Vacation 2011 - Part 4

While in Colorado Springs we took the advice of a friend who grew up in the area and spent some time at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

This zoo is located on a mountain side in Colorado Springs. It is an excellent zoo with many animals native to Africa and Australia that I have never seen before. Because of its location, the views were amazing.

The greatest attraction by far were the giraffes. There were at least 15 giraffes who were in an environment that let you get up close and personal with them. Stand-Up Dad purchased big piles of lettuce that they were happy to consume right from your hand. The walkway we were standing on put us at eye level with them. You could reach out and pet them. Truly incredible creatures. It was very funny when the people next to us fed some lettuce to a giraffe and it must have gotten caught in his throat. The giraffe totally coughed and sputtered all over them. Yuck!=) Fortunately, the giraffe was fine.

Here is Little Buddy getting a good look at the giraffe's long black tongue.

Yes, you could say that Stand-Up Dad was teasing the giraffe,

to see how far he could stick out his tongue. Gross!=)

These animals are absolutely beautiful! Getting to see them up close was one of the highlights of our trip!

Sweet Momma

Vacation 2011 - Part 3

So sorry to have left you hanging...I don't know if anyone but my mom is following our vacation pictures, but I have been anything but punctual about continuing our vacation saga.=)

I apologize.

After leaving Jackson Hole, Wyoming we traveled across Wyoming into Colorado with our final stop being Colorado Springs.

Along the way I was amazed at the colors of the earth. As you drive along at 75 miles an hour, (Yes, that is the speed limit in Wyoming) you go around a corner and this is what you see. Completely Incredible!

It is true that these pictures don't do it justice. I just love how God chose to surprise us with the colors of the dirt and rocks. Heaven must be incredible with gold for roads!

After a very long day in the car, we arrived in Colorado Springs and planned our first stop the next morning to be a visit to Focus on the Family. This Christian ministry has been around for over thirty years. It's goal is to be a support to families. They do this through radio broadcasts, support calling centers, literature and much more. While there, we took a tour of the main building to hear about the ministries they are currently involved with.

After the tour, we made our way to the visitors center. One of the ministries of Focus on the Family is called Adventures in Odyssey. This is a morals based Christian radio drama. The episodes have many characters that my kids love. They are funny and entertaining and also teach kids how to be a Christian in the real world.

Downstairs in the visitors center is a place called "Whit's End," which is a soda shop in the radio drama. There is much more to it than I can describe here. If you have kids over eight I would highly recommend these CD's. After you have listened to a few, take your kids to Focus on the Family. They will have a blast!!!

One of the best parts of Whit's end is the chance to record your own Adventure's in Odyssey episode. All six of our kids got a chance to be in on the fun. They actually record your voices and sound effects in with the characters from the show and then give you a CD with your voices. Very Cool!

Here we are as characters from Adventures in Odyssey, in front of the KYDS Radio Station.

This was a great way to start our time in Colorado Springs. More to come. Sooner than later, I hope.=)

Sweet Momma

Vacation 2011 - Part 1

We recently returned from more than two weeks on the road with six kids. It was a 4,000 mile trip that took us from Washington State to Kansas and back.

I can't wait to share about our trip and update you on our family as well. I have not been a very faithful blogger lately and hope to change that this summer.

We left on June 9th from Western Washington and drove to Wenatchee to spend the first night at my parents house. It was only a three hour drive and just a taste of all the driving we would experience.

The picture below is taken outside of my parents house as we left to drive to Bozeman, Montana.

We have been doing our best to prepare our little ones for this trip. We had taken this same trip about three years ago and so the older kids new what to expect. There were conversations about driving all day in the car and only stopping to eat, get gas, and potty stops. I don't think that they believed us.

The trip from Wenatchee to Bozeman is about 10 hours. At the end of the day I asked Sunshine what she thought of vacation. She said, "I didn't think you meant that we would really be in the car for the whole day." Hee hee, sorry sweetie!

She was a bit anxious about this trip because she has experienced a lot of motion sickness in the past. On day one she did great!

A quick picture after running around at a rest stop in eastern Washington.

I must admit that I LOVE road trips!!! I love to look out the window and see the amazing world that God created for us to enjoy! Stand-Up Dad, on the other hand, enjoys the being there part of road trips, not the road part. He is so amazing! He did most of the driving and stopped the car every time I wanted to take a picture. I asked him to stop often.=)

One thing that we noticed right away was how green everything was. We are used to emerald green colors coming from rainy Western Washington. The green grasses of Spring were evident everywhere. It was absolutely stunning!

Stand-Up Dad made each of our kiddos a travel journal. There were maps that showed our route for each day. He listed facts about each city and region that we were traveling through. There were coloring pages of each state flower, bird and flag. He even added fun facts like, "In Boise, Idaho it is illegal to fish from a giraffe's back."

These books added to the fun and the educational value of our trip. Each day the kids colored, completed word searches and added journal writings about all that they were learning, seeing and experiencing.

More to come. =)

Sweet Momma

Home from vacation

With Lewis and Clark, Seaside, OR

Flying our kite

I love to go on vacation and spend all that uninterrupted time with family. But I also love coming home.

We had a great time together. Our little Sweet Pea is recovering from her skim boarding accident quite nicely. Thank you for your prayers.

Here are a few pictures of our week.

Sweet Momma