Denver for the 4th

Matt had a 3 day weekend for the fourth, so we were going to take advantage and get out of town. My initial thought was Yellowstone, but we waited too long to book, and we unable to find a pet friendly hotel. We decided Denver it was. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Denver. So I was pretty excited. Denver is just about 3 1/2 hours away, so not too bad.

Matt and I really wanted to go to a Rockies game, but the boys wanted the zoo....so the zoo it was. I was hesitant to go to the zoo, since we have the Jax zoo near home, and we have been to it a million times. So glad we went anyway. It was a beautiful zoo and very different from the one in Jax.

(mellow mushroom for lunch...yummmm)

We watched fireworks from outside of the Denver Soccer Complex. We probably saw 10 different fireworks shows from all over the city, followed by the soccer complex's show, which started at 10. (we were all falling asleep by the end)

We also drove by the Mile High Staduim while there. Def planning on going to a game if we are still here this fall.

Played at a park, while getting lost looking for 4th festivities. We found them, right as it started to rain, and everything got shut down :(

I also made a pit stop by a friends hospital, and got the grand tour of her L&D unit. So nice to see it and her!

Our First week.....

So I've spent this first week trying to stay busy, finding things to do.

Swimming lessons were a big hit at the indoor swimming pool. The boys loved it, and I loved not having to lather sunscreen on them every 2 seconds. (I have extreme whiteys).

We also went and toured the old state penitentiary.  Honestly that was pretty creepy.

The Wyoming Frontier Prison (pic from their website) http://wyomingfrontierprison.org

Ok and this is crazy, but there are deer EVERYWHERE. Like, walking through town, and in yards, all day long. Me and the boys stopped when we saw this mama deer nursing two babies, in someones driveway. 

I may have blurted out, "wow look at those babies breastfeeding" when I saw them.( Labor and Delivery nurse in me)  And then heard the boys repeat to Matt later. Not sure if deer call it "breastfeeding." Whoopsie, that just sounds weird. 

These people around here don't bat and eye at these deer, and the deer don't mind the people either. We saw a man hand feeding one in a park. But us South Georgia people keep stopping dead in our tracks and taking pics and watching them. Def showing everyone we are out-of-towners. 

Des Moines, IA

Have you ever seen The Goofy Movie? Remember the part of the movie where Max erases the map and changes the direction, so he can go where he wanted to instead of where his dad planned? Well I am MAX haha. Matt was def wanting to kill me, but I kept changing the map, to get where I wanted to go. The typical route from NC to WY probably doesn't include a stop in IL.  But, one of my best friends moved back there a year or so ago, and we HAD to stop along the way.  So we stopped in Elmwood, IL for lunch with Leslie and her kiddos.

My oldest and her youngest have been friends since they were babies. It's crazy to see the 10 year olds they have become. And this little girl I met when she was maybe 6-ish (can't remember exactly) has grown into this young lady (feeling old here). So grateful for the chance to stop and see them, Ive missed them like crazy. 

Then we hopped back on the road to Des Moines. It was another FULL day of driving. We finally reached our campground Cherry Glen Campground.  The campground was BEAUTIFUL! I was shocked it was only $20 for the night, a serious steal. 

I may of happen to strategically plan this stop so it was near Ames, IA. Growing up we lived in Ames for 3 years while my dad taught at Iowa State. So after arriving we checked out the campground and then loaded up to go see mommy's old house. 

Matt thought it was getting weird when I wanted a picture, so we quickly left. 6 am came very early every morning, but we wanted to get as much driving out of the way while the boys slept. So we were back up again at 6 and on our way to Mount Rushmore (another one of my "out of the way" stops :)).

Here are some extra pictures we took along the way between Kentucky and Iowa.