Here's Grant getting loaded into the backpack for a little nature walk.
He liked it in there.
The kids did an "animal detectives" class/nature walk where they learned about different animals that live in this area and how to tell if they have been here. They learned about their tracks and different markings they leave on trees and their scat. Here are the kids looking for some "deer skittles" and "elk duds." Those are the names the YMCA staff gave to the deer and elk scat to help you identify them by shape and size. The kids were very excited to find the little droppings for the rest of our stay...and we found plenty of them.
The kids got to make animal detective bandanas after the class with animal tracks on them. Anna impressed the teacher by correctly identifying a badger skull. I didn't mention that we had looked at it the day before. :)
Here is Matthew (still wearing his animal detective headband) playing mini golf. They have a little mini golf course there that you can play for free. They were in the process of remodeling some of the holes and redoing the landscaping around it while we were there, but we still had lots of fun.
Anna had a lot of fun golfing too!
Later we went on a scavenger hunt activity trying to find different things and answer different questions around the YMCA. We got sidetracked along the way and ended up looking around in this museum we found on the grounds. This YMCA was started in 1907, so they had lots of neat artifacts from the early days. It was fun to see.
We also had to sit in this old style tent for a while. Despite getting sidetracked, our team (Team Guptill) still came in 4th of about 12-15 teams. Amazing! The kids got to pick little prizes and Scott and I each got a coupon for a free brownie! Score!
Our next adventure was going on a little pony ride with the kids...or rather Matthew and Anna got to ride and we walked their ponies. Grant felt like he got a raw deal on that one. The have a full horse stable there and you can take trail rides, but our little gang isn't quite ready for that yet. Someday.
Here is Anna riding her little pony, Cupcake. She got to ride the pony around a little pony trail they have there for about 20 minutes while I led the pony around. She LOVED it!!
Here are Scott and Grant leading Matthew's pony. Matthew wanted his pony to be called "Fast." Grant kept putting his little hands over by Matthew's pony and freaking him out...but we all survived.
Here we all are after our pony excursion. It was a lot of fun.
Anna said it was her favorite thing about our trip!
Matthew's highlight of the trip was fishing. Scott helped him learn how to cast and he did a really good job!
Anna even got to try her hand at fishing this time. Scott helps her get some bait on her hook.
Scott helps the kids get started. Sadly Anna got a little poke from her hook and then decided she didn't want to do any more fishing that day. She gave it a try the next day though, so I don't think she is scarred for life.
Grant sat this one out too. Someday Grant.
We fished at a small pond on the YMCA grounds. They also have fly fishing excursions you can go on, but again, that is a little advanced for our crew, although it sounded fun. We fished a little more the next day too.
The kids liked these big stump chairs by the pond.
The kids also had fun running around this labyrinth (the prayer labyrinth) at the YMCA. Luckily no one was trying to meditate there while we ran around. The kids loved it!
We had so much fun at the YMCA of the Rockies. We didn't get to do everything we wanted but we did do A LOT! I think we will try to come back again sometime, maybe next summer. Even if you don't live in Colorado, I recommend a trip here if you ever plan a trip to Colorado (YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park). More Rocky Mountain adventures to come!
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