Cheyenne bests

As I write this, we are holed up in a cheap hotel room on the south side of Billings. Tomorrow night, we will be home after 5 days in Cheyenne. Here are our favorite moments from the trip.

JJ: "Going to Great-Grandma's house." He also listed the fighter fighter's station (fire station), library, and museum as the best parts of our week. Once I narrowed down what 'favorite' means, he said his favorite destination was the pool. "Getting in the pool and getting wet."

Zu: "Uh... Seeing Nannie and Rachel every time." She also clarified that her saddest part is when we had to leave.

Christian: "Putting my whole entire body under water while swimming. I did do that, remember?" He definitely enjoyed dunking his head under water. It stood out as more enjoyable than any other activity.

Bekah: Off the top of her head, she can't think of anything. In her words, "I don't like being put on the spot." But she did enjoy a very special delivery from her older sister. She has also commented on a couple occasions that she is impressed that our kids behaved so admirably throughout the week.

Me: Seeing a more modern side of Cheyenne. Growing up, my childhood vacations in Cheyenne were adventures. Compared to my Seattle suburb home, Cheyenne was still a frontier town. Unpaved roads, rodeos, old homes and buildings that served to enhance my parent's memories of years past, everything brown and spread out. Most of my memorable experiences were from playing in the yard and basement of my mom's childhood home, or of the the Frontier Days parade and pancake feed. But on this trip, I saw modernization everywhere. My aunt and uncle's recently constructed home in a new neighborhood. Children's Village - a self sustaining park and garden designed to teach kids about basic scientific concepts, alternative energy resources, art and engineering, and the beauty of our natural world. The children's level of the library and their hands on/interactive exhibits that encourage reading, music, and creativity - and displays simple mechanical processes and cause/effect. Updated parks and green spaces. In public places, the city highlights all that they're doing to reduce water waste, recycle, focus on renewable energy, and encourage environmentally focused citizens.