Colorado Part 2: Butterflies & Thunderstorms

In case you were wondering, the reasons I chose to break up my blogs about our trip into parts are a) I didn't want to write one insanely long post, b) I blog during nap time (why do laundry or clean?) so time is limited, and c) posting my blog in parts makes people come back and visit it more, therefore it makes reading my Feedjit site traffic thingy more interesting because I like to know who is stalking me...it feeds my ego ;o)

Anyway, on with our adventures in the Centennial State! (I just learned that from a children's map of the U.S puzzle)

My rock star grandparents drove up to meet everyone from their home in Granbury, Texas. It is about a 12 hour drive and they are both in their eighties, hence them earning the title of rock stars. They split the drive into 2 days, so they arrived early Monday morning. After a pancake breakfast with the whole fam, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. What a fun place! It was 5 minutes from Lori & Steve's house, and has a big tropical conservatory full of beautiful butterflies. They would even land on you!

Carina walked around with a huge smile saying, "Look at aaaaallll the butterflies! They tickle you! They're flying in the sky! They land on my head!" (She always! speaks! with! great! expression!)Peering through the plants looking for butterflies...

Butterflies like fruit, so there were overripe bananas placed in different spots in the conservatory.

Great opportunities for Mike to use the super camera-I love this one
Grammy checking to see if any butterflies are hitching a ride on the Bean
Counting all the butterflies

We also got to experience some incredible weather in Colorado. As we walked out of the Pavilion, there were some serious thunderclouds overhead, and within seconds we were in the middle of a significant downpour. Later that evening, we stood out on the front porch listening to the thunder and watching the lightening flash almost nonstop across the sky. It wasn't long before a tornado warning was issued. That was a little disconcerting! The storm eventually passed and we were all safe and sound, but apparently it did some damage to other parts of the city. Carina and my Grandad slept through the whole ordeal. I think Carina may have crashed due to all the sugar she had eating her very first s'more that we made over the barbecue:Hi, I'm eating lots of refined sugar and loving it!

I look at this picture and my heart melts...just like the marshmallow.

The funniest thing about her eating the s'more is that she did not like how it stuck to her fingers. She would say, "Wipe it off please, it's stuck on me. Mommy, it's on my finger!" Apparently, being high maintenance is hereditary! She ate a few bites of it, then called it a night.

The next day my parents were leaving to start their long drive home, so we took a family photo before they hit the road. (minus Darla dog, who does not pose well)

The Brown, Coughran, and Ogg Family!

All of this rehashing of our trip is fun yet simultaneously exhausting, so my goal is to finish tomorrow with Part 3. Thanks for reading!