Colorado - Day 6: The Mint/Denver Zoo

On our last day of our trip, we woke up early to get to the Mint for try #2. Lucky for us, we got tickets for the 10:00 tour. We still had a couple of hours to kill before that so there was a park nearby that we took the girls to let them burn off some unwanted energy. They had a great time watching, (which soon became chasing) the squirrels up the trees, and it was still early enough that it wasn't too hot. Their goal was to walk far enough away from the tree, let the squirrel come down to the grass and run and chase it back up the tree. Well, they at least got out some of their energy.

We went back and took the tour which was really cool. Naturally no pictures were allowed, but the girls had a great time watching the money being sorted and how it was made. Kelsey saw some old jewely made out of the money and wanted to buy it. She didn't understand it was just for play. I think Kelsey's highlight of the whole tour was a security guard playing peek-a-boo with her. He was at the end making sure none of us got lost or separated and picked her out of the crowd to play with (she's so cute, who wouldn't?). It certainly kept her occupied and happy!!

After the mint, we grabbed some lunch. We still had a few hours to kill before our plane left so Dave opted to go to the zoo. I was surprised he wanted to go and fill our day full, but since it is so rare that he suggests something, we were off to the zoo.

When we got there, Katelyn was asleep before we even got through the front gate. So she missed the first part of it. Kelsey wanted to see everything especially the gorillas and bears. We saw lions, polar bears, foxes, zebra, tigers, wild peacocks roaming all over the grounds, crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles. While we were in the reptile habitat, Katelyn woke up and was outside watching the sea lions swimming and playing in the water. She was fascinated by them. With them both awake, we tackled the bird habitat and found some penguins they thought were so funny.

Aren't they just cute?

They got to feed the Lorakeets.

Katelyn wouldn't look at the camera, but Kelsey was a pro. They fed them all by themselves - not even scared. I think it has something to do with their dogs and thinking all animals are nice. At least these birds were!!

Then it was off to the gorillas. There were 3 of them and the youngest one kept trying to get the older ones to play who were clearly not interested. The girls just loved watching them.

Katelyn had this look on her face the entire time. Everytime she'd see something, she'd point and start laughing. Since we don't claim to have a zoo here, we try to get one in whenever we our on vacation. They just loved it.

After leaving the gorillas, Kelsey got in the stroller and was sound asleep in 5 minutes so she missed seeing the bears and elephants. She still thinks we need to go back. I agree.

We left the zoo, got back to Rob & Jess' apartment, packed up and were off to the airport. We were sad the trip had to end, 6 days sure goes a lot faster when you're on a trip and not doing the normal routine stuff. The girls had a great time and think they want to fly everywhere we go now. Kelsey was running through the airport, with Dave and Katelyn chasing behind her, thinking she was a pro and knew what to do. She's a fast learner. I wish we could fly wherever we went too.

So that ends our Colorado trip. Thanks to Rob and Jessica for their hospitality, Jessica's mom for letting us crash in her basement for all our family to be together, my parents for inviting us on the trip, and for everyone to get together. It was a blast and everyone had a great time. Where to next?