After enjoying a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner,
we spent the next day trying to recover...
...by eating the delicious quiche Kelsey made for breakfast.
I can diet next week, right? I am always amazed at Kelsey's cooking skills. Everything she makes is delish.
After breakfast, we headed over to Shelly and Ken's, about an hour+ away.
Shelly warmed up some soup she had pre-prepared: chili, sweet potato with sausage, and chicken corn chowder. Yum!
Megan and David kept the nieces and nephews busy while lunch was warming.
It's fun to see the grandkids enjoy their Aunts and Uncles
and each other.
After lunch, Brinlee entertained us with her fascination with last week's snow.
Brinlee, if you like snow this much, I'd be happy to send you ours.
From Ken and Shelly's house, we headed to an indoor swimming pool.
It cost only $24 for the 19 of us. That's how much I pay in Billings for one of us.
We spent several hours swimming and splashing.
Ava and her floaty.
This picture reminds me I never got a photo of our three pregnant daughters/daughter-in-law together.
Brinlee is explaining why she needs to live in Colorado.
Makayla was yelling and waving to me from across the way and when I didn't hear her, she climbed down, ran over, demanded that I look at her, ran back, and waved.
These four had a blast together, going down the giant slides a billion times or more.
They also lined up along the pool
and jumped, then headed back to slide.
It was a fun day.
Even the adults had a good time.
Watching these four, I started thinking how unhappy Hailey was going to be about leaving them behind in a few days. I was right.
I ruined my suit when I caught it on a lounge chair swimming with Makayla and Hailey in Billings at the end of summer and tossed it. Unfortunately I didn't know we'd be swimming mid-winter, and suits are hard to find.
I became the designated child-warmer, picture-taker. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.
If you hurry out of the pool, you can snack while waiting for everyone else.
We headed out to get some dinner. Somewhere along the freeway, our vehicle stopped working. Apparently our ancient gas gauge doesn't work any better in Colorado than it does in Montana. A little gas from a nearby station got us going and we continued on, adding even more mile to our trusty 256,573 mileage SUV.
On Saturday, the Pearsons headed home and we headed to the zoo.
Makayla and Hailey have been to some small Montana zoos, but had never seen "real" zoo animals like elephants, giraffes, and zebras.
We hurried over to the elephant show.
It is a beautiful day to be outside-probably high 50s and sunny.
Ava the monkey waits for the show.
Unfortunately after two or three tricks, the elephant ran off, more interested in the female in the next cage than a bunch of tourists and trainers.
Many of us tried out our jumping skills.
Some of us jump as far as a frog,
Some like a penguin,
and someone
has clearly been practicing in their spare time
and can leap to polar bear territory.
Kailyn was not feeling well today, but not a complaining word escaped her lips.
I would have been whining all day long.
The Bassetts have a family pass to the zoo, and need go only 1 1/2 times to make it worth buying.
Cute girls watching
not so cute apes.
David did a lot of carrying.
Ava did a lot of letting herself be carried.
Poor David. I think he's going to need a chiropractor when he gets home.
We premade some turkey sandwiches before we came. Next day turkey sandwiches are my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Apparently we ate them so quickly I didn't get a picture.
The kids came across this sleigh and posed for pictures. They felt like the sleigh needed reindeer, which explains the four in front.
They also found an old car. Seriously? You guys trust Makayla to drive?
Denver Zoo is an excellent zoo. I remember coming here once as a child and it's only gotten better over the years.
We ended the day with our happy medicine.
You've got to love
these cute ice cream-loving faces.
It is astonishingly easy to talk them into a cone.
Shockingly easy.
We stopped by the aquariums
Our final stop of the day was White Fence Farms, a restaurant with a petting zoo and several stores attached.
There's nothing like rubbing your hands all over barnyard animals before eating.
Or perhaps bonding with your supper.
They even let you buy food to fatten your future dinners up.
Hailey saw the "price tag" on the ear of each of the animals and desperately wanted to buy one. Lucky for us, she didn't have enough money.
This restaurant is famous for its chicken.
The kids kept busy coloring placemats
while the rest of us filled up on side dishes.
White Fence Farms is also famous for their corn fritters, which are basically a donut hole with corn in it. Weird, but that didn't keep us from eating them.
After dinner each of the kids got to pick a prize. Chase, these will come in handy when your parents are looking for you to send you to bed and they don't recognize you. Good choice.
There was a slide in the restaurant
for anyone who wanted to work off
some of those fritters
or any energy they might have managed to hang on to.
If you weren't into sliding, you can sit with Tom.
We had the most fun three days in Colorado. We are so appreciative of Scott and Kelsey's hospitality. Ken and Shelly and kids stayed with everyone else at Scott and Kelsey's, meaning there were 19 people to entertain, feed, wash, and find bed space for. Someone said we put five years of living onto their beautiful new home and Kelsey said "Houses are for living." Isn't that the profound truth? I am thankful for our family and the enjoyment we experience together.
