Another Spring Break

This past week, The Man of the House took two of our children on a mini-vacation.
They went camping.
A little early for swimming and the fun of camping in summer weather, but they enjoyed themselves all the same.

They fished, played, ate and fished some more.

Who wouldn't appreciate a schedule like that?

They also explored and let out some of that pent up energy from a too-long winter.

This son and daughter were able to spend some quality time together.
Typically, she and her older sister tend to band together against their brother; turning down his offers of fun while they do their own 'thing'.  
This trip allowed the two of them to rely on each other  and reconnect.

Doritos, Mac n' Cheese and soda...while not on my list of nutritious foods, they can certainly bring kids together in junk food delight! 

 Fishing and later, counting and cleaning their catch of trout.

Trips like these- even over a weekend- do so much for the body and spirit.
Being immersed in nature is such an important part of a nutritious childhood.

Camping with Dad, roasting food over the fire and listening to the frogs croak at twilight before snuggling up in sleeping bags for the night....these are the things of which cherished memories are made!

21 Years!

This past weekend, The Man of the House and I celebrated our 21st anniversary. 
Our actual anniversary is on the 21st, so this was a special year.
21 years! 
I have to say, I feel rather proud of that accomplishment...particularly in this day and age.

Years ago, we dreamed of the future and what extravagant, adventurous  vacations we would take on our 20th or 21st or 25th anniversaries.  Hawaii?  Europe?  Australia? 

The reality of it is, our life in itself has been an adventure.  We've lived in five different states and have traveled throughout half of the US.   We've been raising our children, working hard and having lots of fun amidst the trials of life.  
We've really been living.

For this anniversary, we knew we wanted to take a few days for ourselves...alone, without children.    (Yes, in the past we have spent a few anniversaries on trips with the kiddos...and it was great!)


However, we recently had to pay for a new roof for our home:

 

 

So we needed to do something inexpensive. 

We opted for Colorado Springs,  which is only an hour or so from where we live.
I have to say, we had SUCH a great time.

We ate out, we slept in, we saw the sights ...and just enjoyed the freedom of no schedule.
Oh, how we enjoyed that!




Colorado Springs is a neat place- and there is plenty to see and do.  
Tons of history in a beautiful setting.

One fun thing we did was visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Now, I have been to many zoos in my life-  the zoos in Portland, OR, Albuquerque, NM, Boise, ID, San Diego, CA, and Denver, CO to name most of the larger ones.   Of those, I'd have to say that Albuquerque has always been my favorite.
However, I think Cheyenne Mountain has taken that spot.

The setting is beautiful and you could spend all day there just looking at the scenery and enjoying a picnic lunch.  

We loved that the animals were more accessible than the average zoo.   They even have the tigers and monkeys trained for demonstrations of their abilities/breed features. 
(Trained for treats, not like the circus!)


One of the highlights was feeding and petting giraffes.

We got a kick out of the baby nursing on his momma...

...and big brother or sister getting in on the share.

There's a tram you can ride up over the zoo.  The view is beautiful!

We stopped for a picture.  You do things like that on anniversary trips.

A few more pictures from the day at the zoo:

I'll post more later on another wonderful place we visited!

Ogallala

Recently, at the close of our camping trip; we saw the sights in Ogallala, Nebraska.

Now, I had never before been to the state of Nebraska and truly, I only crossed over the border and did not venture that far in.   However, I have to say that what I did see....was beautiful.

Rolling hills, green grasses and two beautiful lakes.  That's what I took in.  
Also, the town of Ogallala.   Interesting name, huh.

According to the city's website:

Ogallala received its name from the OGALA Sioux Indian tribe.  The Indians spelled the name Ogala and they pronounced it Oklada.  The word means "scatter," or "to scatter one's own."  Ogallala has been spelled in a variety of ways such as  Ogallalah, Ogallalla, and the present spelling OGALLALA.

So there ya go.  

Apparently the history of this little town is pretty colorful.   It was called "The Gomorrah of the Plains" having at one time in the booming 1800's  no church, but 3/4 of its businesses were dance halls, gambling houses and saloons.  

It was the end of the line for Texas cattle drovers, who after much time in the saddle, arrived in Ogallala and shipped their cattle by the railroad.  Things got pretty wild once the cattle shipped out.

Many cowboys never made it out of town, in fact.  

That's where Boot Hill came in.  A cemetery where many lawless men were buried with their boots on. 

I'm sure many have heard of  Dodge City, Kansas, and its Boot Hill.   But according to historical writings, there was at least one Texas cattle drover that would let his men go into Dodge City for recreation but refused to let them go into Ogallala because of its wild and unsavory reputation.   That gave rise to the phrase that Ogallala was the  " town to tough for Texans."  

We visited Boot Hill and found the stories interesting.   Women and children were also buried there, but most were later moved to another cemetery as relatives didn't like the idea of their family members buried next to outlaws and drifters.

The cemetery itself is found in a regular neighborhood and you would miss it if you didn't know to look for it.  It's on a hill, which overlooks much of the town.  I marveled at the idea of owning a home and living a modern life so close to a piece of western history!


Here are pictures of our visit:

 Believed to be the first burial here; mother and baby in childbirth.

This statue was worth the visit alone!  It's incredible.