Rock Climbing in Colorado!

After Dan's big test this summer, we decided we needed a vacation from not only school, but Omaha in general. So right after I got off work one evening, we headed over to Colorado to visit family for a few weeks. The drive was fun! Dan and I traded off when we got tired and 8 or so hours later (about 4am), we were in beautiful Colorado! Dan's sister, Jenn and her cute family were visiting Colorado at the same time, so we met up and went rock climbing at the "Big Red Open Space." I had to laugh when Dan told me where we were going! It just sounded so...so...so...bland! But it sure was true to it's name.

Here's Dan and our nephew, Brek. Dan's such a great uncle to Jenn's little boys! Every time I see Dan play with his nephews it brings me such joy knowing that someday when we have kids of our own, he'll be a wonderful dad! Dan really is awesome with kids, especially those in our ward. He treats them as if they were his own nephews and nieces! Dan keeps teasing me that we better have kids before he gets too old to play with them. And that is no joke. It would l.i.t.e.r.a.l.l.y. break Dan's heart if he couldn't throw a football around with his kids every day after work or spin them around in the air like an airplane.

The little kids, even Brielle, Jeff's little girl, kept climbing on the lower rocks because they wanted to rock climb too. After watching Brielle climb a little bit, I really think she's going to grow up to be just like her daddy, a true rock climber! She really seems to love it!
Here Dan is, sporting off his harness! He really was in heaven being with his family and everyone climbing together!
Talon has gotten so big since we last saw him last summer! He's now done with Kindergarten! When he grows up, he wants to be an astronaut! But I have a feeling that might change. Last summer he wanted to be an oceanographer and the summer before that he wanted to be a "helicopter driver." He's such a smart kid. He can literally be anything this he wants to be!
Here he is climbing to the top all by himself! He did such an awesome job! I think I whined a little more than he did when I got to the middle part of the climb where there weren't many hand and feet holds and kinda panicked! He did great!
He made it!!!!! I was so proud of him! Coming down might have been little scarier for him then going up, but he made it! Lori told of a time when they spend a few hours having to retrieve a little kid who was to scared to repel down the rocks. So Talon really did do an awesome job!
I climbed on real rocks for the first time! Well, I do remember a time when I was younger that I went climbing with my parents and a few of my uncles, but that probably doesn't count. Speaking of firsts, Dan took me rock climbing at ISU's rock wall for our third date, so it was so awesome to climb together 3 years later! Anyhow, I borrowed Lori's little tiny climbing shoes which put my feet to sleep because they were to tight, but they sure helped me grip onto the rocks.
Dan really did a great job climbing the "tough" side of the rock wall!
Here he is with Jeff's climbing shoes which really helped him climb well!

A little smile for the camera!
How exciting!!!!! I think Dan would love to move to Colorado some day so he can climb more! We love how Colorado has so many fun outdoor activities to offer!!
During our climb, we had a little picnic and Dan and I took the little boys and Brielle on a miniature hike! After an afternoon climbing with the kids, we headed back to our cars and this is what we found Brielle like when we reached the cars--her face covered in strawberries! haha Trace was sitting in the seat next to her and his face was equally smeared in strawberries! Funny kids!
Next we went to Mr. Biggs. It's like a big kid chucky cheese. There are all sorts of fun things to do there! We decided bowling sounded fun, so we got one lane for the kids and one lane for the adults. It was so fun to watch them bowl! By the way, Dan won!!!! He really is a pretty good bowler!
Bumpers work wonders with kids and so does the metal ball roller!
Awe, Trace has grown so much in the past year! He's walking and talking and can just about do everything his two older brothers can. Not to mention he's super adorable!
After bowling we ate some pizza which was so yummy after a busy day! To top dinner off Dan rolled the kids around in their high chairs which made them all fall in love with their Uncle Dan all over again before he had to say goodbye!
For the rest of the night, we played around in the kid's area filled with lots of fun toys. The kids got to dress up like firefighters and pretend to drive a fire truck. They also got to play in a huge sand box with "hidden treasure." Best of all they got to sail on a huge boat and shoot cannons at each other (which Dan probably loved more than the kids!) I wish my camera hadn't died :( so I could have snapped some of those pictures. It was so nice to visit with Lori and Jenn! They're such good examples of...pretty much everything! Hopefully we'll get to see these munchkins again sooner than later!