Nebraska and Colorado

 We went on a trip that took us the farthest from home yet! At the beginning of the summer we decided to use an online spinner to decide whose adventure we would choose. Bryce wanted to go to Cooperstown New York to see a baseball museum. Ali wanted to go to Michigan to pick blueberries. Blaine wanted to go to Colorado to see the big city and the mountains. Mommy wanted to go to South Carolina to show the kids the ocean and daddy wanted to go to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Well, Blaine was the winner this time and we headed to Colorado! He was so excited that his adventure won! Daddy mapped out the trip for us, booked all the hotels, did most of the driving (I only drove about 2 hours) and was the master of all that we did. I wanted to write down a detailed account of our trip so we can remember it for years to come. Or in most cases, we use our blog books to settle arguments about what what actually happened.

 We left on the morning of Friday, July 22nd. We headed to Omaha, Nebraska which took us about 5 hours. We checked into our hotel and relaxed for a bit before heading to the Storm Chasers game where we enjoyed pretzels, hot dogs, and nachos. It was very hot and Blaine actually got a little overheated and almost passed out. His face got very pale and he said, "I just wanna sit on the concrete." We were able to get him cooled off with some cold water, ice cream, and a few trips to the air conditioned store behind our seats. Bryce and Ali were able to enjoy the kids area at the ballpark while I tried to cheer Blaine up with a game of 1,2,3....

Saturday, July 23: Daddy and Bryce left the hotel this morning and got us Dunkin Donuts for breakfast since the hotel didn't serve breakfast. We ate our yummy donuts and got ready to visit the zoo that was just a short drive from our hotel. We got there about 9:30 and left around 3:30. It was a very hot day, and I'm pretty sure it reached 100 degrees. It actually wasn't too hot unless you were in the sun and there was somewhat of a breeze. It was such a great day and the kids did so good! We packed a cooler with plenty of water, ice packs to keep Blaine cool (we didn't want a repeat of the night before), and snacks. We rented a wagon for the day and went exploring. We started the day with one map and it didn't take long to discover that that was not going to work. A map got ripped out of one persons hand and then ripped up by someone else. Needless to say, everyone had their own map shortly after this. We saw some really cool animals including a red panda (one of Blaine and Ali's favorites), 2 baby elephants, a sloth bear, swimming penguins (mommy's favorite), jellyfish, sharks, alligators, otters, and so many more! After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to relax for awhile. We went to Texas Roadhouse for supper and had fun at the Boot Barn before heading back to get some sleep. 

Sunday, July 24: This was another day of traveling. We got on the road around 9 and headed towards Denver. It took us about 7 hours and the last hour it rained like crazy and made it very difficult to see anything. I called it the desert road because there was nothing except desert and hills. Coming into Denver, I started to get a headache and I'm pretty sure it was from the altitude. It didn't seem to bother anyone else though. We finally got to our hotel after circling it several times as well as a few u-turns to try to figure out where to park. We unpacked and Bryce and daddy walked to get us some yummy pizza at the Denver Pizza Company just down the street. We hung out in the hotel room and enjoyed our pizza for the rest of the night. Our hotel actually had a full kitchen with a full size fridge and freezer, cabinets, sink, and even a dishwasher. It was nice to be able to use real dinnerware while we were there. 

Monday, July 25: We woke up, enjoyed the hotel breakfast and headed out in our van to see the Red Rocks Theatre. It was a short 15 minute drive and it was so cool. Shane and the kids decided to walk all the way down to the stage and then run back up to me. Bryce was the winner of course but soon after that he got a pretty bad headache. I'm sure it was from the altitude as well. Tylenol seemed to help but it lingered for most of the day. We visited the guest shop and took a few more pictures. We headed back to the hotel, grabbed some leftover pizza and snacks for lunch and then got ready for the Denver Children's Museum at 12:30. We spent about 3 hours there and the kids had a blast. They had a very cool climbing structure that Bryce really enjoyed. Blaine and Ali loved the kitchen area, story time, and the water area outside. We went back to the hotel to clean up. We walked a few blocks from our hotel and ate at Bubba Gumps for supper. We sure packed a lot into our first full day in Denver! 

Tuesday, July 26: We slept in a bit and enjoyed another day of hotel breakfast. Daddy and Bryce took off walking to see how far it would be if we walked to the game later that night while the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful hot tub and pool at the hotel. After lunch in our hotel room, we drove a few minutes out of town and landed at the Wildlife Refuge Drive where we downloaded a podcast that led us through 11 miles of a wildlife preserve. It was very cool and we were able to see several deer including a group of 4 bucks. We also saw so many prairie dogs running all around, digging, and hiding in their burrows. We saw a group of bison in the distance and we were able to walk up a place called rattlesnake trail to use the telescopes to see one fairly up close. Blaine found a tumbleweed that he wanted to take home in the van. After our fun drive, we headed back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit, grabbed a snack, and then went to a very awesome inside putt putt golf place called Urban Putt. We did 18 holes of Denver themed light up, animated golf holes. From there we walked to Coors Park where we had tickets to the 6:45 pm Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago White Sox Game. We had tickets behind home plate and we ended up staying for the whole game. We enjoyed Famous Dave's BBQ sandwiches, popcorn, and ice cream in little helmets. Blaine got super into the game and was chanting "Let's Go Rockies, Let's Go" over and over again. The Rockies ended up losing 2 to 1 but they rallied at the end and it was pretty exciting! After the game, we walked to our car in the parking garage and drove back to our hotel. We were all pretty exhausted and were ready for bed. 

Wednesday, July 27: This was our last full day in Denver. We enjoyed another morning of the same breakfast and then spent most of the morning in the hotel pool and hot tub. I was able to sit and read my book while the kids played. It was really nice and relaxing. We had the whole area to ourselves. We cleaned up and headed out for our all day adventure. We drove about 45 minutes to a small town called Georgetown. We ate a really delicious family diner where Blaine and Ali enjoyed pancakes, Bryce and I shared a taco salad, and Shane had a burger. Something for everyone! We quickly left the diner because we had to catch the 2:45 train that was going to take us around the mountains. It was so cool to be up so high. It was an old fashioned open air train with a locomotive and steam powered. We actually made a stop halfway through where we were able to get off to use the restroom and visit a gift shop. It was about an hour long journey. Our seats were in the sun and it was pretty warm. We traveled over the interstate, over rushing rapids, and one pretty rugged bridge (daddy was not a fan of that). On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Lookout Mountain which was a very cool view but I almost got car sick from all the winding curves. When we got back to our hotel, we relaxed a bit and got cleaned up to head back downtown. We ate at a Chicago style pizza place called Giordano's and walked a bit downtown before calling it a day. 

Thursday, July 28: This was our big day of driving. We left around 8:30 and drove around to find something different for breakfast. We were a little tired of the hotel food. We found a McDonalds a few miles out of town and decided to stop. We got back on the road and decided to drive all the way to Omaha again. We stopped at Lincoln, Nebraska and ate at a really good burger place called Freddy's. The fries were amazing! We stayed at a different hotel in Omaha this time. Our hotel this time had 2 roomed that were connected together but one room  had 2 queen beds and the other room had a king bed where double doors could be closed. Blaine and Ali slept together while Bryce got his own bed and Shane and I got the king size bed. We kind of let the kids go crazy, jumping on beds, and being loud while I finished my book and Shane watched Tv. It the perfect last night of vacation!  vcx

Friday, July 29: This was another big day of driving and the day we would finally make it back home. We left around 8:30 and drove around to find something for breakfast. We found a Casey's but it didn't have any donuts so we found a Dunkin Donuts but you could only do the drive thru and it was very busy. We found another Casey's and this time there was donuts. We finally got back on the road and just kept on driving! We made it the Iowa 80 truck stop and decided to eat lunch. We pulled into our driveway around 2. It was so nice to be home! We unloaded everything, did some laundry, and got ready to leave again. The kids went to a Peoria Chiefs game with mamaw and papa and Shane and I went to a RW Trivia night in Galesburg. Whew! What a trip of a lifetime!