Durkin Family Reunion Part I

I'm going to give you the run down on our journey to Denver, CO to attend the Durkin Family Reunion. The Durkin's are Bryan's Mom's family - she is one of nine children. Most of the brothers live in the Denver area. So we decided to drive ourselves there for the 4th of July week.
Day One - Sunday, July 1st

We ventured off at 4am for our trek up highway 287 all the way into Denver, CO. We arrived at George's house around 6pm...we were slightly exhausted. The trip was uneventful as far as the kids go - we made a few stops to remain sane - but not much else happened besides driving through Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado.

Day Two - Monday, July 2nd

We spent the morning at Heritage Square in Denver. It is a small scale amusement park - admission is free and you buy tickets to ride the various carnival rides. Brennan had a blast - Bryan and I were beat down and ready to go as soon as we got there. I think this place had it's time - and it has since gone! Bryan golfed in the afternoon. The kids and I went with some family members to see Red Rocks....an outside amphitheather built into the mountains. It was amazing. Here is why it is called Red Rocks.

That night we had a great dinner at George and Tommie Ann's house (where we were staying) and most of the family was there that night. Brennan got acquianted with his cousins/or second cousins or cousins once removed.

Day 3 - Tuesday, July 3rd

We drove over to Tom and Shea's house in Parker, CO for some breakfast and visiting before we headed up into the mountains for Fraser. We drove up Berthoud Pass, across the Continental Divide, past Winter Park and into Fraser.

This is a shot of Brennan "No Neck" Stein at a picturesque overlook point on our drive up the pass. This is a pic of the mountain view we had from our condo in Fraser. Uncle Jerry is co-owner's of a condo and that is where we stayed. A few more condos in the area were rented out to accomodate the 40ish people at the reunion.

Day 4 - Wednesday, July 4th

We went to an early breakfast - since we are up early with the kids we didn't want to wake anybody else up so we found Sharky's grill for breakfast. This is a pic of Brennan eating Green Eggs and Ham - right off the menu.

We also went up to Winter Park and rode the Alpine Slide. This was great fun....the scary part was riding the lift up the mountain. I nervously held onto Brennan's hand and shorts so I was sure he wouldn't fall off. The ride down the slide was fun and exciting as Brennan either wanted to go full speed or be at a complete stop.Here is the death grip picture up the mountain.Uncle Jerry, Brennan and Bryan enjoyed some relaxation time in the hot tub on Wednesday. This hot tub was right out our room where we stayed.Okay, here it is... the picture of the whole fam damily. This is everyone that was in attendance, except for Mike - cousin Shelley's boyfriend - who took the picture. I suppose you'll have to double click this one if you want a closer view of everyone.

Here is the photo of the 9 Durkin kids. They are not pictured in birth order so here it goes - from top to bottom : Pat, Larry, George, Bridget, Debbie (Bryan's Mom), Mary Adele or Nieche, Bucky, Tom and Jerry.

Each individual family than gets to pose for their own shot. This is ours - which I LOVE, by the way. So that night the town of Fraser put on a most excellent fireworks show that we went to see out in the parking lot. This is what Evan thought of his 1st 4th of July fireworks. Poor guy - a little pooped out.

I will post part 2 of our trip tomorrow...I'm wiped out today.