Family Vacation

May has been a busy month for us. Recently, we decided to add a little more to our calendar and take our first family vacation. Our last official one was right around my first birthday, so a lot has changed since then (I'm walking and Deklan is around, just to name a couple big differences). We decided to head back to Colorado for our trip. Although we go there every other Christmas, we never make it out of our cabin at Estes Park, so we decided to see Denver and Colorado Springs and do some fun things in between. The best part was that we'd get to spend some extended time with Uncle John and Aunt Emma. Seeing them every two years is hardly sufficient! Our vacation started on Friday after Dad got home from work. We drove up to Wheaton to visit Mr. Bryan, Daddy's buddy, and his family before flying out of Chicago the next morning. We had pizza and played basketball in their basement. It was so much fun that I didn't want to go to bed. I gave the whole house quite a scare when I decided to play hide n seek (but failed to tell anyone about it)...Mom came upstairs to check on D and I and I was nowhere to be found. After all of the adults searched the house from top to bottom and even outside, Mr. Bryan caught a glimpse of my toes hidden behind some blankets and pillows and other things stored underneath a spare bed. Mommy & Daddy were so relieved that I was alright. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. 

The next day we flew out of O'Hare to Denver. I'm kind of a pro when it comes to flying. I was an ideal passenger, nibbling on fruit snacks, watching Thomas, and looking out the window. When we landed I was excited to get to Aunt Em & Uncle John's house. I told them all about the captain telling us to keep the window shades open and tray tables up so he could fly the plane. We settled in for our week long stay at their house and took a look around outside. They had tennis balls (for their dog, Niah) and I decided to make myself at home and throw every single one of them down into the back yard. 

On the airplane...getting Day of the Diesels started.

We settled in for our week long stay at their house and took a look around outside. They had tennis balls (for their dog, Niah) and I decided to make myself at home and throw every single one of them down into the back yard.  The view off of Uncle John & Aunt Em's deck is amazing! Uncle Ken & Aunt Mary Ann were actually in town, too, so we got to go out for yogurt and have a couple of dinners with them. We took a walk to the park where we hit the slide and swings.

Our "home" away from home in Denver.

I love the mountain view at Aunt Emma's house!

Swinging with Aunt Emma.

Racing around at Uncle John's and Aunt Em's cul-de-sac...shortly after this shot it started raining. Mom took the camera inside. Sadly, she missed Uncle Ken and I in an all out foot race. I smoked him!

I helped D's learn to drive.

Uncle John taught me how to drive. I thought the car looked like Doc Hudson.

Frozen yogurt with Uncle John, Aunt Mary Ann, Uncle Ken, and Aunt Emma.

I loved my ride in Uncle John's race car!

Racetrack

When Monday arrived we hit the town. First stop: Candy Shop! Hammond's Candies took us on a tour of their factory. They make famous candy canes and giant lollipops. We saw homemade marshmallows that stretched for the entire length of the conveyor belts. We got neat hats to wear and best of all, samples! I liked to watch the machine turn the candy from a little blob into a giant long rope that ended up as a sucker. Sweet! The next stop was the Denver Firefighters Museum. It could have been one of my favorite stops of the entire trip. I got to put on real fireman "dress" (as I say) with a coat, hat, mask, gloves, and boots. It was great. I slide down the pole. Then I drove the truck. I pretended to shoot water out of the fire hose. I ran around the museum (still in full fire attire) singing a made up song that went something like this: "Fireman, fireman...to the rescue!" I had Mom & Dad cracking up as I retired my fire suit and revealed that I was completely soaked in sweat...and then explained that I was sweating because "being a fireman is hard work!" We stopped for lunch and then hit up another candy store. It was a great start to the week!

That face says it all.

Tour's over...now let the sampling begin!

"I can't even look at the camera, Mom. Do you see all the candy around me?"

Giant lollipop=very happy Rykerman.

Sliding down the pole.

Getting my mask on.

Daddy is so silly.

Can you hear the sound I was making?

"Hurry up and let me go see the firetruck, Mom!"

Dialing 9-1-1 to tell them about a fire.

Day two was a blast...literally...because we became miners and went searching for gold. We strolled deep into a mine where we got a tour and got to see lots of gold. I pretended to blow up some rubble and I also pulled on some chains...once again, I remarked that being a miner was tough work. My favorite part of the tour was getting to wear the "instruction" hat on my head. After finishing up in the mine, we went panning for gold in the stream. D liked throwing rocks in the water. I liked actually panning for gold. I got pretty good at swishing it back and forth. I even got to keep the gold that I found! I ended up getting pretty wet in the end, but it was really hot so I welcomed the change into shorts. We headed out for lunch after all our hard work looking for gold. I was a little skeptical of going to a brewery at first, but then I found out that they make their own root beer and almond cream soda...and I was sold! Mom, Deklan, and I all downed our hand crafted sodas, while Uncle John & Daddy sampled the more traditional brewery beverage, or as I like to call it, "Daddy Juice". We finished just in time to stroll down the downtown street into (yet another) candy shop and satisfied my sweet tooth. Then, it was time to head up the mountain. Mt. Evans is one of the highest paved roads in the states. However, it was pretty snowy the day we were there. Despite us donning our shorts and t-shirts and mid 70s on the thermostat at the foot of the mountain, our road was stopped at Echo Lake on account of deep snowfall. I could hardly wait to get out of the car and throw snowballs!

Panning for gold.

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This mine is dynamite! 

See the gold?

More gold...really wishing I'd have brought a pick with me.

Grab your "instruction" hats...we're going to the mine!

Echo Lake

We're wearing shorts and there's snow falling...this is hilarious!

Snowball!

Echo Lake

Here's where they made our root beer.

Day three, we headed to Colorado Springs. Aunt Emma & Uncle John came with us. We had a great time! Our first stop was Royal Gorge. It's a giant gorge over a 1/4 mile from one side to the other. It has one of North America's largest suspension bridges, too! It took no time for me to head for the "telescopes" and check out the views and the river below. I spotted the skycoaster across the way...Mom was trying to talk Dad into going on it with her, but he decided that wasn't for him. I repeated, on multiple occasions, that Daddy was scared to go on the skycoaster. That made Mommy laugh. I just cracked up watching the people swing out over the rocks and scream. Hilarious! I really didn't want to leave because it was making me laugh so hard. They told me I could ride a trolley, though, so I acquiesced. We hit up an old western town, saw animals (1 day old white bison and 2 week old long horn sheep), and walked (in my case ran) across the bridge. Mom was a little worried about our sprint because the whole bridge was shaking as we hoofed it across. Another great part of the gorge was getting to take the train down to the bottom. They had a blue and a red incline rail (I called them Thomas and James, appropriately). We took Thomas all the way down and I sat with Uncle John and watched the river, looked up at the bridge and tram, and even caught a glimpse of a chopper flying low overhead. What a great place!

D and I got a little ornery, and it cost us dearly.

Royal Gorge bridge.

Riding the Tram

If you look really closely, you can see the little red tram overhead...that's the one we rode on earlier.

At the bottom of the gorge.

Railway, at the bottom. 

I was a big fan of the "telescope" at the gorge.

In the upper left, you can see the sky coaster that made me laugh every time.

After a brief nap, we went rock climbing at the Garden of the gods. It is full of giant red rocks that resemble all kinds of cool shapes, like camels smooching or giant footprints. We looked and looked for the footprint and Mom & I found it so I had to show Dad and Uncle John & Aunt Em. I was so excited to have discovered it. D rode in the pack for the most part, but I was hiking trying to blaze trails and lead the way. I took to the rocks like a natural, fearing no height, climbing ever upward. Mom thought the views were breathtaking; I just loved playing to exhaustion!

Cathedral Rock

"Come on guys, this way!"

A view of Pike's Peak

I was showing Dad the giant footprint because they couldn't find it. 

See it? Giant footprint!

This rock wasn't nearly as heavy as it looked.

Pucker up, camels!

Steamboat

Now this one...this one was a monster to hold up. I am super strong!

Yea! I made it to the top!

Garden of the gods.

Jumping bed to bed in the hotel.

Tuckered boys.

Day four was the part of the trip that I had anticipated the most. All week I talked about riding the train up the mountain and getting hot donuts at the top. I was excited to arrive at the train depot and see that today I'd get to ride a red train named James. We boarded and waited patiently to depart. With a blow of the whistle we started chugging toward the top. We watched for giant rocks and waterfalls. The higher we went there were tons of trees. Then, we saw a giant lake and then the trees stopped. Then we saw marmots. Soon we were approaching Pike's Peak. We pulled in to the station and hopped out to check out the view and go eat those donuts. I was pretty pumped to see snow, again, and wasted no time tossing snowballs with Uncle John.

Good thing we took the train...miss that turn and it is a long way down!

Donuts and cocoa! Woo hoo!

Snowball time!

On our way up...

There's our choo choo train.

We took naps on our way back home. When I woke up we were at the Air Force Academy. I got to see big planes and run in this giant space by their cathedral.We went inside and looked around at the fun lights and the big cross. I explored the pews and then we headed for home. 

Air Force Academy

I wasn't deterred by the roped off pews in the cathedral. They'll have to do a lot better than a rope on a hook!

There was so much excitement on our trip that we needed a catch-up day before going home. We went to Lodo for a low key afternoon. We went to Glassman & Hanson Jewlers...the Hanson in that place would be my Uncle John. He squashed pennies for us until they were really long. This was a favorite past-time of my Dad's when he was younger and now it is one of ours. Fun stuff. We soaked up as much Uncle John, Aunt Emma, and Niah time as we could before we headed out the next day.

Squashing pennies with Uncle John.

This is tough work!

BBQ after all that penny squashing (that's my giant penny in my hand)!

We returned to Chicago on Saturday. I was excited to see Mr. Bryan again at the airport. I was even more excited to meet Noah when we got back to the Chapmans for a bbq. Mr. Ryan, Dad's other buddy, and his family were there. They have a son named Noah who is a couple of weeks older than I am. Despite his taste in baseball teams (can you believe we were both sporting baseball team shirts...kindred spirits), we hit it off swell and spent the whole evening laughing and playing together. Get this...he even had a bunch of Cars cars with him...this kid is top notch! After a great evening with friends we headed home for Indy. We wrapped up our vacation with a relaxing day at home, celebrating Mom's Day and eating frozen yogurt and gummy worms, relaxing as a family.

Laughing with Noah...we couldn't stop with the giggles.

 A little AU reunion.

This was the best we could do when you've got 5 kids, a late night, and Mom asking for  a good picture.

Noah and I playing cars in the tent...and doing some kind of spitting game that our parents didn't understand.

If vacations didn't end then I guess we wouldn't enjoy them so much, and that is exactly what we did. We made tons of memories as a family and that is exactly what Mom and Dad were hoping for when they planned this trip. Truthfully, they got even more than they could have hoped for...and so did this guy. Thanks for catching up with me. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!