We were so excited about our first vacation of the summer! We were going to one of our favorite locations and this time we were going with the cousins!
We were all up bright and early to catch our short flight to Denver!
 The flight was completely uneventful (my favorite kind) and before long we were in the shuttle to get our luggage. The adventure to Colorado Springs became quiet interesting after this point when we had a nightmare with one of the rental car companies and rather than ending up with the 2 rental cars we had reserved we ended up in one 8 passenger SUV and 9 passengers. We were squeezed in tight for the drive but we decided that's how memories are made! |
As you can imagine we were all thrilled to get out of the car and see the beautiful cabins that awaited us!
Isn't this so cute? We absolutely loved where we stayed!
The kids logged some serious time down by this creek!
I couldn't really help myself! I had to try to rope swing!
And I logged some serious time on our porch looking at this amazing view!
While we unpacked the kids were busy swimming. Meg was trying to perfect her handstand!
And Brody was loving the hot tub
Brody and Huston played lots and lots of water basketball on vacation
That night we got cleaned up and ate a delicious Mexican meal and then let the kids play games and ride on some of the little toys. There are tons and tons of arcades in downtown Manitou Springs.
I have never seen Meg giggle like she did on the wild horse
And Brody had a hard time figuring out the old school arcade games
After that we decided to drive through Garden of the Gods. We were not dressed very appropriately but the kids couldn't help getting out and climbing around.
We got lucky and spotted some mule deer. The kids loved getting out with Bryson and trying to see how close they could get.
The next morning we got around early and headed to 7 mile canyon. It was beautiful and the kids had fun fishing and playing around.
Bryson would've liked to have stayed here all day but the kids got tired of it after a couple of hours!
That evening we enjoyed hanging out around the cabins and we started our nightly tradition of playing dots after the kids went to bed. Dots is the most fun card game and in case you were wondering I was the champion during our vacation!
The next day was Fathers Day and we were all looking forward to riding the Cog Train up Pikes Peak.
Somehow Kena and Matt got stuck with all the kiddos!
The views on the way up are just absolutely breathtaking
So we knew it would be cold up a the Summit but we were not prepared for just how cold. It was 36 degrees with a wind chill of 8 degrees. It hurt it was so cold. We all wanted to take in the scenery and enjoy it but most of us just couldn't handle it.
The boys sucked it up and got a picture!
Meg and I chose to stay in the warm train
This still kind of counts as a Summit picture
Ready to head back down
Matt enjoyed it more than anyone. He was the last person on the train and we were worried he wouldn't make it. They don't wait on passengers and we were thinking he was about to get stuck up there!
After a yummy lunch at a local pizza joint we decided to go see Helen Hunt falls.
Meg was still sleeping when we arrived
It was beautiful and such a nice little hike up to the top
Found them a cozy hiding spot
I love that these two enjoy the outdoors so much
It was so fun playing in this creek
Such a fun Fathers Day with our favorite dad
On our way back to the room we loved driving through a couple of tunnels like this
The next day Meg and I were so excited about spending a day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo just the two of us. The big kids were going white water rafting. The zoo had so many hands on activities!
Our favorite was feeding and petting the giraffes
The sky lift was so much fun too
Beautiful views all around
This girl is crazy about peacocks and she couldn't believe how close she got to this one
Of course the pony rides were a hit too
She insisted on taking a picture with the elephant like this
And she thought this rat was so cute.....so gross in my opinion
Can't beat free face painting
And feeding the elephant was the perfect end to our special day together.
The Will Rogers Shrine is part of the zoo and you can only access it through the zoo. We drove on up to it and I was so glad we did. Very neat!
The big kids enjoyed their white water rafting trip and it was all of their favorite part of the trip!
Later that evening we put on more appropriate clothing and enjoyed one last trip to Garden of the Gods!
I love this place so much!
We all got in on the rock climbing fun
It was so fun having Mimi with us
We ate at the Trading Post that and I caught Bryson trying to give the kids a little lecture about their behavior and it was so funny because he just couldn't keep a straight face!
When we pulled back up we were all so excited to see a bunch of deer behind the cabins
The boys managed to get this close!
The next day we loaded up and headed back to Denver. It was a wonderful vacation full of great memories but we were also excited to be getting home. We had some special visitors waiting for us at home!
I always beg to sit by Meg on the way home from vacations. She the best flying companion!
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