De-Frosted Red

It snowed our last night here. For a while I thought we would be extending our stay for another day, but it just snowed enough for the kids to go sledding.

We spent about an hour in the snow. Ok, they spent about an hour in the snow. As I mentioned on the first day, I didn't have any warm clothes with me. Therefore, I sat in the car with the heater on and took pictures. Thank goodness for a zoom lens.

Chloe told uncle Steve that she had been tubbing in the snow before and went really, really fast. So she wanted to go really fast on the sled too.

Alex demonstrates the head first method of sledding.




Uncle Steven helped Chloe make snowballs so she could throw them at him. Now that is a great uncle.

Chloe and Uncle Steven made a snowman.

After about an hour, Chloe joined me in the car. Her feet were wet and freezing so we took off her shoes and socks. She was a little concerned when saw how red her feet were. I told her we needed to defrost her feet before she got frost bite. When uncle Steven came to the car she told him that her feet were de-frosted red.

A perfect end to a perfect adventure.

The Zoo

Chloe has adapted well to hotel life. She refers to our room as "home sweet home". We have made friends with the housekeeping staff and they have been wonderful to us. This morning one of them even knocked on my door and handed me a cup of coffee. She said they had just made a fresh pot and wanted to make sure I got some of it. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I couldn't drink her coffee. You don't get service like that in a four star hotel.




The downside to staying at a hotel with a pool is that the kids don't want to leave. We practically had drag the kids to the zoo. As soon as we got there they wanted to leave so they could go back to the hotel and swim all day. Guess what we are doing tomorrow.




The Cheyenne Zoo is built on the side of a mountain. This is perfect for getting a great workout while enjoying the zoo. They have an amazing giraffe exhibit which puts you head to head with the giraffes. Chloe was determined to feed one so Steven handed her some food. As soon she realized that the giraffe was headed her way, she quickly dropped the food.




She gave it another try and this time she let the giraffe take the food out of her hand. She said the giraffe tickled her whole hand with his tongue.


We were taking a break from the animals and relaxing in the kids play area when all of the sudden I heard an hysterical child. I turned to see whose kid was making such a fuss, only to see Chloe running into Steven's arms. At first none of could figure out what had frightened her.



But I was able to quickly identify the culprit.



Luckily Chloe had no idea what was under that chair.



Someone was having a good time.




After the chicken incident, I was surprised when Chloe said she wanted to ride a poney. She instructed the people working there to put her on the smallest of the ponies and Alex on the larger one.




Once around the barn she had a smile back on her face.




Finally, an animal Chloe feels comfortable with.





We ended our day back at the pool, much to Zoey's delite.

Colorado - Day 1

When preparing to travel with small children, you have some tough decisions to make. Do you fill your suitcase with everything you need to keep them occupied, or do you take clothes for yourself? As much as you drill into them that they will be required to carry their own things, the reality is when they drop their bags and announce that they are dying, you have no choice but to pick up the bags and keep moving. In anticipation of this, I opted to leave my warm clothes at home so I could lighten the load. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now that I am in Colorado with no warm clothes, I am questioning the wisdom of that decision


The first thing Chloe wanted to do when we arrived in Colorado was to stop at Old McDonald's. I knew she couldn't possibly have been hungry. I think she just needed to be in a familiar place for awhile. We had a quick bite to eat and headed for Colorado Springs. Chloe was sound asleep when we arrived at the hotel so Steven carried her in and put her to bed. She did not open her eyes until 8:00 this morning at which time she jumped up, looked around the unfamiliar room and with a confused look on her face asked why I changed my room. Seconds later her face went from from a look of confusion to a look of terror as she asked what I did with her princess room. She soon realized that this was not my room and we were not at my house so her princess room must still be a princess room.


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The hotel we are staying in has a heated indoor pool, which is why we are staying there. Chloe plans on staying in the pool the whole time we are here. Her plan works for me because while I have no warm clothes, I did bring a swimsuit.




Uncle Steve arrived at the hotel this morning with donuts. He wasn’t taking any chances that Chloe might have forgotten that she likes him now. After all, it has taken her four years to warm up to him. He also arrived with Alex, which is what she had really been waiting for.








Zoey was getting very fussy while watching everyone in the pool. I thought she didn't like all the noise and splashing that was going on. It turned out that she was upset because she wasn't participating in the noise and splashing. Christina quickly ran to the store and got Zoey her first swimsuit. It wasn't long before she was in the pool splashing away with the others. It appears that Zoey may be part fish.



Chloe is still celebrating her birthday. When we got to uncle Steve's today, she had a birthday present waiting for her. It was a Tinkerbell Doll complete with sparkly wings.




Chloe and Alex had a very busy afternoon. Chloe learned how to ride a skateboard



And became a Jedi Knight.





Lava Girl and Shark Boy stopped by to see if anyone needed to be rescued.



According to Chloe, it has been a rough day and we should all go to sleep.

Chloe and the Train

We arrived at the train station just in time to board the train, both carrying more than we could handle. We were having a difficult time going up the stairs with our heavy loads, which was causing the line to backup behind us. I couldn’t help Chloe because I had a big suitcase with all of our clothes, a backpack full of electronic devices along with all of the chargers/batteries that go with them. In addition, I had packed enough food to last a week. Anyway, Chloe fell trying to go up the stairs and immediately announced to the impatient crowd behind us “Everybody, I’m ok. I’m four now so I am tough”. A very nice man asked Chloe if he could carry her suitcase up the stairs. She told him that it would probably be a good idea because she was going to Colorado to play with her friend Alex.



We have now been on the train for three long hours and Chloe asks at each stop if we are in Colorado yet. She has finally come to terms with the fact that this is going to be a long train ride. Now instead of asking if we are there, she keeps asking why Colorado is so far away now. She explained to one of the passengers that this isn’t her first trip to Colorado. She said she went to Colorado on the plane lots of times when she was a little kid and that actually, Colorado isn’t usually this far away.





She has gotten teary eyed a couple of times already. I have found the best way to keep the tears from falling is find an unsuspecting traveler for her to tell her life story to. As soon as she makes a new friend, she forgets how far away Colorado is.





One of her new friends kept calling her “Colorado”. Chloe explained several times to the woman that Colorado is where she is going not her name. She finally figured out that the woman was teasing her and told the woman that she was a silly goose.









I quickly discovered that going to the restaurant for meals was a nice diversion. Yes, we had an ice chest full of food that I had lugged onto the train, but what fun would it have been to eat that. Not to mention the fact that there was always a new set of unsuspecting travelers in the dining car. Once they ordered their food, I knew we had them. Chloe could catch them up on the last four years of her life and there wasn't a thing they could do about it. Actually, she kept them entertained and it was a nice diversion for them as well. The first night we had a pleasant dinner with a very nice couple. After we had eaten the waitress came by and asked if anyone wanted desert, Chloe quickly said “why not, I’m on vacation” and ordered carrot cake. I halfway expected her to order coffee with it.




Three hours and seven minutes to go. Yes, I am counting. Chloe has been very good, but gets restless from time to time. We can only spend so much time in the dining car. She does not like to sit in the observation car, but there is always the snack car and the snack lady can't leave. Chloe told her she has a step sister named Colby that hits her all the time. She of course, makes good choices and does not hit back. While in the snack car, the porter sat down to visit with her for a while. He knew he was in for good conversation when he sat down and asked her how she was her response was “I’m good but my grandma is exhausting me”. They visited for quite a while. She explained that she just turned four on Tuesday and we were from Sacramento and were taking the train to Denver, which is in Colorado. She told him we were now four hours away, then we would be three hours away, then two, then one then we would be there. She also told him if he wanted to get to Colorado faster he should take a plane. As he was leaving, he turned around and asked Chloe if she could help him do his taxes. She of course called him a silly goose.