memorial service for a former classmate and friend that was 3 hours away.  That meant they would be gone for the whole day, so we were on our own.   I took the kids for a hike in the backyard while Mommy got ready for the day, and then we drove up to the Breckenridge Ski Resort area and had lunch and walked around, enjoying the brilliant weather, blazing sun, and even some leftover snow drifts scattered intermittently about.  Afterwards we came back to the cabin for some naps, getting some takeout for supper and just stayed in with a movie, with Mommy working on her favorite pastime, puzzles.

They decided to take the beaten path.

A Rocky Mountain fairy!

and her big sister!

Lunch with a view in gorgeous Breckenridge!

Playing horseshoe while waiting for the food to arrive.

They wanted to see how cold the water was.

We found snow!

Mommy working on her puzzles.

Sunday morning I cooked omelets for breakfast and then it was time to clean up and pack up for our drive back to Denver.  The weather had turned pretty bad over the morning, and by the time we started our drive down from the mountains it was drizzling and the temp had dropped to 45º.   As we crossed the Continental Divide going into the Johnson tunnel I quickly realized it was full on snowing and that the temperature had dipped even further to 35º!  In the middle of June!  Crazy!!  We hit bumper to bumper traffic for an hour but finally made it back home safe, taking a small 5 mile detour up another mountain trying to find a restroom for the kids at one point, and stumbling into a nature center that was pretty cool.  We had a birthday dinner for Tangie at Papa2 and Deeda’s that evening.

Dark ominous clouds.

I had to take a picture so you could see how cold it really was!

Heading into the Johnson tunnel, you can barely see the mountain it goes into.

Bumper to bumper.  Lovely!

Keeping entertained with lollipops.

At the nature center looking for wildlife.

They were able to find this deer...

Supper at the Loomis home.

With their great-grandparents.

Monday morning was round 2 of my bike rides with Dany, and this time he took me on a ridiculous one which started with a 13 mile climb up 3300 feet in elevation on high grade roads!  This was called the Deer Canyon Loop, and it took one and a half hours of climbing, and only 15 minutes getting down!  Didn’t seem fair!  And the thing that was crazy was the temperature on the way down ~ it was freezing cold!  Again, I was so thankful for wearing my thermal compression long sleeves.  I would’ve froze to death or something!

On our way up.

Dany taking a photo of me, making sure I was doing ok!

I love the changes in landscape and scenery!

Why would I want to do this??

Just a beautiful day, going back downhill. 

Had a great ride and time with him.

Meanwhile Tangie had to do some work so she went to the EY office downtown and worked from there.  Nana and I took the kids to the Children’s Museum for a last day of activities.  Always a favorite of the kids, they played and explored and imagined to their hearts’ content, before I crushed it and told everyone we had to leave.  We started the laundry and packing process that evening, and had dinner with the grandparents one final time.

Tangie's view from the downtown Denver office.

Brae shows her complete house project.

Maddy loved the store kitchen area and served up a platter of fruit!

Kohlden did too.  Probably because he was surrounded by all the ladies!

The cutest fireman!

Kohl and Brae set about to make a crown.

The last supper.

Our flight out Tuesday was early, so we had to leave the house by seven, meaning waking up the kids at 6:30.  They weren’t agreeable at first, but slowly started waking up.   Papa and Nana took us to the airport and we were off, with an hour and a half layover in St. Louis.  We hit some serious turbulence on our second leg, one time even forcing the flight attendants to sit on the aisle floor where they were once standing.  Then we heard the pilot say that we were in a holding pattern for Orlando, due to some serious thunderstorms, and after 30 minutes the pilot said that we were diverting to Jacksonville, to refuel.  There was a unified gasp/groan from the cabin as we realized we would be landing later than scheduled.  I was a bit worried too, as I was supposed to pick up Lolo and Lala from their flight back from Seattle the same evening, their flight landing 2 hours after ours.  We were only in Jacksonville for 45 minutes before taking off again, and with the weather delay and more turbulence, landed in Orlando only 20 minutes before the Isidro grandparents’ flight arrived.  Which meant there would be no time to take our group and luggage home and then come back  to pick them up as originally planned.  I was hoping we would all fit in the minivan, now that we had 2 additional adults and 4 extra bags.  Little did we know they had brought 2 coolers full of fish with them as well!  In the end the minivan’s rear was sagging as we crammed everyone inside, a carryon bag on the laps of most of the passengers.  But we did it, and arrived safely home close to 9 PM.

All packed up and ready for the airport!

Love and hugs to Papa.

Jet setters.

Kohl checks out the Mississippi River as we land in St. Louis.

Walking over to our next gate.  the kids look like seasoned travelers!

A happy group ready to get home.

Flight attendants on the floor because of the turbulence!

Waiting in Jacksonville as we refuel.  A not so happy group ready to get home!

Kohl shows off his painted toenails.  Thanks Nana!

Picking up the grandparents!

Cozy in the van.

Randoms:

Just like the song…blue suede shoes.

Just can't get away from Florida!

I guess I was taking too many pictures?

Found a sign with Maddy's middle name.

And one for Braelyn.

And one for Nana!

Come again?  Oh, sox.  Clever.

This cooler was chained to a tree at the top of Deer Creek Canyon for
cyclists at the end of their ride up.  Left and filled up by cyclists for cyclists.
Pretty cool!

I couldn't decide between the two.

Two of my favorite sports combined!!

We had a great vacation.  Not a relaxing one by any means, but a great one nonetheless.  It’s always refreshing to visit the West, to see the mountains, to breathe the fresh air, and to spend time with those you love.

We hope to see you all soon.  Have a great weekend!