Melanie's family has always had a tradition of having a guys trip on Memorial Day weekend. While we lived in Utah I joined them but haven't taken part in one since we moved to the mid-west because of the distance. When Melanie's dad told us that their next guy's trip would be to Rocky Mountain National Park I was really excited because it was close enough for us to drive. I was also excited because Adam would be old enough to join us. He'd get to spend time with his uncles, cousins, and grandpa, go fishing, and learn about dirty biscuit stew! As an added bonus, we could stop and visit my mom and go to a Colorado Rockies game - I can remember going to my first Rockies game as a kid and have dreamed about the day when I would get to take Adam to his first game. Unfortunately, a week before the trip there was a big snow storm and camping in the park was cancelled for Memorial Day weekend. We had to cancel the guy's trip with the Henscheid clan. However, Adam and I had really been looking forward to some time together and, at the last minute, decided to go on the Inaugural Morales Boys Trip and head to Colorado for a couple of days.
We had actually decided to cancel the trip altogether because we were behind on planting at work and I needed to work on Saturday. However, a crazy storm blew on on Saturday morning and it rained so much we had to stop planting. After a quick conversation on the phone with Melanie, we decided to load up the car and go.
Melanie had already taken the kids to the zoo so I hurried home, packed up, and then met Melanie and the kids at the zoo to pick up Adam. We said a quick goodbye and were off!
The drive out to Denver may have been the best part of the trip. Adam and I got to spend 10 hours talking to each other, asking each other questions, playing games, and telling stories. I think that it's important as a parent to spend one-on-one time with your kids in a setting like this where you're not in a rush, there's nowhere to go, and nothing to distract you so you can really listen to your kids and learn from each other.
Every once in a while we'll take the kids hiking in Iowa. On one of our recent adventures, one of the kids said, "that was a nice mountain." That's when we know it's time to take the kids to Colorado/Utah so we can remind them what real mountains are like. On our first day in Colorado, we went to church in the morning and then on a hike up El Dorado Canyon.
The canyon is just outside of Superior and has steep cliffs with rock climbers, a river to cross, and great views. It was gorgeous and Adam loved exploring the trail.
After our hike we built a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.
After dinner we played by the river for a bit and then headed back into town.
On our way home we stopped by Grandma Miller's house for a quick visit. Grandma is still as sharp as a tack and we had a great time sharing stories with her.
The next day was the big day! Adam and I were finally going to a Rockies game. We picked out a hat and shirt for Adam before the game and packed up some treats. Adam played coach-recovery baseball this year- the pitcher throws 4 pitches and then the coach throws 4 pitches. We focus a lot on fundamentals and Adam and I spent a lot of time talking about what each player was doing. I also got to point out examples of things we had talked about during the season.
We got rained on for a bit but, in true Colorado fashion, after a few minutes the weather changed from cold, wet, and cloudy to hot, dry, and sunny. I think the game was a little long for Adam's attention span (he only plays 3-4 innings) but exploring the stadium helped us get through the game.
We weren't happy that the Rockies lost to Mommy's childhood team the Mariners.
In between all of these activities Adam and I got to spend a lot of time with Grandma and her dogs Scout and Riley. Adam loved listening to Grandma's stories. He also took advantage of having her undivided attention and told her all about school, Iowa, the kids, books he's read, and some of his crazy inventions. He also loved playing with the dogs and spent quite a bit of time with them. The night before we left the dogs kept licking his hands and Adam thought it was so funny he was almost hysterical with laughter. It was hard for everyone to say goodbye the next morning but we were happy to have made some good memories with each other.
The trip back to Colorado was just as good as the trip out. Adam and I talked about our favorite parts of the trip, why we want a dog, what kids of dog we would like to have, and how we should do this more often. Adam also spent some time playing with a box of GI Joe's we brought home that I used to play with while I was a kid. Getting to show Adam where I grew up and telling him stories about when I caught a fish with nothing but a hook at that pond, how I would ride my bike to that 7-11, or when I crashed by bike riding on that trail was an experience that definitely goes on the Top 10 list. Here's to many more Morales guy's trips!
{Side note from the editor- who wouldn't love being an only child for a few days? I wasn't surprised at how much Adam loved the trip, but I was surprised at how much he and I were able to connect while he was gone. 20 hours in the car is a long time, and I got lots of text updates along the way- everything from guess that emoji riddle to updates on his car bingo board to late night pictures of Adam as a half moon.
Jason and I have talked about other ways we can create these kinds of trips for our kids- they are truly invaluable. A trip to anywhere would be fun, but the real benefit to this trip was the family history, heritage, and connection with extended family that came with it. It will be a bit trickier with the girls since they are both old enough for such a trip and making sure everything is "fair" is a huge part of their existence, but we'll be trying our best to create meaningful family experiences for them, as well as Noah once he's a bit older.}
