Sometimes you have to do things that you know will feed your soul even if it seems a little crazy at the time. For me that was driving the girls out to Colorado for 2 nights over Kinley's spring break. Two nights may not seem worth it to most, to spend over 14 hours in the car with both girls by myself, but I knew it was exactly what we needed. Kinley had just gotten over another random fever/illness, we had been cooped up in the house for a few days already, and I knew I wasn't going to survive another day, let alone 3, of "What are we going to do now?," "What can we do that's fun?," "What are we going to do that's special?," "Can we go somewhere?," "Can we do another craft?," "Can we, can we, Mom, Mom, Mom." I love my girls dearly, but there is only so much entertaining that I have in me.
So, kind of last minute, we packed up the car and we made the drive out to the Colorado to go visit my brother and his family. It had been awhile and the girls needed to see their cousins and I need to see my brother and my sister-in-law, whom to me, she's never been much of an in-law...just my sister. Our girls so far have been rockstar travelers which helped this mama out a lot! We were knocking on their door by early afternoon and surprising my sweet little niece who had no clue that we were coming. How many of you don't tell your kids things because you don't want to get their hopes up in case things fall through or you maybe don't want them to ask every 20 minutes when it's going to happen?
It may have a been a quick trip, but boy did we do our best not to waste a minute while we were there. We spent the first evening just catching up and letting the kids play. There may have been a pretty epic dance party in the kitchen that night too!
In the morning we headed to the Denver Zoo and spent a good chunk of our day there. We got to see baby Dobby...you know that baby giraffe no one knew about while they were waiting for April to have her baby. By the way...has April had hers yet?! No. Huh? Of course the biggest hit was the electronic dinosaur. Seems appropriate that we go to the zoo to see animals and their favorite thing is not something that is even alive. Ha! We managed to be there on the opening of their new tiger exhibit which was pretty cool. We ended our time at the zoo with a bite to eat, with one of the best chicken teriyaki rice bowls I've ever had, ice cream, an elephant show, and with Rowan getting bit by one of the geese that crowd the lunch tables.
When we left we decided to drive the highway up to Boulder so the kids could get a nap in. It's such a peaceful drive on the highway from Denver to Boulder, with a gorgeous view of the mountains to the west. After the kiddos had a decent nap it was back to the house for a fairy craft with mason jars, tissue paper, glitter Mod Podge, battery tea lights, stickers and rhinestones...so many rhinestones! The girls love looking for fairies with their Auntie and cousin and it's become a really fun tradition for them to do together.
If that wasn't already enough for one day, Kinley talked us into walking to the park after supper just as the sun was going down. That night after the kids went to bed it was so good to just sit and talk life with my brother and his wife. Her and I even squeezed in a mama craft after my brother called it a night.
The next morning was kind of a blur getting myself and the girls ready, packing all our stuff up, loading up the car, and trying to make sure we didn't forget anything. We had planned to leave there shortly after lunch. All it took was one comment about how we should have drove up to the mountains on our nap time drive the day before and it was decided that lunch needed to take place in Estes before we headed out. As much as I was excited about our spontaneous drive up into the mountains...I was nervous too. James had always been with me and did the driving whenever we went up into the mountains.
The nerves soon went away when we were on the road and the closer we got to the mountains, the more my heart was filled with peace. That peace continued to fill my heart as we drove up the mountain to the point that my heart was no longer being able to hold it all in and that peace poured out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I don't know if I'll ever fully be able to put into words the feeling that comes over me when we drive through such majestic beauty, but I don't think it's supposed to be put into words. I think that is one of those things in life that you just have to feel and that can never be explained.
After a quick bite, we of course had to find a "mountian" to climb. Trying to explain that we were already in the mountains was easier said than done. We were able to find a little spot behind the shoppes of Estes that the girls could easily climb. Of course the moms had to climbs up to rescue a couple little goats that couldn't make their way back down. My brother even surprised us and had left work to come join us and to say our goodbyes.
Once again, my girls were champs and with only one pit stop to use the bathrooms, eat, and fuel up, we were home in 8 hours. It always feels so, so good to be home after a trip and we were all excited to see James, but I think a piece of my always stays behind in those mountains...waiting to call me again!
