Wyoming

Nothing like traveling and then coming right home to a holiday for a picture backlog... it seems the most photo-and-blog-worthy times are also those when one is least able to sort through photos and write...

With no further ado, lets begin the catch-up with a recap of our trip.

Dates:  March 25-29, 2013

Destination: Guernsey Wyoming

Travelers:  Mommy and Jack and Ivy (otherwise known as the world's best traveling children.  seriously, they were great.)

Ready to leave from CLE...

The kids were very excited to see that our plane had a polar bear on it. They were super on the flight.  Thank you, new crayons...
They were rock stars through the Denver airport, and LOVED the shuttle bus to the rental car place ("Dese bumps are lifting up my butt!!")...We got a free upgrade to a nice Hyundai SantaFe which the kids said they wanted to keep forever...

We drove into the night from Denver to Guernsey, arriving around midnight Wyoming time... The boy was back asleep in the big bed before I covered him up.  The girl?  She thought that 3 hour nap was all she needed.  Two hours later, all 3 of us were asleep at last..

A quiet Tuesday in Guernsey:  Time with Grandpa, playing the Wii, and golfing...

My dad's new golf cart was the hit of the trip, I think.

I drove behind them in the rental car, with a sleeping Ivy -- it was so sweet to watch Jack turn around and check on me, this giant grin on his face, as we zipped along at 13 miles per hour....

Ivy is carefully covering Grandpa with every small animal toy she can find.  She was quite enamored of "my grampa!" as she called him...  

A surprise of Easter baskets from Grandpa and Vovo topped the day.  Jack was so in love with that white plastic volleyball.

Wednesday:  A trip to the Trail Ruts-- a heaven of a day!-- curtailed by my over-confident boy having a bit of a fall.  But their cries of "I can see the whole world from here!!" as they climbed up the crest of the hill?  Priceless.

We visited Vovo's school to let Jack participate in her Kindergarten Spanish class.  The boy has returned home with a collection of Spanish DVD's, a few new words, and a lot of motivation to learn. Vovo is magic. She also got Jack talking about his own school experiences, in a way we never can.  She gets stories out of everyone..

Jack is quite the Smartboard whiz.

Enjoying the great playground at school. 

Thursday, Vovo was off school so the whole group took a picnic outing to the Castle, one of my favorite destinations in Guernsey. Climbing, eating potato chips, pretending to be baby birds, throwing rocks into the reservoir... good times.  The scenery is a bit different there this year, with blackened trees from last year's fire, and a very low water level.  But still a breathtaking view.

The day was too good to be spent inside so after Ivy's nap we trooped out again, for a sun-drenched bit of exploration at Register Cliffs.

Jack climbed himself way up here and was enthusiastically "Making sand" with  rock...

Ivy loved "making an artist" in all the dust.  Every time I turned around, there she was, plopped down and drawing with her finger...

We stopped and got out of the car to say hi to this Great Dane.  Cause you can do things like that in Guernsey.

The trip was really too short.   By Thursday we'd all finally adjusted to the time change and the altitude, and the kids and the grandparents were thoroughly enjoying each other and soaking up the mutual love.  I so wish we could just spend a Sunday together, anytime.  I love my dad and Anna so much and it is just so wonderful to see my children appreciating them, too.

Story time with Vovo on our last night...

 Our drive back to Denver on Friday morning was smooth and sunny. The kids entertained each other, sharing toys and stories, all the way to Cheyenne...

A stop at Sierra Trading Post...

 

 .. and then off to Denver (with some help from iPad and iPhone distractions..) for a grand two hour visit with Leigh.  She's not only a dear friend, but also a tremendous sword fighting opponent.

 She quickly won Jack and Ivy's hearts and reminded me of why I miss her so much.  Sigh. After a lovely lunch at this great lakefront playground (with city and mountain views, no less) we parted, agreeing to pretend that we do this every week....

And off we flew home.  Buying DirectTV for Jack on the way back?  Best $6 ever spent.   Ivy nursed and napped for a good part of the flight and before we knew it, we were landing in Cleveland, all of us very happy to see Nat...

A fine trip, indeed.  Priceless to have our family together for this bit of time.  My children impressed me to no end with their patience and forbearance in the face of travel.  We'll have to do it again soon.