Colorado Adventure

We just got back from a 5-day adventure through the Colorado Rockies. It was our first big road trip with all 3 kiddos and even though our van is now a complete disaster (I'm soooo procrastinating on cleaning it! :O)- I'd say we all did pretty good and have my parents to thank for keeping us sane. ;)

When we took the kids out to NY a few years ago for my brother's wedding, I learned that less planning is usually better....just concentrate on maintaining the basics (such as keeping every one fed, changed, rested, and happy) and the rest will fall into place and that's pretty much how things went for us on this trip too.

 I am a huge fan of art museums. Ever since I can remember I've always been drawn to them and the Denver Art Museum (shown below) did not disappoint...even if we were one day early for the Monet exhibit :(.

LOVE LOVE LOVE these quotes currently featured at the museum.....

"What I need most are flowers, always and always."  

and

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." 

- Claude Monet 

Now that we have children, I love seeing them discover art and this museum had many hands-on activities for children (and adults!) to paint, draw, and create things.

My thoughts on the city of Denver: It's BIG. WAAAAY bigger than I thought it would be! It also has a lot of excellent museums and a ton of restaurants (although this one in Vail was our fave!), reminding me a lot of Chicago. The second museum that we made it to was The History of Colorado Museum which is also fantastic for children....who doesn't love an entire floor of TOYS?! (their current exhibit). Places we wanted to go to but didn't have the time were The Money Museum (our boys are currently obsessed with coins right now) and The Aquaruim- which is also a restaurant!  

We also had a wonderful time visiting with family (this trip was also a family reunion on my mom's side) and meeting extended family members of mine from all around the U.S.


Funny happenings along the way:

• Getting as far as Ogden (1 hr away south of Logan) before boys were already in need of a potty break.

• Grant painting himself with chocolate....this guy is resourceful!

• Stopping at a Subway sandwich shop for lunch in Price, UT, only to hear Benjamin's disappointment when it wasn't a REAL subway (as in an underground train).

• Elyse stuffing pretzel sticks into her water bottle....guessing she liked watching them expand? We're still not sure....

• Diapers doubling as paper towels (they're actually MORE absorbent!) in a pinch (aka water spilling throughout our vehicle).

• Hearing the infamous question of "Are We There Yet?" 1 million times (no joke).

• The city of Denver turning into Gotham City at night from the view of our hotel room window and all of the children planning their attack on The Joker....(click here to see where the Joker was hiding out)

• Finally getting the road warrior (aka Bart) to stop driving and let us stay the night in Laramie, WY and my Dad coming up with the motto of ....."The Adventure Continues...."

• Benjamin repeatedly calling Wyoming- Wynomie....don't know why but this is still hilarious to us....guess this is what hours in a car will do to you.

• When we randomly pulled over for yet another kid potty break, my Dad joked that it was so Bart could check out another mountain he hadn't seen yet (my husband is obsessed with the West, even though I kept reminding me that we live in it).

Hope you all have a fun 24th of July this weekend here in UTAH....I still will probably be recovering our van from the traveling aftermath and trying to catch up with laundry! I guess family trips are equal parts work + fun.