We made a short four day trip to visit Gloria and Dora during the winter break.  Dora had visited us not long ago, but it had been a long time since the boys saw Gloria as well as their doggies Arvin and Abby.  We were fortunate that both Gloria and Dora were able to take the days off from work to hang out with us.  We had decided to stay in a hotel near Gloria.  Dora and Abby decided to stay over at Gloria’s, so all of us could be close by.  It was very nice catching up with them and for the boys getting to know the doggies.  Logan warmed up to Arvin and Abby quickly, and would shy away only if the doggies got too jumpy sometimes.  Once he held onto the leash for Arvin, Logan fell in love of walking him and asked to walk them several times.  Connor on the other hand was very scared of the dogs.  He was genuinely nervous every time the dogs were nearby and he would request not to go to Gloria’s.  Connor wanted us to carry him to stay clear from the ground.  Finally by the second to last day, Connor felt a bit more relaxed and enjoyed handing them toys and treats, and attempted to give some commands.  Connor also claimed that he missed the doggies now that we are home.

    For the trip, we did not have a set itinerary; we just played it by ear based on the weather.  We were lucky that we caught very warm weather with just one day of stronger winds, therefore we had to postpone the snow trip to the last full day.  We spent some time hanging out at both Gloria’s and Dora’s apartment complexes, and they each were new and had nice facilities.  Dora lives very close to downtown Denver; one day we took a walk down to the nearby neighborhood to stroll and to eat.  At her place, we could catch a beautiful view of the city too.  The boys also really enjoyed hanging out in the clubhouses at both complexes, having hot cocoas and playing on the computers.  We played a few games of billiards at Dora’s too. 

    One day we went to check out the Wild Animal Sanctuary which was very cool.  This sanctuary was huge and had a very long observation bridge.  We learned some nice rescue stories from the volunteers and from the signage, and we saw many animals, lions, tigers, bears, porcupines, alpaca etc, and learned about their habitats.  It was an interesting visit and a great exercise too.  There was one of those penny souvenir machines at the far end of the bridge; both boys were happy to receive a special coin.  But unfortunately Connor dropped his down the bridge later which caused some tears to be shed.

Another thing Gloria and Dora suggested us to check out was the mechanical animal rides at the mall.  They thought the boys would like them, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.  Both Logan and Connor spotted them and immediately wanted to ride them.  These rides were slow but quite cool.  The boys could drive them anywhere they wanted to inside the mall, and we could hop on too since we would still be within the weight limit.  The boys had a blast riding around and chasing each other.  We went back to the mall another night for dinner, and the boys were thrilled to get another turn.

    The snow day blog to be continued.  Overall this was a great trip to CO.  It was wonderful seeing Gloria and Dora, and letting the boys get to know their aunties and the doggies better.  We did many fun and interesting things, and we caught great weather.  The boys also loved staying in the hotel as always.