The Reunion
I didn't take as many pictures as I was planning on. I'm just not the picture-taking kind of person. Luckily various members of my family were camera-happy, so hopefully I'll get to see some of theirs and that will fill in my week.
The car ride to Colorado was long. No way around that. The kids did really well though. We left home at 8:30 Friday night and arrived at our destination at 4:30 Saturday afternoon. This included stopping to sleep for a few hours and a sit-down breakfast at Denny's Saturday morning. It was wonderful showing up and seeing most of everyone that first night. Part of the clan wasn't set to arrive until Tuesday. We ate, drank, and were merry. Isn't that what a family reunion is all about?
One of my uncles gave me a lift into Denver to pick up Tim at the airport Sunday night. It was the longest 60+ miles I have been in. It took us close to 3 hours to get there. Traffic! Yeck! That is why I don't mind living back in my home town. Traffic is never that bad in this little city.
The girls had a blast mauling (and I am being literal here) my cousins, uncles, and respective significant others. I love knowing that after not seeing these people for 2 years that my girls still know how to have fun with family. I actually had to intervene a few times because the maulings wouldn't stop. I tried to convince some of my cousins that they needed to come home with me, because the kids were going to drive me crazy without all the hands on love and attention they got last week.
We took the girls out on a paddle boat on the reservoir that was 5 minutes from the house we were staying in. They really enjoyed just floating around. We saw a family of ducks. Lots of little fuzzy babies swimming along after their momma. It was too cute. We also took them for a hike. It was an easy hike, but about 3 miles round trip. They all did great, especially S, who is only 2-1/2 and walked almost the whole way.
Unfortunately though, I was struck by a case of recurrent vertigo. If anyone has ever experienced this, I feel for you. I woke up Monday morning to the world on a nice gentle spin. The last time this happened it wasn't slow. It felt like a carnival ride. I took some dramanine which helped take the edge off but made me very sleepy. I actually feel asleep sitting on the couch with about 6 people (including my kids tackling and mauling people) talking and laughing. Tuesday was better, but I wanted to be cautious, so we took it easy. By Thursday I was essentially back to normal (if you could ever say that I was normal). I went on a hike to a peak of 12,045 feet. It was hard as I haven't done anything like that in many a year, but it was fantastic. We got to see snow. In August. It was so pretty. When we got to the summit we sat down to take a break and have a snack and this little feisty chipmunk ran over to us. I think he knew that people means trail mix. He loved peanuts and kept coming back for more. I thought, at one point, that he was actually going to jump on me and I was having Monty Python's Search For the Holy Grail rabbit flashbacks. Run away! Run away! And on this trip I have to give kudos to a couple of my cousins. They are from Florida, so being up 9,000 feet to begin with and then add hiking up mountains of 12,000 feet was impressive, but my sweet cousin (who was married back in January) she had blisters from the previous day's hike and ended up climbing this mountain in a pair of flip-flops...and didn't complain once. That girl, she's got some ambition. There is no way that I could have done what she did. Pats on the back to you!
Overall, it was great week. The drive home was decent. Tim drove the way back. We made pretty good time leaving at 9:30 Saturday morning and actually pulling into our driveway by 11:30 that night. Definitely a long day. It was so worth it to come home and sleep in my own bed.
Unfortunately, again, I woke up yesterday morning with the world spinning. I think it's a combination of bad genes (my dad has had bouts of vertigo thoughout his life) and probable allergies that give me congestion and postnasal drip that adds to the pressure. I'm trying to take it easy, but there is so much do get done in the next couple of weeks before we head back into school full speed ahead.
The car ride to Colorado was long. No way around that. The kids did really well though. We left home at 8:30 Friday night and arrived at our destination at 4:30 Saturday afternoon. This included stopping to sleep for a few hours and a sit-down breakfast at Denny's Saturday morning. It was wonderful showing up and seeing most of everyone that first night. Part of the clan wasn't set to arrive until Tuesday. We ate, drank, and were merry. Isn't that what a family reunion is all about?
One of my uncles gave me a lift into Denver to pick up Tim at the airport Sunday night. It was the longest 60+ miles I have been in. It took us close to 3 hours to get there. Traffic! Yeck! That is why I don't mind living back in my home town. Traffic is never that bad in this little city.
The girls had a blast mauling (and I am being literal here) my cousins, uncles, and respective significant others. I love knowing that after not seeing these people for 2 years that my girls still know how to have fun with family. I actually had to intervene a few times because the maulings wouldn't stop. I tried to convince some of my cousins that they needed to come home with me, because the kids were going to drive me crazy without all the hands on love and attention they got last week.
We took the girls out on a paddle boat on the reservoir that was 5 minutes from the house we were staying in. They really enjoyed just floating around. We saw a family of ducks. Lots of little fuzzy babies swimming along after their momma. It was too cute. We also took them for a hike. It was an easy hike, but about 3 miles round trip. They all did great, especially S, who is only 2-1/2 and walked almost the whole way.
Unfortunately though, I was struck by a case of recurrent vertigo. If anyone has ever experienced this, I feel for you. I woke up Monday morning to the world on a nice gentle spin. The last time this happened it wasn't slow. It felt like a carnival ride. I took some dramanine which helped take the edge off but made me very sleepy. I actually feel asleep sitting on the couch with about 6 people (including my kids tackling and mauling people) talking and laughing. Tuesday was better, but I wanted to be cautious, so we took it easy. By Thursday I was essentially back to normal (if you could ever say that I was normal). I went on a hike to a peak of 12,045 feet. It was hard as I haven't done anything like that in many a year, but it was fantastic. We got to see snow. In August. It was so pretty. When we got to the summit we sat down to take a break and have a snack and this little feisty chipmunk ran over to us. I think he knew that people means trail mix. He loved peanuts and kept coming back for more. I thought, at one point, that he was actually going to jump on me and I was having Monty Python's Search For the Holy Grail rabbit flashbacks. Run away! Run away! And on this trip I have to give kudos to a couple of my cousins. They are from Florida, so being up 9,000 feet to begin with and then add hiking up mountains of 12,000 feet was impressive, but my sweet cousin (who was married back in January) she had blisters from the previous day's hike and ended up climbing this mountain in a pair of flip-flops...and didn't complain once. That girl, she's got some ambition. There is no way that I could have done what she did. Pats on the back to you!
Overall, it was great week. The drive home was decent. Tim drove the way back. We made pretty good time leaving at 9:30 Saturday morning and actually pulling into our driveway by 11:30 that night. Definitely a long day. It was so worth it to come home and sleep in my own bed.
Unfortunately, again, I woke up yesterday morning with the world spinning. I think it's a combination of bad genes (my dad has had bouts of vertigo thoughout his life) and probable allergies that give me congestion and postnasal drip that adds to the pressure. I'm trying to take it easy, but there is so much do get done in the next couple of weeks before we head back into school full speed ahead.
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