Too late to post much but been messing with our pictures. Here's some for now.
Tristan on the way up to Pikes Peak before he got sick.
Taylor in the Rockies near Golden, CO
Tristan and Taylor at Casa Bonita
Kids at the Denver zoo
I finally met Bugs and Daffy!
I have many many more pics and much to say. Just really tired right now. In the middle of reading Angels and Demons and can't put it down.
Cya soon.
Well here we are finally...our first day in Colorado. It already feels like we have been here a week. We have 3 more fun filled days before our long ride home. We are winding down right now - we are in our Denver hotel room. Just got back from swimming and hot tubbing.
Our ride up here was eventful. Tristan asked us the timeless question, "Are we there yet" before we even made it to I-40 in OKC!!!!! A whole 20 minute drive. So you can imagine how many more times we heard that on our 12 hour trip. We went through Amarillo, Dumas, Raton (NM) and up to Colorado Springs. There is alot of nothing in that Texas panhandle! We got to see the big super Walmart in Dumas. Had to buy a splitter so both kids could have power to their DVD players. I must say, that portable DVD players are one of the most wonderful inventions in the world. We didn't hardly have any sibling rivalry other than Taylor getting mad having to help TC so much and hand us stuff from the back. It was pretty much a quiet trip. When we left Raton, there was a very extreme storm in the mountains. It was so bad we had to pull over on the side of the road becuz we couldn't see. We saw lots of lightning - the scary kind that strikes the ground - and hail. When it cleared we took off slowly and found boulders in the road. I guess the lightning hit the mountain. We were very glad to find the sunshine. TC was a bit freaked out and wanted to go home.
When we made it to Colorado springs we jumped at the first hotel site we could find. We were so lucky because it just so happened to be right by the road that goes to Pikes Peak which was our plans for today. We saw the Cave of the Winds first...it was pretty fun. TC was OK but he kept taking pictures of the floor. He thought he had to take a picture everytime someone else did. He didn't get a prize there because he didn't listen too well. But we got a picture that they take at the beginning of the tour.
We then ventured on to Pikes Peak. Chance has been so excited about this because he hasn't been since he was a kid. It was pretty scary at some points - that road is very narrow. But once we got past the tree line (I didn't know trees couldn't grow past a certain point) TC got very sick. They gave us a brochure that said some people get altitude sickness but we didn't realize how it could affect kids. We thought he was just scared at first but then he said he had to puke. Luckily I had bought some baggies this morning and he had to use one of those. Worked great cuz I could seal it up and throw it away but he was not a happy little fellow. He wanted to go home right after that which I don't blame him. We had to trudge all the way to the top and he got worse as we went. We walked in to the gift shop at the top and Chance saw a man getting some oxygen. I was dizzy and so was chance. He sat down with TC while I went to the bathroom and he said TC's hands were shaking. We then realized he was pretty bad off and that we couldn't look at all the scenery - after all that drive. 19 miles! A nice man took our picture on the bench and then we went back to the car. We saw another family with 3 small children and two of them were puking in the rocks. I told Chance to walk around and I would stay with the kids. So he did a little bit and took some pictures. I will post them when I get home. Karin is staying there this week taking care of our pets and house. She's called us several times tonite with electricity trauma. As we made our way down the mountain, TC slept and we tried not to burn the brakes up. Chance ran over a boulder and we thought we killed the rent a car. We got very lucky. That was in the rules in the brochure, but my husband had to do it anyway. We stopped at one of the gift shops and I got Chance a shirt that says, "Got Oxygen?" He said he wanted it since TC had so much trouble breathing - good reminder.
TC was pretty limp most of the day. He thought he needed to go to the doctor. When we got here, he laid down on the bed a while. We ordered delivery food and he ended up eating 3 pieces of pizza. After that he was back to his old self. Needless to say, we were back to threatening time out at the pool.
Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and a restaurant called Casa Bonita that has cliff divers. Should be fun.
Everyone has crashed so I guess I better go take my shower. I might try to write again if I can beat Taylor off the computer. She wasn't happy with sharing even though she used it for about 3 hours tonite.
Adios.
I'm so happy! I am officially on a lengthy vacation. Not sure what to do with myself. And I didn't bring work home!!!!! Lesa made me leave my stuff with her. I really don't know what to do with myself. I am one happy chick right now!
When I told her about Randy's wishes, she said she wished she could play some cards with him. I said me too - we had such good times.
Tina called me today from the hospital. Today was the first day she could talk (guess that tube had been in there) and she was calling everyone since John had not. She was speaking slow because her lung has collapsed and they can't get it to puff up. So she's still got tubes coming out of her ribs. But they did the barium thing yesterday and she doesn't have any leaks. They are just waiting on the lung thing now. She's hoping to get all completely stitched up tomorrow. She might get to try to drink some fluids. So far all she has gotten to do is suck on a sponge thingy. No water or nothing since Thursday. Her hospital stay is depending completely on how her lung is doing.
She went for her first walk today as well. Said she had to have John carry her pole and stuff and she worried about her bum showing. She's in a lot of pain and I think it's going to take a while before she can move very much. She has to be sure not to sneeze or vomit. She has to tell them when she is nauseous cuz if she pukes, she will tear up all that work.
She was a little loopy too. She told me she was not... it was just the lung thing, but when she told me she didn't have to go to work this week, I knew she was a little loopy. She's going to call me back when she gets home. I am glad I'm on vacation this week (after tomorrow) so I can get her call. And I gave her Randy's well wishes and hugs. She was very appreciative of that. She said she could use some hugs right now.
Oh and she said the doctor found broccoli in there. She said she had chinese for dinner the nite before. Eww.
Well I gotta go try to do some work before my last day. So many things need to be rapped up and I'm so not getting them all done. I'm leaving my students hanging and I hate that. Oh well. I tried my best. At least I get to wear jeans tomorrow...woo hoo!
Until next time...
