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Family fun at Colorado’s YMCA of the Rockies

The bad news: Tessa and Reed noticed immediately that there was no TV in our room.

The good news: They never mentioned it again.

Last week a group of Colorado bloggers was invited, with our families, to enjoy all the fun that the YMCA of the Rockies Camp has to offer. My extended family had already been to the YMCA camp near Winter Park years ago (for a family reunion at Snow Mountain Ranch — don’t ask about the melted TV, which is, perhaps why there are no longer TVs in rooms) but this was my first time at the camp near Estes Park.

We arrived about an hour before the summer solstice. I was thrilled to find that there is a labyrinth on the sprawling grounds, so at the moment the earth reached its extreme point toward summer (northern hemisphere) and began its 6 months slide toward winter, I walked a labyrinth to mark the change. It was a calm start to a whirlwind couple of days.

For the next 42 hours we biked, tie-dyed, saw a Godspell performance from a traveling youth group, ate 5 square meals (very good for cafeteria food), sang karaoke, shot arrows at the archery range, played ultimate frisbee and flag football, went swimming  and enjoyed games night with the other bloggers and their children.

A few of the things we had to forgo were the zipline, the sing-along, mini-golf, hiking, the skate park, wall climbing, massage, fishing, a scavenger hunt, yoga, horseback riding, animal classes and history workshops. And about a chamillion other activities.

There was so much offered that our orientation packet was 25 pages long. Chock full, with something for everyone.

Which is why the Y is famous for multi-generational family reunions. Grandma can play bingo while Gramps goes fishing, the kiddos play games and Dad ziplines. Mom? Massage, of course. If you go in the winter, you might even gather around a cozy fireplace. (It’s all fun and games until the TV melts).

We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck, Mama Bird’s Blog, Lifenut, Denver Parent, Eat Play Love, Greeblemonkey, and Julie Marsh and our 21 children, Our hostess, Laura, definitely had the mostest. Here are just a few shot to share:

If you ever get the chance to visit YMCA of the Rockies (and you don’t mind the emphasis on the “C” part of “YMCA”), my children and I heartily suggest you take it.

Disclosure: We were guests of the YMCA camp for purposes of experiencing it and writing a straight-up post about it.

Here are some posts by my colleagues about our YMCA adventure:

9 Responses

  1. Wow– sounds like fun but 21 children total?  Yeah that part does not- when is the mom’s only retreat? ha!  Seriously though – does sound like a great place- I have heard great things about this place.  Thanks for the info.

  2. I’m laughing at the fact that you mentioned the missing TV was the first thing your kids noticed, must be a universal thing. Husbands have the same reaction. 😉 But, like your family, no one mentioned it again! We came back every night so exhausted from all the activities, no one even thought about watching TV. So much fun!

  3. This sounds so awesome! Thank you for sharing about your experience. I am a big fan of summer camping, especially YMCA camps. I spent many summers attending and then working at a YMCA residential camp in Michigan and have so many happy memories. Ironically, I just posted on my blog tonight an old paper that I wrote in college about how I thought/still think the world would be a happier place if everyone, especially senior citizens, got the chance to attend a week or two of summer camp every year: https://bereavedandblessed.com/2012/07/simple-pleasures-a-summer-camp-for-the-young-at-heart/ I plan to do a follow up post related to it soon, as not long after I wrote it (when I was a freshman), I ended up getting to work at another residential summer camp (this one was in Illinois) that had sessions just for senior citizens, some for families and some more traditional ones just for kids. 
     
    Anyway, I am so glad that your family and others you know got to do this! What a great way to kicj off your summer of fun!

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