Denver, Colorado

Our first destination was Denver, Colorado. We arrived around 2:30 p.m. and had a fun lunch at a 60s themed diner called Gunther Toody's. After checking into our hotel, we took the light rail train downtown to walk around. Mark and I had visited Denver back in 2009 to help my brother Jacob shop for a car. I was excited for the kids to visit the Capitol and the fun park bordering it. But our timing wasn't great and Hannah fell asleep and Matthew was rather irritable. We grabbed a quick bite to eat on the 16th Street Mall, and then walked all the way to Union Station, the big transit hub that was still under construction. From there we were able to catch a train back to our hotel.

On Saturday, we met up with the Corders, Chad and Diana and their two kids Cameron and Abby. We decided to take all the kids to the aquarium, which was fun. Matthew zoomed through basically the entire building in about 10 minutes, and then Mark was able to convince him to come back and walk through with everyone else. There was a mermaid show, which the kids really enjoyed, and they had a tiger (random, huh?) which they loved. It was so nice to visit with Diana and Chad again.

Hannah and I on the train

Mile high with Matthew

Mark and Hannah at the Capitol building

Matthew and Mark at the Capitol building

Matthew's urban slide

Hannah!

Hannah and the buffalo

Matthew loved the train ride

Abby and Cameron at the Aquarium

Cameron, Abby and Matthew watching the tiger

The tiger wanting to eat Hannah

Take my picture, Daddy!

Hannah watching Cameron swinging

Matthew swinging

Matthew, Abby and Cameron

First Stop: Wyoming

We did our epic vacation last month. Our first stop was actually Denver, but we just before we the Colorado border, we stopped for gas in Wyoming and spotted a little park that would be perfect for some wiggle time. It turned out to be a DMV, but there was a cozy spot with picnic shelters and some sculptures. I just thought the pictures were cute.

Camping at Bryce Canyon

This weekend, we went camping  with the Shimaneks, friends from our ward. We had originally wanted to go to Goblin Valley State Park, but they were fully reserved for the whole summer. Instead with decided to go to Bryce Canyon National Park since the Shimaneks had never been. We left Friday as soon as their son Quinten hopped off the bus from his last day of 1st grade. The drive down went well, but when we arrived at the park, all the campgrounds were full. So we walked the rim trail for a bit and then headed to a campground just outside the park. The kids had such a fun time running around and cooking s'mores.

We learned a few lessons from our Grand Canyon trip which made this camping trip go much smoother. We borrowed Aaron's 6-man tent, which gave us so much more space with the kids. Hannah went down without too much crying. Last time, Matthew was the problem child and just screamed when it was time to go to bed. This time, we got him all ready for bed, and then Mark drove him around in the car for 30 minutes until he was asleep. Then it was an easy transfer to the tent, where he slept perfectly all night. So the kids did great. I, on the other hand, was the problem child of the trip. The temperature at Bryce was 10 degrees warmer than our Grand Canyon; however, our tent was so much bigger that it was much colder in our tent. Unfortunately, the sleeping bag I was using did not do well in the cold. I was freezing! Luckily, Mark heard me whimpering and switched sleeping bags with me in the middle of the night.

In the morning, we did about a 3 mile hike through the canyon. After the first .7 miles, we had a split in the road and could either go right back up or take the long way around. The kids were doing great, and we decided on the long way round. Of course, immediately afterwards, Kailyn and Matthew both decided that they couldn't walk anymore. We toughed it out, and with some convincing, we got them to alternate portions of walking and being carried. The kids had a grand time, and I think we might have to do it again.

Bryce Canyon

The Robisons

Matthew and I

Mark and Hannah

Matthew

Mark and Hannah

Hannah and I

Being adorable

Hey, I want up, too!

Kailyn and Hannah

Matthew with a marshmallow

Kailyn with a marshmallow

Kailyn and Matthew

Hannah in the tent

Hiking through Wall Street

Mark and Matthew

Mark and I

Jared, Quinten, Taylor and Kailyn Shimanek

Matthew and Kailyn

Quinten, Kailyn and Matthew

I like how it looks like she's eating his hat.

Taking a break

Eating lunch in the shade

Matthew and Quinten

View from our hike

Another view

Mark carrying a sleeping Hannah and Matthew

Carrying the little ones up the mountain

Everyone at the end

Everyone admiring baby Hannah. 

New hats and shoes

In preparation for our big trip, I went shopping and bought way too many things. The kids both needed some tennis shoes since neither of them had a pair. I also bought them hats. I've decided to return Matthew's hat. It's darling, but impractical. I need something that can fold really small into a backpack. The kids were acting very cute, so I took some photos of them. Later on that very blustery Windsday, we went swimming at Aunt Jess's apartment complex. Matthew has never really liked swimming, and it had been a year since he had been in a swimming pool, so I was worried. Luckily Benjamin was there, so we had even numbers on adults and kids. It took lots of effort to get Matthew to sit on the edge, but he enjoyed kicking the water with his feet. Meanwhile, I got Hannah in, and she enjoyed it. I had bought a inflatable seat for her, and she just loved it. It also left my hands free, so I was able to convince Matthew into the water. He loved his inflatable "duck," and had a blast in the pool. Hopefully with all the swimming pools we'll be visiting soon, he'll get even more comfortable in the water.

Matthew's squnity smile

Patriotic Hannah

Maybe I want to wear the fedora.

Matthew was very excited for his shoes. 

And Hannah's are just sooo tiny.

Hannah and I

Ready to Swim

Swimming with Aunt Jess

Ayden, Benjamin and a bundled baby Katherine