A Road Trip to Remember!!

As Aunt Allie and Uncle Jerry returned from their honeymoon cruise, we headed out on an 8 day road trip! We were so happy to be able to see them before we hit the road.... they had a great time cruising the Bahamas and then stopping in Key West before returning home. Here we are waving goodbye to them after our short visit and good bye hugs. Thanks for the t-shirts and necklaces! We love them!!

First stop, Frisco, Texas. We stopped at Uncle Cliff and Aunt Meredith's house to visit Carter for an evening of backyard sports of all kinds!
After our visit, we went over to Uncle Troy and Aunt Jenn's house for a little playtime with Kalynne, Hannah, and Campbell before hitting the sack. Hannah was already sleeping when we arrived, and we couldn't stay up too late so that we could get a good night's rest before our long day ahead on the road.

Peyton with Cams... a sweet hug around the neck!

We sure love our sweet Kaly-bug!

On day 2, we crossed the Texas state line... entering Oklahoma.

Shortly after entering "The Sooner State" we stopped in the Arbuckle Mountains to enjoy Turner Falls




We jumped back in and headed further north to visit the Museum at Oklahoma University. Here we are with the "plain old" buffalo (not a water buffalo, not a winter buffalo, just a "plain old" buffalo) in front of the museum!

I bet the dinosaurs will fear our mean faces!

Ryan "hanging on" to the tusks!

Look at the size of this dinosaur thigh bone!

Wilson wasn't scared to pass right by the field of buffalo!!

Mr. Elephant, please don't squish our buddy Wilson!!

A dinosaur-sized hug for his new toy dinosaur

BEWARE of hungry dinos!

We couldn't resist stopping once before we left OU... to give a friendly Texas A&M University, Gig 'Em to those Oklahoma Sooners!!

Backseat cuties... on the road again!

Goodbye Oklahoma!!

HELLO Kansas!!

On our way to Hayes, Kansas, we saw a field of wind turbines at sunset. A pretty sight to see, and a little science lesson along the way.

On day 3 we left Kansas for Colorado, entering the Mountain Time Zone. Along the way, we saw a field of pretty sunflowers! Wilson LOVED the beautiful sunflowers... he was almost moved to tears when we passed the field full and weren't able to stop!! He was so happy to find a beautiful stray sunflower near the Colorado state line!

We made it to colorful Colorado!!

We headed straight to Denver to pick Daddy up from the airport! As we were driving on the highway toward the airport we saw a Southwest Airlines plane landing... it just so happened that the airplane that we saw land was actually the airplane that Daddy was flying on! He texted Mommy as soon as the airplane touched down... and at the same time, we were watching his airplane touchdown on the runway! With Daddy now joining our traveling crew, we headed into Downtown Denver to Coors Field to see the Colorado Rockies play the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a fun game to watch and it was very hard to decide who the cheer for since the Rockies were the home team, and we were sporting our new Rockies gear... but at the same time, the Houston Astros recently traded right fielder Hunter Pence to the Phillies... We cheered on both teams and we weren't sad when the Phillies won the game!!

Dylan loved the rainbow snow cone!

Ryan and Peyton catching the rain drizzle on their tongues during the game!

Wilson got his hands on a game ball from the first base coach, over the 1st base dugout, when the boys were allowed to stand by the dugout between innings

After the game, we headed south to Colorado Springs to get ready to explore that area! On day 4, we started the day by driving to the top of Pike's Peak!! It was amazingly high and so much colder at the top than it was before we began our climb!!

After driving to the top of a mountain, we thought it would be fun to explore the inside of a mountain at Cave of the Winds! We were so excited to go into the cave...

...but very hesitant once we got in there to explore the little nooks and crannies!! Mom and Dad encouraged us to squeeze in the small places that we could and by the end of the tour, we weren't quite so scared of the thought being inside a cold and dark cave!!

We found a "Ryan sized" passageway!

Little boys had fun checking out the sights with Nana and waiting patiently outside the cave for big brothers to come out!

We ended the adventure-filled day at the Flying W Ranch for a cowboy dinner! No cowboy adventure is complete without exploring the jail...

...or an Indian tepee. NO INDIANS HERE!!

Dinner was yummy! Dylan enjoyed seconds...

...Ryan enjoyed thirds!!

On day 5 we finished up our Colorado Springs experience by visiting Seven Falls. We climbed the stairs all the way to the TOP of the falls! WHEW - a little tiring, but so very beautiful!

Dylan and Wilson fed the chipmunks at the bottom of the falls from their bare hands!

After visiting the falls, we began traveling further south... memories from the rest of our trip to come soon!