Family Vacation - Colorado!

The day after our 4th of July bash we headed out on our first ever family vacation - where we weren't visiting family!  When you have young kids, whenever you have an opportunity to go somewhere, you always feel  like it should be to see family, since the kids have lots of extended family that won't be around that much longer.  But this time we felt like we just needed to get away and be together without working around anyone else.

I go to Colorado Springs every spring for a girls' weekend to shop the Castle Rock Outlets and I love, LOVE the area.  I wanted to bring Josh and the kids up there to experience it and hopefully fall in love with it as well. 

So we headed out on Monday morning.  It was only a six hour trip, stops included.  The distance was perfect - just long enough to feel like you got away but not so long that everyone gets sick of being in the car.  During the drive the kids occupied their time looking out the window, watching movies, and playing with activities. 

When we got there, we checked in, went and got some dinner, and then headed for the hotel's indoor pool.  In fact, we swam every evening we were there.  I think that was the kids' favorite part!

Tuesday we drove into Denver to go to the Denver zoo.  Driving through Denver just to get to the zoo was enough for us  to know we did not want to live in the big city!  I was too crowded and busy everywhere!  But the zoo was awesome!  It was so big we didn't even get all the way through it.  Aurora got to pet a snake, and they saw elephants up close, and sized up with the penguins.  It was lots of fun!  They also had these little chipmunks running around everywhere!

Wednesday was chilly and rainy - 20 degrees colder than the day before!  It was crazy!  We spent the morning at the Castle Rock Outlets, where Josh finally got to do some shopping for himself since he usually does not go with me.  I also got a few things for the kids.  I love those outlets!  I also made sure to get a picture of THE Castle Rock:

We had planned to go to White Fence Farm in Denver in the afternoon, but because of the weather, after the outlets we decided to just drive around and look at the country side.  I was happy that Josh loved it just as much as I did!  We found a couple of places we wouldn't mind moving to when we eventually move up there.

Josh also wanted to stop at the United States Air Force Academy.  His dad and brother were both in the air force.  It was actually pretty neat to see.  They have a famous Cadet Chapel there that is just gorgeous.  Alex also loved to see the airplanes and jets everywhere.

In the small museum at the academy they also had their mascot out to see and touch!  It is a falcon named Destiny.  Alex is scared of birds and didn't want to get too close but Aurora and I were able to pet her belly.

Thursday the weather looked a bit iffy again.  But we had reservations on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway so we headed down there.  The kids were excited to see a real train station and the opportunity to take it all the way up to the peak at 14,110 feet!  

The train ride was great.  We had an entertaining and funny guide who told stories and pointed things out to us on the way up.  Close to the top we even spotted a Yellow-Bellied Marmot and got a picture of it!

Unfortunately at the top it was so cloudy that we were not able to experience the view.  But we were able to walk around a bit, and have some 'high altitude donuts' at the restaurant up there that were yummy!

It was perfect timing because as soon as we got back down the mountain, the moment we got into the car, it started storming!  Unfortunately that meant our plans for White Fence Farm were a total bust for this trip.  :-(  We went and picked up dinner and a movie and chilled at the hotel while the storms (and a tornado!) passed us by.

Friday morning we packed up to head home, but not before stopping at the Garden of the Gods.  The rock formations were just beautiful there, and the kids enjoyed the displays in the museum depicting the wildlife that roamed there.  As we left the museum, we were lucky enough to have a herd of deer run right by us!  It was very cool!

Overall it was a fantastic and much needed family trip!  It also confirmed our thoughts about moving up there.  Hopefully we'll be able to do that within the next couple of years and experience lots more of Colorado!