Let's Do Something Flippin' Awesome!!

And that was our family's theme for our Colorado family reunion trip this last week. I haven't been to Colorado in years, especially since my aunt and uncle moved their family to Idaho many years ago. Our reunion was held at the YMCA at Estes Park, Colorado literally in the tops of the Rocky Mountains. The weather was perfect for the entire trip.

We stopped first in Dinosaur National Monument to see actual fossils in the ground. Since it was Day One we wore the flippin' awesome tie dye tee shirts we had made especially for the trip. I hand-lettered each shirt since I couldn't figure out any other way to do it.

Not exactly sure why the artist thought black and white were good colors for a stegosaurus. Not very good camouflage if you ask me. 

There is a tram ride up to the exhibit hall, which is a treasure trove of jumbled dinosaur bones.

In the exhibit hall. I have vague memories of this place from when I was twelve -- the last time I visited here. My dad remembered there being a section of labs across from the fossils where one could watch paleontologists at work on actual dinosaur fossils. 

Here we are nearly at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park. This road gives the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park a serious run for its money. It's 11,640 feet above sea level at its apex. I'm not fond of heights, and some of the drop-offs made me very nervous as a driver. The view from here is gorgeous, with the lush green canyon behind us. There were several moose to see. I'm always surprised by how enormous they are. We travelled with my parents, which was fun. 

Our group was finally starting to gather! Evan and Bronwyn are seated above Jessica and Stephanie, daughters of my cousin Sherrie on the right. Beautiful girls! We don't get to see our Idaho cousins nearly often enough.

Sometimes it's just too hard to smile without giggling for the camera! We're in the center of the YMCA campus here. The place is gargantuan! I wore my pedometer for the trip, just for fun, and I had no problem logging at least 10,000 steps a day while here.

My awesome sister Heather. I want to be like her when I grow up. 

We're on our first scheduled hike of the reunion. Stephen (who goes by Steve to everyone who got to know him as an adult!), Becca, Jessica, and Bronwyn make that bridge look good. The map for the hikes was a little confusing. Or maybe it was because the trails and their various shortcuts weren't marked at all. In any case, this side of the YMCA campus was lovely to be in because it felt more wild and there weren't people everywhere I looked.

This is still the early stages of the hike: Mom, Sarah Jane, Heather, Lizzie, and Josh. 

Aunt Kathleen, my mother's sister, and my mom. Beautiful women!

We decided to check out the Crafts and Design building. The projects were all pretty expensive, in my opinion, but there were lots of things that looked fun. Liam chose a ceramic gecko to paint with acrylic paints. He had so much fun with this one that he came back the next day with his own money to paint another one.

Bronwyn chose to do a mosaic light switch cover. It turned out really well and now we have to put it in her bedroom. She chose pink to go with her bedroom colors and sapphire blue. Doing mosaics is putting together a puzzle without a picture to check with or even being sure you have the right puzzle pieces! We decided it was so much fun that we want to try doing it at home.

There are a number of elk that wander freely through the YMCA. This fellow was grazing twenty feet off the road, oblivious to any people. In fact, another evening I was mini golfing with Liam when five bulls came wandering right by the golf course within fifteen feet of us. The fact there were people everywhere didn't deter or frighten them. One of those was a young bull in his first year. Another two were young with nice-looking racks, but there were two at least as big as this one or larger who were truly impressive to watch. I don't think I did very well on a few of the golf holes because Liam and I were too busy watching the elk.

Liam was dying to play tennis, so we signed up for time on the court. Bronwyn and Sarah joined us for doubles. Having four players who only know enough about tennis to know you have to knock the ball over the net with a racket was rather entertaining. The three kids kept hitting the ball up and over the fence, so there was time for other entertaining pursuits while we waited for the ball to come back -- like playing air guitar with the rackets. Bronwyn (left) and Sarah rocked it!  

There are a few more pictures to come. There was hiking, horseback riding, hanging out in people's rooms or the lobby laughing and talking, swimming in the pool, mini golf, tennis, basketball, a fire alarm that went off at 9:30 the last night in one of the lodges (someone burnt a bag of popcorn in the lobby microwave -- everyone had to leave the building and security had to come check things out), and silly songs sung. My children were all very sad to leave. Here's hoping we get together again sooner than four years!