Our final adventure in Colorado was to the Downtown Aquarium. This was another fun stop that Mark and I used to do back when we lived here. I will admit though, it was a little underwhelming in ways. I’d say it has some bigger displays and animals then the aquarium we like to go to in Utah, but the aquarium itself is kind of small. We were shocked at how quickly we went through it!
I think we continued to traumatize Benjamin with his new fear of storms. They have a section that simulates what happens in a flash flood. And all of a sudden, it gets dark, storm sounds begin, and the water comes crashing down and you *can* get sprayed. I knew where to go so Lydia and I could avoid it, but Mark and Ben were front and center and Ben was not a fan. Poor kid.
But a definite highlight for Ben was he was able to see his tiger! We weren’t able to see any tigers at the zoo – but we got them at the aquarium!
The kids also had a lot of fun touching the sting rays!
I hardly took any pictures at all – I did take a fair amount of video though which I will make into a wee little video once I get caught up with the last five months of life!
Afterwards, we got some takeout and headed back to the place we were renting. The kids did so well. As they always do. This trip was especially stressful in ways because it was so loosy-goosy in its plans. And it was also the first trip with Lydia and all of the new things going on with her life. To add to the things I never thought I would be traveling with was an IV stand, feeding bags, syringes, medical tape, etc. It was a lot mentally (and physically). But we survived and even made some amazing memories on the way.
The next morning we packed up and hit the road. I-80 was closed in Wyoming (c’mon, it’s only October!) – again, you just have to laugh at all that happens to us – so our route was definitely an interesting one. It was a scenic drive meandering through northwestern Colorado. Then all of a sudden, we found ourselves on a very muddy, dirt road going through a canyon. We honestly didn’t know if we were going to make it and were a little embarrassed thinking about what the trucks must be thinking of us as they see this minivan trying to make its way through this pass. But we made it, we had a good laugh about it, and were very happy to get home!
Traveling is something our family has always really enjoyed, but things may have to change for us in the future. We didn’t pick a state for next year and it kind of broke my heart a little. But we will figure things out and find new traditions. After all, as cheesy as it sounds, its all about family time and we can definitely find a way to make that happen.
