Days #6 & 7 in CO: Tubing, Ikea-ing, & Trampolining

2018-07-17Friends, Us, USA Standard

Photos taken on 17-18 July 2018, posted on 13 January 2019.  Fiiiinally have freezing temps outside, and a whole week of frost ahead of us.. in January.]

We ventured into Boulder to ride down a river in large inflatable tubes. I was the designated driver, but the tube-riders had mixed reactions ranging from mostly fun to terrifying. It probably didn’t help that there wasn’t a whole lot of water in the river, and Finnur sported some very impressive bruises for a few days after.

The next day was designated a ‘quiet’ day, so Augusto and I spent a bulk of it in the Denver Ikea. The kids were bored though, so they ended the day in a trampoline park. (40-ish images total)

Tuesday 17 July 2018

The tubers, before they knew what they were about to get themselves into.
The day began quietly, with a trip to the library.
A little later, I escaped to a cafe for lunch, and found my first electric car charging station! (Our rental was a gas-powered tank.)
The cafe had good food, but very uncomfortable seating.
By 3 pm we were in Boulder, only to discover that the tube-rental place was out of tubes. We asked the guy what to do and he directed us to a hardware-ish store. We bought a bunch!
All inflated, and ready to go shortly before 5 pm!
Kids going.
Bjarki going! (Animated gif, wait for it to load)
Anna and Emma going, and bumping into rocks. Ouch! (Animated gif, wait for it to load.)
Finnur and Sarah beginning their journey. The animated gif is missing my cackling laughter as poor Finnur bumped into rock after rock… Poor thing!! He also was the only one without shoes which made everything more difficult for him.
I watched them go, walked to the car, and drove downstream to meet them.
Waiting for the tubers to show up by the Boulder library.
One head in the distance.
A small flotilla approaching.
Bjarki chilling.
Sarah dragging people to the bank.
Anna with Jason in tow.
The adults getting their bearings, and realizing they’d managed to get all the kids and themselves down the river mostly in one piece, and alive.
Mr. I’m Never Doing That Again.
The kids were less traumatized. Emma asked to repeat the journey for many days afterwards.
Warming up in the sun, while me and Augusto went to fetch the other car.
By 6 pm, the kids were clothed, and playing with sand and water at the very neat playground in the park.
Siblings.
Augusto and Sarah, happy to be alive!
We stopped by an Argentinean place to have dinner.
Can’t remember what the food was called, but it was good!
That evening we began discussing when to drive up into the Rocky Mountains. After some discussion of what was involved, we decided to wait until out next trip to CO to make the drive. Car trips with squabbling siblings just aren’t all that fun!
Meanwhile, in Iceland, we got pictures from Finnur’s parents, who were staying in our new summer house. They’re the types that rarely sit still, and they kindly tore down the moldy doll house for us. This was fantastic, because Finnur is allergic to certain types of mold.

Wednesday 18 July 2018

At a gas station, on our way to the Denver Ikea store, which was an hour away. It is nigh impossible to get a ‘normal’ photo of Augusto!
We were on a mission to get a few sofa pieces, as well as look for side tables, etc for their new-ish house.
Unsurprisingly, the Ikea restaurant serves the same food in the USA as in Iceland!
Self-serve area, here we come!
20 minutes later…
The boxes fit perfectly into the minivan!
I’m not even kidding about that! Excellent buying!
We returned inside to buy some cheap carbohydrates for our journey. I found where they keep the ball-land balls!
Later that afternoon we drove a skip and a hop to a nearby trampoline park.
Siblings.
Siblings continued, generally never still.
Jumping still life!
Jumping in action, courtesy of an animated gif.
Finnur and Augusto kept watch, while I kept carbo-and-coffee-loading at a next-door cafe.
That evening Anna was put to good use!
Fun times!