wanna see my vacations pictures: part ii
Our first big adventure in Colorado was to visit the Mesa Verde National Park. Since I’m not very good at learning about history and stuff, I’ll just quote what is right on their website:
“Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.”
I didn’t really see where the green table fit in because there wasn’t much green in the dry, rocky mountains, and there were no tables either. The trip up to the first part of the park was quite curvy and inclined which left a lot of wimpy folks (including me) not feeling so great. We stopped for lunch and traveled to the Spruce Tree House which is a self-guided tour through hilly trails which eventually led to one of the ruins. It was quite impressive how much still remained of the dwellings.
The kids enjoyed climbing down this ladder into a room underground. Even Annie and Mimi were up for it despite my being quite nervous.
Here are the girls and I grinding our corn for the evening meal.
It really was a cool place to visit, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning a little history.
With being up in the mountains with several lakes and rivers close by there was no way to keep Mike from fishing. He managed to sneak off a few times, twice with the girls and a coupla other young cousins in tow. This was the first time the girls really got to fish. They had been practicing at home with Daddy and their new Barbie rod and reels (no joke–they actually make those). Mike said it would be worth missing catching any fish of his own if he could witness one or both of the girls catching a fish. And, that they did. On the first fishing expedition Annie caught a medium-sized rainbow trout. She was even brave enough to eat it after Jake used his mad, cooking skillz to fry it up for her. I got a few tastes as well, and YUUUUMMM!! The next time out fishing Mimi got to reel a smaller rainbow trout. It was too small to keep, but she was ecstatic, nonetheless. Mike couldn’t have been prouder.
Here’s Annie with her catch!
Now enjoying the prize.
Mimi is overjoyed about her fishy.
Tune in tomorrow for more…
August 7th, 20089:59 pm at
Yay for catching fishies! Thanks to Mike and Jake for taking The Matt with them on that fishing trip. Mimi looks very happy with her fishy.
Tell Mike I want a pan flute.
August 7th, 200810:05 pm at
Now that is my kinda girl… one who will eat a fish with the head still on. You guys are raising some mighty fine young ladies who will be a great and “fresh” contrast to other girls as they get older. I wouldn’t expect anything different from “daughters of Mike”.
August 8th, 20081:01 am at
Sara-
I’m sure Mike would be happy to bequeath to you the pan flute. Matt was always welcome to join the boys on their fishing trips. Mike was just thrilled that anyone wanted to go at all…especially his own girly girls.
Sherdon-
I know Mike will appreciate your comment. It’s funny how much we’ve (including myself) have gotten desensitized with Mike as our fearless leader because I honestly didn’t even notice that the fish head still remained.
August 8th, 200810:57 am at
I love the pictures of Annie eating fish-with-head and everything else that we fed her brought tears. Do we all fully appreciate the irony here?
August 8th, 20082:14 pm at
What a thrill for the girls (and Mike) to catch a fish, and a rainbow trout to boot. All we get here are sunnies and crappies. Did she eat the eye too? Looks like it was a realy fun trip for everyone. Thanks for posting the picture.
August 8th, 20086:25 pm at
That looks like so much fun! I used to go fishing with my dad as a kid. I caught a 19 inch trout once. My God Father fried it up for us. Not sure that I ate it though.
And I love the shirts. That took some major coordination to get all those ordered!
August 9th, 20083:52 pm at
So cute. I’m impressed that Annie would eat the fish. Jackson is on his way to becoming a vegan. He watched Babe and decided that he was not going to eat bacon anymore.
August 9th, 20085:08 pm at
EEEEEUUUUU! A fish with the head still on it? I guess it’s good that I don’t eat anything that has a face. I am proud of my great neices catching their own fish. Jim Wallace keeps telling me that he will teach me how to ” go fishing”, but so far, this has not happened. I’d probably scream if I ever saw a fish with a hook in it’s mouth. Yes, I am a good ole Southern Gal. Live fish in the water-great, dead fish ready to eat - EEEEEUUUUUU!
August 9th, 20087:31 pm at
Guys- we are bummed we did not get to see you on your trip out to Colorado. We literally live right off the freeway in Des Moines, too bad you did not call us that night and we could have had a sleepover! Oh well, next time for sure! The girls are so cute!