Thursday, August 07, 2008

Vacation....

It has been awhile since I last wrote. We were away the entire month of July for a long road trip west to Colorado and Wyoming. It was an awesome trip. We had just the right amount of schedule mixed with enough flexibility to allow us to enjoy whatever we found once we got to certain places. We located some real gems on the road including some great historic places, delicious family restaurants, and activities.

I can't possibly cover an entire month of fun or even put into words the beauty of everything we saw. Some highlights were white water rafting in Buena Vista, CO; indoor rock climbing in Jackson, WY; our horseback riding/chow wagon trip to a cowboy cookout in Yellowstone; all the amazing animals in Yellowstone; a Lakota Indian pottery factory where the kids got to paint and etch their own pottery plus see how the Indians do it; the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in De Smet, SD; and the Opera House in Leadville, CO.

Haley got to see her violin teacher in Jackson and had a mini lesson plus spent a bit of time exploring stores in the town then went swimming. She entertained campers all over the western US during the trip and was even invited to play concerts at a couple campgrounds.

Well, we are back now and have over 600 pictures to go through...plus my other computer crashed (yuck!). I will be finalizing our school schedule for fall so we can begin in full swing again once Haley and I return from Suzuki camp in a couple weeks. This is the first year my kids have had anything resembling a "real, normal" summer though they have done some math and kept journals while away.

No comments: