The Harrowing/Heartwarming Parent Moment of the Week

We had a great time on vacation this last week with many heartwarming and harrowing times. Of course being lost in the wilds of Colorado Suburbia with my middle-est boy for over an hour when there was snow on the ground ranked right at the top.

Then there was that time that the boys managed to actually catch my aunt’s chickens and put them into a holding cage…to rest. How they actually accomplished this I have no idea.

One garden dish was broken.

One Calvin and Hobbs book was colored in, just a bit.

And the decorative turtles were flown around the house and taken on many chilling adventures.

One boy was rushing to view Jupiter in the dark and fell off the step, right into my aunts big pot full of flowers, leaving an enormous hole in the decorative plants. But the good news is that they successfully cushioned his fall leaving him injury free.

Most horrifying was finding my first born with a nail in one hand and a rock in the other, about to perform an experiment in which he discovered whether he could puncture one of their snow tires.

But there were many heartwarming moments as well. Watching my three boys play play play so very well together all week. They really relied on one another when their regular schoolmates were unavailable. And the imaginary games that went on were astounding.

The Garden of the gods was made for them, I swear. They climbed boulders and up cracks and terrified my aunt and Abuela with their fierce clambering abilities. Whit’s End was awesome and both big boys bravely slid down the three story slide with aplomb. We even got to try the famous chocolate sodas thanks to my friend Becca. Then we had the very best zoo visit we have ever experienced. All three boys were happy and engaged almost the whole time. Only in the last 10 minutes was I carrying a boy. We even got to feed health food cookies to the giraffes. This was the most absolutely beautiful zoo and the boys ran and ran and ran from one exhibit to the next, ecstatic over seeing 5 cougars and also over seeing a small spider in its web just outside the exhibit. Then we rode a train up to the very top of Pikes Peak. Almost as high as Mt. Rainier we got to watch Daddy get altitude sickness and Momma’s ears fail the pop and all three boys have a great time playing in the snow and viewing a 2,000 year old bristle cone pine as seen on planet earth. We were able to view 5 different states from the top and many many gorgeous mountains. Then Uncle John got out his big telescope and we all got to view Jupiter and the 4 Galilean moons! An amazing week finished off by a fun plane ride back to Washington state and playing cars at Phyllis’ house before the drive home.