MESA VERDE
Here are our exciting pictures from Mesa Verde. It was very cool to see these ancient cliff dwellings and learn about the people who built them and lived here.
At Mesa Verde, there is only one dwelling you can visit without a Ranger guide. We looked at that one and then we went on a guided tour to another one. I was not prepared for how much information the Ranger would share with us (and more importantly, how LONG it would take to hear it all.) Here is a picture of our kids being angels, and I am standing behind the camera just crossing my fingers that they'll keep it up as the ranger kept going and going and going.
We stayed near the back of the group because as the tour progressed the kids got more and more antsy. At the last stop, the group had surrounded a Kiva, where we learned quite a lot about kivas and the various theories there are on what their purpose was. It was here that Sean started putting his head down the ventilation hole for that particular kiva, and the ranger used Sean to point out where the ventilation hole was and what it was used for. (Definitely not for putting your head in.)
It was a cool tour I would have enjoyed a little better had I not been so paranoid about my kids being disruptive or falling down ventilation holes. So if you go with young kids, I'd probably pass on the ranger tour, even though it is neat to learn about all that stuff.
We did learn some really interesting facts. The ones I remember most were about the women of that culture. They married around the age of 12 or 13, had an average of ten children. And most women did not live past the age of 30. The men lived a little bit longer: 40-45, because they didn't have the babies. So had I lived back then, I'd probably be dead already. History is fascinating, but I must say, I'm glad I live today.
Here is a picture of the kiva in the foreground, and the dwellings in the shaded background.
The cool ladder ascending up out of the canyon. I barely fit through with Hayden on my back.
At Mesa Verde, there is only one dwelling you can visit without a Ranger guide. We looked at that one and then we went on a guided tour to another one. I was not prepared for how much information the Ranger would share with us (and more importantly, how LONG it would take to hear it all.) Here is a picture of our kids being angels, and I am standing behind the camera just crossing my fingers that they'll keep it up as the ranger kept going and going and going.
We stayed near the back of the group because as the tour progressed the kids got more and more antsy. At the last stop, the group had surrounded a Kiva, where we learned quite a lot about kivas and the various theories there are on what their purpose was. It was here that Sean started putting his head down the ventilation hole for that particular kiva, and the ranger used Sean to point out where the ventilation hole was and what it was used for. (Definitely not for putting your head in.) 
It was a cool tour I would have enjoyed a little better had I not been so paranoid about my kids being disruptive or falling down ventilation holes. So if you go with young kids, I'd probably pass on the ranger tour, even though it is neat to learn about all that stuff.
We did learn some really interesting facts. The ones I remember most were about the women of that culture. They married around the age of 12 or 13, had an average of ten children. And most women did not live past the age of 30. The men lived a little bit longer: 40-45, because they didn't have the babies. So had I lived back then, I'd probably be dead already. History is fascinating, but I must say, I'm glad I live today.
Here is a picture of the kiva in the foreground, and the dwellings in the shaded background. 
Daphne kept holding Sean's hand as they hiked along the trail.
I love that she was watching out for him.
The cool ladder ascending up out of the canyon. I barely fit through with Hayden on my back.ARCHES
We did Arches for the first time last year and went again because we loved it so much last time. (Also, since we went last time, one of the arches unexpected collapsed, so Arthur felt some urgency in hiking out to see the landscape arch--a particularly thin formation, before it collapses. You never know, right?)
I love all that red rock at arches.
Hayden making sand angels.
His hair was auburn for the rest of the day.
Landscape Arch
Double Arch
Arthur and the kiddos.
