Aurora – Children (1)

Hello from Colorado!

We packed up and hit the road less approximately 64 hours ago, but already it feels like we've been together for weeks. Colorado is beautiful and we've already taken full advantage of the fantastic weather and scenery. After getting in Saturday night and settling into our housing at Calvary Baptist Church in Denver, we woke up bright and early on Sunday to make the trek up north to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park. Spending a day in Rocky Mountain was certainly a lesson in perception vs. reality – we thought we would enjoy a day of causal hiking, but ended up trekking through some occasionally treacherous icy mountain paths. We made the most of it and definitely lived up the MAB principle, "Be Gumby". Even if we didn't achieve the dream hike, we got to spend a day seeing breathtaking scenery and getting to know each other better. Plus, the mountains provided for an excellent backdrop for all of our Instagram's. Gotta keep that social media presence strong. We ended Sunday with a delicious dinner at the home of Mizzou alumnae Mica Ward. We were joined by a few other Rocky Mountain Tigers and had a great night bonding with fellow Mizzou Tigers. Thanks for the delicious meal and superb Denver hospitality, Rocky Mountain Tigers!

The group at the Colorado border…we made it out of Kansas alive!

Thanks to the Rocky Mountain Tigers for an awesome dinner!

Today was our first day of service. We arrived at Children's Hospital Colorado at 9AM with very little idea of what we would be doing, but excited to begin our service. Children's Hospital Colorado is a massive facility with every buzzer and whistle imaginable. We immediately understood why this is nationally ranked as one of the best children's hospitals in the nation. We met with the fantastic women working in the volunteer office and learned that we would be splitting into three groups for the day – one group would be hanging out in the hospital atrium making crafts with kids and families who were passing through, one group took a craft cart to the outpatient clinic wing, and one group worked in the Creative Play Center, a daycare of sorts for siblings of patients. The three groups went their separate ways and didn't meet up again until lunch. After an hour break for lunch, the groups rotated and went to a different station than in the morning. By 4PM, we were pretty exhausted – playing with kids all day drains you! But in reflection tonight, we were all unanimous in our sentiments that it had been a fantastic day.

Perfecting the fine art of coloring

Mia and Sam had a blast crafting together!

Did we mention we like coloring?

One theme that came up consistently in our discussion about the day was the importance of helping the children and families we are serving forget about why they are at the hospital, even if just for a few moments. We cannot possibly begin to understand the emotional and physical stress many of these children are under, some at an astonishingly young age. However, if coloring with a kid for 10 minutes helps them feel more relaxed and joyful, we would color all day every day.Working in the Creative Play Center where we got to provide a daycare/play place for siblings of patients also got a lot of us thinking about the impact that illness can have on everyone in the family – not just the patient, and not just the parents, but also the siblings who have to spend a large chunk of their childhood at a hospital watching their brother or sister receive treatment for a disease they might not even understand. We feel very humbled to be doing just a small part to serve these families and bring a little bit of MAB joy to their lives. We're excited to go back tomorrow and continue the work!

LOOK AT THOSE MOUNTAINS!