Denver Outings

We did something different this summer: we took a vacation without Ella.  It was definitely different and she was definitely missed, but we had a wonderful week in Colorado, first visiting Heather, Andrew and Annabelle, and then doing some exploring just the 3 of us in Colorado Springs.  As always, Heather was an amazing hostess and our time spent at her house was full of fun outings and activities and delicious meals.  A highlight of this trip was seeing how big our niece Annabelle has grown!  She is in the most fun stage of talking and developing personality.  We loved everything about laughing, singing, reading, playing, and snuggling with her.  Her mom had been working on our names with her, so what a treat to hear a constant "Auntie Jen! Uncle Dave!" ringing out through their house.  I'm biased, of course, but also a bit of an expert, and I think her humor and intelligence is superior to an average 18 month old!  ;) This girl is smart and funny and truly a delight!

Two of the items on Delia's Summer Bucket List were kindly crossed off, thanks to Auntie Heather's planning.  We got to take Annabelle on her first ever zoo outing at the awesome Denver Zoo!  This was a great zoo with pretty much every animal to visit-- from peccaries to penguins.  Seeing it through Annabelle's eyes of wonder was my favorite part.  Acclimating on this first day in CO to the mile high elevation was not our favorite part!

"No thank you" to petting the snake with Uncle Dave.

Silly, swimming and diving penguins.

Up close ostrich!

Fish faces.

Standing UNDER a tiger!

This zoo had, like, 30 different elephants all in different habitats.  We'd be walking and there would be another one! 

Kangaroos and wallabies in the enclosure we could actually walk through.

Lorikeets in the aviary.  They ran out of food or we would have fed them.

Entertaining monkeys eating their lunch.  Annabelle kept making her sign for "more".  "More monkeys!  More monkeys!"

No shortage of hands to hold.

Group selfie with the rhino.

Operation "Keep Annabelle awake on the ride home so her nap isn't spoiled".  We understood the assignment!

Annabelle was the star of Zoo Day, but for Water Park Day, her cool parents brought her to her day care (which she loves) so we could cram in all the crazy adventure at Denver's Water World!  Another thing crossed off the Summer List!

Heather and Andrew have taken us to this incredible water park before.  It's so big, you can't even get to all the rides in one day.  The water slides here are so unique.  Some go underground with worlds built and stories to tell.  Some have animatronics.  Some have lifts and dips like a real rollercoaster.  And some have timers so you can race.

Lots of laughs here!  After cramming all five of us adults into one tube for a slooow butt-dragging ride, we started breaking into groups.  Girls/guys, Heather's family/my family, OGs/add-ons. :)  One wild rapid ride I went down with Heather and Andrew was so bumpy, I some how got tangled up with Andrew, (Heather said she was a third wheel) with my hair covering my face, totally disoriented.  Our raft came out the shoot and Delia took one look at me and said, "What happened?! I don't think we were on the same ride!"  Still makes me smile!  

Two super fun Denver Days!  Give us waterslides and some zoo animals and we are happy!