Denver Diversions

In roughly twenty-eight hours, my mother, the kids, and I will begin the trek to New York.  While I'm thrilled to spend the month of July with my hubby and extended family, I'm less excited about the road trip there.  Normal people would spend the weekend before such a venture resting.  Me, I drove to Denver.

Denver?  Isn't that an eight hour drive in the wrong direction?  Why yes, yes it is.  So why would I do such a thing?  To spend a bit of time with Jason, of course.  (Jason was presenting at a conference for the AIA.)  But wasn't I going to see him in less than a week anyway?  Yes, but love is rarely rational.

My wonderful father took a couple days off of work to make the trip with Annika, Eli and I while my courageous mother entertained the big girls.  On the way out, Annika handled the trip like a champ, smiling sweetly as she slumbered in her car seat.

I didn't photograph Annika's mood on the way home, probably because I was hoping to block it from my memory completely.  Let's just say that out of the 500 mile trip, Annie Mae probably screamed for 175 of them.

Thankfully, Eli's ears didn't seem too bothered by his sister's deafening noise.  His nose, however, was seriously offended by the scent of the feed lots, resulting in a minor catastrophe that was both heart-wrenching and hilarious.  I'll post more about it tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some photos from Denver:

Papa Kay, modeling the essense of grandparental love.

We arrived in Denver just in time to watch Jason present on his experience as an Enterprise Rose fellow at the downtown conference center.  Saturday morning, however, we skipped the conference to play by the ponds near Longmont.

The Denver sun made Annika sneeze.

Jason taught Eli how to chase the geese.

Eli's a quick learner.



It made my heart happy to see this father and son reunited.

Giddyap!

Colorado: where the prairie meets the mountains.

Even small bridges are beautiful, both aesthetically and symbolically.

Here's Papa Kay with Eli during our trolley ride from the Children's museum to REI.



Denver was holding a river fest at the confluence.  Kayaking right downtown--that's something I could learn to love!

Papa Kay with his drumstick.  Don't let the bare bone fool you--Eli ate at least half.

Back on the train, Annie gave Jason some special smiles reserved just for Daddy.

On the way home, we stopped by Red Rocks.  Papa Kay demonstrated his excellent command of the football hold on the way up to the amphitheater.

Eli wonders if he'll ever grow as tall as this CCC worker.

Even though we couldn't actually see the amphitheater because they were doing sound checks for a concert that evening, it was well worth the trip for the beautiful scenery.  I certainly miss being surrounded by red rock!

On Sunday we went to church with a good friend of ours from France, Laurie Ann.  Even though our visit was a surprise, she treated us to a lovely lunch while our boys played.  Her life, like many of ours, has taken some unexpected twists, but she still continues on with faith and courage.  Laurie, your boys are wonderful, and I think you're amazing.

As I snuggled next to Jason in church, my eyes suddenly filled with tears as I realized that I would sit next to him next Sunday too.  Even though the weekend flew by, saying goodbye was easy knowing that we will meet again soon.

 

And then the howling began.  Stay tuned for the saga of Tic Tac Time gone awry...