A visit to the Grandparents

I grew up in a small town in Indiana.  I used to joke that I lived in the middle of nowhere.  About a year after we moved to Denver, my parents relocated for a new job for my dad. We quickly realized they had moved less to a place and more to a time...the 1950's to be specific.  My dad was the pastor of a small church in a small town for about 15 years and then retired to "Town". The kids, my brother, sister-in-law and I helped them move a couple years ago, from their reasonably sized tri-level ranch manse to their rambling, fixer upper retirement house a couple years ago.  This summer, the town opened a water park just two blocks from mom and dad's.  My generous parents bought us season passes, so most of our visit was held at the water park...floating in the lazy river (me), running through the floating obstacle course (The Girl), and going down the giant slides (both kids).

It was a new experience for us, because, although we've gone to water parks in Denver, they are usually crazy crowded. Although this park was consistently busy, it was never so crowded that it wasn't enjoyable.
We celebrated "Christmas in July" so my mom could have Christmas pictures of all her grandkids together.

Followed by a visit to one of my favorite places--the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. This is Star the miniature pony.  The kids have visited her almost every year since 2002.  They have long since grown too big to ride her, but they always have to stop and say "hello".

 This, of course, is a barn cat, that The Girl wanted to bring home.  No more cats. Geez.

 And a visit to the school at the homestead...the connection to Laura is that one of her former students once taught here..fun though.

We always love visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house...the 12 hour drive limits the number of times we go each year though!
No visit is really complete without a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's library....

 and the world's largest pheasant....