Day 2 of Vacation - Snow Mountain Ranch

We had a lovely day at Snow Mountain Ranch, where we enjoyed arts and crafts, hiking, horseshoes, trail runs, playgrounds, the library, board games, visiting Granby, and roller skating. 

Arts and Crafts - this was hand's down Annika's favorite part of the day. Snow Mountain Ranch has a fabulous craft shop with lots of very helpful instructors and it is set up for just about anything you might want to do - from jewelry making to tie-dye to pottery. Annika spent, I kid you not, close to two hours working on painting, drying, glazing, and drying a ceramic dragon (using acrylic paint). Daniel had fun decorating a wooden lizard and making a dragon picture, while Annika convinced me to join her in painting and I made a cupcake magnet. 

Hikes and Horseshoes - all of our family enjoyed playing horseshoes (my first time ever!) - Will was the undisputed champion and Annika came in first. While Annika and I worked more on painting, Will and Daniel hiked around and got to visit the original settlement home and see the zip line in process (which 100% of our family members agree we have zero interest in).

Trail Run - at lunch time, Nonnie and Pa watched the kids so that Will and I could go run on some of the trails together. Before we went running, I was thinking I could get really in to running on trails because the scenery is beautiful and it is much easier on your joints. After the run, I decided that those two points are quite true, but that I was not used to running on uneven footing, and most of all, running at high altitude is HARD!

Playground - The afternoon was marked by off-and-on thunderstorms, and so our plans of going swimming and mini-golfing were never able to come to fruition (even though the swimming pool is indoors, it still closes for 30 minutes after any lightening is spotted). We ignored the weather and played on one of the many camp playgrounds some, but as you can see, not all members of our party were happy with this choice. :)

Library - this was one of the favorite parts of the day for all members of the family! The camp has a library but we had not visited it before in the winter. We were delighted to discover that it had a very large but cozy room with tons of books, puzzles, and board games that you could borrow, plus comfy chairs to sit and computers available for use. And best of all, the kids were able to entertain themselves while Will, Nonnie and I played a new-to-us board game: Imaginiff. Highly recommended!

Dinner in Granby - we took a journey over to the nearby town of Granby to try dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Alas, we were too late to take advantage of the "Drive by Pie" next door.

Roller Skating - with swimming off of the agenda, we headed to the camp recreation center to go roller skating (like about every activity this is totally free, which is awesome). We all had a ball! I made the realization that I am probably the best roller skater in the family (I never did figure out roller-blades but all of those Saturday mornings at Skate East must have paid off). Annika got much more comfortable on skates again as the night wore on, and Daniel gets the Most Improved Award of the night! He began the night by clinging to the wall or one of our hands and falling down every few feet, to ending the night with being able to scoot around (slowly) all by himself. We want to come back the next couple of nights so we can all keep practicing!

Beautiful Mountain Views - and of course, all day we were surrounded by glorious mountain scenery. The storms and clouds that rolled in and out made for some pretty spectacular views.

Tomorrow, we are planning on going on a hike to see a waterfall and (hopefully) trying out the mini-golf course and swimming. And if the weather cooperates, Will and I might even get to go mountain biking!

Day of 1 Vacation - Snow Mountain Ranch, Summer Style!

Our family had so much fun at Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado this past winter that we decided to make a trip out here in the summer, too! And even better, we convinced Nonnie and Pa (aka Brenda and Larry, Will's parents) to make the trip out with us too; our lodge rooms are right next door to each other. Annika doesn't have camp next week so the timing worked well - we will be here through Wednesday, where we will then drive back furiously since Will and I are doing a 4th of July road race early Thursday morning.

The Long Drive Through Kansas - We had a late start because someone (*cough*me*cough*) didn't start packing until the morning, and then it seemed like we had a million errands to do on our way out of town. We finally were on the road by 10:15 and drove a long, long time through western Kansas.

The Long, Long Drive Through Colorado - it is always so exciting to cross the Colorado border, until you realize that you still have a million miles to drive before seeing mountains. However, once we reached Denver the driving excitement kicked in, especially once we started actually driving through the mountains. We even saw snow that was still on the ground in June!

Arrival at Snow Mountain Ranch - we made it by a little after 6:30 mountain time, meaning that it took slightly over 9 hours to drive here - not too bad. We were all thrilled to arrive and get checked in and agreed that the camp looked much different without all of the snow from the winter.

Our Lodge Room - given that this is a YMCA camp, the rooms are inherently spartan (aka no television, A/C, coffee maker, etc). But our room is very nice sized, with a separate sleeper couch and dinette table, along with a mini-fridge and microwave. And the view off of our balcony is amazing!

Special Grandparent Time - we are thrilled that Nonnie and Pa were able to join us! Nonnie spent lots of time playing Star Wars Monopoly with the kids while Will ran out to buy food at a grocery store in a nearby town. And tonight, Daniel has conned Nonnie into letting him have a sleepover in the extra bed in their room. :)

On tap for tomorrow - arts and crafts, hiking, swimming, roller skating, and mini-golf! And Will and I are going to sneak out together for a run at some point. :)

VBS 2013

VBS 2013 wrapped up tonight at College Avenue United Methodist Church and it was SO MUCH FUN! I am honestly not sure who had more fun, me or my kids. This year the theme was "Everywhere Fun Fair!" which is set up like a world's fair with different country and neighbor themes each night. (Neighbors are friendly, giving, bold, forgiving, and welcoming!). Our VBS is set up as a rotation where everyone has dinner first, then an opening, and the kids rotate among drama, music/recreation, art, and the best station of all, SCIENCE! I got to lead drama for a few days and it was so much fun that I begged to steal it for tonight, too. :)

First Night of VBS! So much excitement and the kids loved getting to come with the Bunger boys! As a parent, one of the coolest things is that some of the women in the church help with VBS by cooking dinner (and snack!) for all parents and children, which means that no dinner planning or cooking takes place for five days. 

Opening - every night after dinner the kids gathered for music and to hear about the themes for the day. Our fantastic VBS leader dresses up in full costume (a carnival person this year) for both the opening and closing.

Our Kids' Groups! All of the kids there were divided into 4 groups with around 13 or 14 children per group (although not everyone could come on every night). These are all mixed-aged groups which is fabulous since the older kids can help the younger ones (which also gives the older children more of a task to do). The kids got to decorate door hangers with their group photos in art last night.(Edited later to add the church's group photos, which are much higher quality images.)

Good Buddies - it was like a mini-reunion of Daniel's preschool class with these three five-year-olds. :)

DRAMA! I took some pictures tonight. Each night part of drama includes various people acting out the script or serving as the storyteller. Tonight, Will got to tell the story from Acts about Peter and Cornelius (God loves everyone!! God is welcoming!! Love your neighbor as yourself!!) before I did the group activities. One of the ladies in the church makes/coordinates all of the costumes and set decorations that are used each year, which is amazing.

Recreation - the kids enjoying parachute play below (this is combined with music for the rotation). Alas, since I was in the drama room I did not get any pictures of science, but it continues to be just about everybody's favorite part. :)

Performance Tonight - we ended a little early tonight so that we could see the kids' performances of all of the songs that they had learned this week. Daniel, despite having performed and participated in every opening/closing that I had seen, decided to use this opportunity to stand there silently in demonstration of his claim that he doesn't like singing. So much cuteness surrounded him, though. :)

Ice Cream and Popcorn social - celebrating the end of a wonderful week!