We LOVED Mesa Verde. I think we loved everything about the entire trip, but it was a good change of scenery for a bit and oh so beautiful driving up. The kids thought the ruins were really awesome, which they really are.
Spruce Tree House:
The Balcony House was really great. I was so proud of all the kids being so brave up the really tall towers! We were definitely the odd balls taking four kids with us. Or having four kids at all. 
This part was my favorite. I felt totally safe (you can tell Carson did not!) but it was really neat scaling the side of the mountain. I guess the whole time I kept thinking about these people and their kids! I wonder how many of them got seriously injured or died from falling. So sad and pretty scary. Maybe it was no big deal maneuvering the mountainside for them, but I imagine I would be such a worried momma all the time!
I wish we had taken the tour of Cliff Palace. It was awesome.
And Ruby zonked out. 
It was great to see things through the binoculars because you could find all sorts of little dwellings or food storage areas along the cliffs. 
The kids loved getting their Junior Ranger badges! I didn’t go inside with them (Ruby asleep) but I guess the lady was pretty funny and giving the kids, especially Devon, a hard time. Oh, and she got Carson to promise to always eat his veggies :). 
We left a whole lot of Benson Buddies around! The kids loved doing that. 
The Sun Temple.
And that’s a wrap for day 3!