colorado

This past week we spent some time in Colorado and we had a blast! We try to get out at least once a year to visit my sister and her family in Denver and this year we got out twice. We absolutely love it out there and if ever given the opportunity we'd move in a heartbeat! But for now we will enjoy our annual trips.

We took off on Wednesday evening around dinner time. Ate in the car along the way and before long the kiddos, and Jimmy, were asleep. I drove until about 1am - this is huge for me as I'm usually sleepy as soon as it gets dark - and then Jimmy took over. He made it until about 4am or so and then I drove the last little bit. The kiddos did pretty darn good on the drive. Preston woke up quite a bit on and off but Lily slept the whole night through. The crappy part about arriving at 5am is that the kiddos were ready to play while Jimmy and I were ready to crash. So we spent majority of Wednesday bumming around the house, catching up with my sister while Jimmy explored the mountain biking close to their house, and the kiddos played. Wednesday night we had dinner and then called it an early night.

buddies playing with scissors (kids ones of course)

sammy wouldn't take these goggles off :)

they love lola

asher and preston

story time with auntie kirsten

pushing brother

Thursday Jimmy was off to Keystone to bike the ski slopes - craziness! While my sister and I brought the kids out to lunch, and to do a little shopping for baby projects for my sister's baby on the way. I love talking through decoration plans and helping her out with this kind of stuff. We were able to pop into a few stores to browse as well where I snagged a super cute blazer for Lily for this fall :) Thursday night my sister made us homemade magherita pizza with basil and tomatoes from her garden - so good! and then around bedtime we loaded up the car once again to head to Grand Lake for a few days just our family.

Grand Lake is about 2 hours from Denver and boy is it gorgeous! We usually spend our time close to Denver when we visit CO, since my sister is there, but we are so glad we ventured out a bit to explore a new town. Friends of ours got married here a while back and come back at least once a year to snow mobile so we'd heard lots about it. It's also a prime place to rent side by side ATV's to ride in the mountains - hence our primary reason for visiting :) We stayed at a cozy little hotel called the Terrace Inn that almost dubbed as a bed and breakfast - kinda strange for a family stay but the owners were super friendly, made a killer breakfast, and we were the only ones there so it was quite nice.

Friday morning we explored the town in the morning, checking out the awesome lake, popping into a few small shops, having some yummy yummy coffee, and just enjoyed being together! Around nap time we decided to take a stroll through Rocky Mountain National Park as an entrance was just a few miles up the road from where we were. So so pretty and glad we did this! The kids slept, as we'd hoped, and then we headed back into town to pack a lunch and head over to check in for our ATV rental. We followed the company into the mountains about 7 miles or so, we loaded the kids up - we were fairly certain someone may call us in for child endangerment even though the rental guys assured us it was a'ok - and off we went. Lily absolutely loved the ATV - she giggled with excitment almost the entire time. Preston dozed off a few times but enjoyed it, for the most part, as well. Such a fun way to spend the afternoon together exploring the mountains. I know Jimmy loved it!

grand lake

silly faces

he was loaded up :)

exoloring nature

our family - love lily's face - exactly like her daddy's :)

stunning

ATV time

rocky terrain

our ATV

we saw a moose!! right outside our hotel in grand lake

the lake view at 6am

morning walk with my little man :)

Then Friday night we were able to meet up with our friends from home as they happened to be visiting Grand Lake the same weekend! We enjoyed dinner together, let the kiddos explore their condo and its surrondings a bit, and then we were back to our place to crash.

Saturday morning came and after checking out the local Corvette parade of cars we were off to Winter Park to meet back up with my sister and her family for the day/night. Winter Park is such a fun little town too. The ski resort puts on some great activities for kiddos and really cultivates a family atomsphere. Jimmy and Ivan, my brother in law, were going to be biking the ski slopes while us ladies hung out, explored the resort, and entertained the kids. I wasn't sure how easy this would be but it turned out great! They had lots for the kids to do from bouncy houses, to ziplines, to big trampolines - so fun for them! We played and played, got groceries for our overnight camping adventure, and then picked up the guys as they finished their rides. We then headed up the mountain to camp for the night, at least that was the plan. Now those that know me I'm not a huge fan of tent camping. While I can brave one night it's never my first choice as it rarely goes off without a hitch, and this trip was no exception. As soon as we arrived I mentioned the dark clouds in the distance. No one else seemed to be too worried so we set up camp, got our tents up, blankets and sleeping bags situated, dinner out, etc. As we began grilling hot dogs it began to sprinkle. We quickly finished up, packing up what we surely wanted to avoid getting wet, and down came the rain - hard rain. We sat in our vehicles for a good 45 minutes before deciding it wasn't going to blow over and we should pack up and head back to Denver. And so we packed up, in the pouring rain - so fun! Ugh - I hate it. Back to Denver we went. Pulling in around 9:30 pm the kiddos were ready for bed and we unpacked wet camping gear. Sigh - another failed camping excursion. It's simply not meant to be for me and while I constantly remind my husband of this he chooses not to listen......

winter park

lily on the trampoline

gearing up to hipline

there she goes

my sweet girl

big game of scramble

Then Sunday was spent close to Denver - Jimmy and Ivan took in some fishing and white water kayaking in the morning and Kirsten and I enjoyed some shopping, coffee, and pedicures in the afternoon. After dinner we packed up and made our way back to Iowa. The kids did awesome on the way home - Preston did much better waking only once when we stopped! We rolled into Ankeny about 7am and Lily continued to sleep until 10 or 10:30 that morning - she was tired! Preston of course was up and ready to go but did nap well that day so we were able to rest a bit too!

Overall it was such a fun trip. We really enjoy our time in Colorado and hanging out with my sister and her family. Lily and Sam hit it off so well this trip and Lily has been quite sad that she's without her play mate since we've been home. Unfortunately we won't see them for a while. I am going out with my other sister in January to help when the baby arrives but no other plans are in place for now. Although I'm sure Jimmy will get the adventure itch again before too long. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality Kirsten, and family, and we will see you before we know it!