Animals High and Low

On Thursday, Rachel and I wanted to go out with the kids. On Emma's request, we went to the Denver Zoo (Em has a fondness for hippos.) Brad did what he considered to be vacation-like and stayed at home and just relaxed. It was very, very hot at the zoo! Rachel didn't have her stroller so she had to rent a wagon. We were hot and sticky but we all had a great time. Emma even got to see her hippopotumus, which by the way looked quite morose wallowing in a mud hole. The only animal we missed that Caleb wanted to see was the Venezuelan Pebble Toad, an animal Cabes became fascinated with after watching the BBC series "Life".

These are two of my most favorite Rachels.

We liked feeding the lorikeets.

When Sam got home from work, we went to according to him, "the only place worth seeing in the Denver area." We went on a two hour drive to Mt. Evans. Let me explain that Sam has an extreme fondness for roads and mountains. Mount Evans is the highest paved road in the U.S.; therefore, it is the only place worth seeing in the Denver area. We got a picnic ready and headed out.

That's right, it says the elevation is 14,120 feet. Brad feels quite strongly about it.

There were herds of mountain goats everywhere, much to the delight of the kids. I'm okay with them as long as they don't charge me.

We hiked up to the top of the mountain. I've never been quite that high before, let alone drive to it. It made me feel a tad light-headed.

We drove off the peak down to a lake below to have our picnic dinner. It was still way above timber-line and the sun was going down, so needless to say, it was quite chilly. Rachel wanted to get out of the car and spread out a blanket to eat our dinner. She could only get Campbell to do it and I don't think she was very happy about it. 

We ate in the car.

We went back to Sam and Rachel's house knowing that we had another good day.