Colorado — June 2017

We made a week-long trip up to Colorado to visit Oma and Opa in June.  This time we opted to make the drive in one long haul.  Instead of stopping in DFW overnight and leaving from there, we got up early and left Tyler at 6:30am.  The drive went really smooth and was quite uneventful — the best kind of road trip!  We finally rolled into Pine about 11pm, seventeen hours later.  Despite the long day, we all decided we preferred to just get it over and done with in one day.  I guess that route will be calling our name next time around!  Now that the kids are both in high back booster seats, I think everyone is a little more comfortable.

We had a great time on the trip.  Opa, Oma, the kids, and I went four wheeling on the front range one day.  What started as a short, two hour trip ended up being quite a bit longer since the kids were having so much fun.  The trails were pretty bumpy since they are often used by motorcross cycles, but the kids had fun anyway.  The trail brought us to a massive over look and some huge boulders that the kids climbed all over.

Of course, the kids also climbed the rocks in Oma and Opa’s yard, played games with Oma, rode the 4 wheelers all around the neighborhood, and watched for deer.  Both kids also went on a hike down the hill with Oma.

Granpops came up to meet us in Colorado.  We had tickets to see The Doobie Brothers and Chicago at Red Rocks — Keller, Granpops, Opa, and myself.  The concert was pretty good but the weather and scenery were spectacular!  As Granpops said, “I will see anyone at Red Rocks!”  Oma graciously kept the kids for us while we were at the concert.

Opa, Keller, and Granpops took the four wheelers out to Kenosha pass and climbed all the way to the top of the mountains.  It was very rocky, but the views can’t be beat!

Another day I took the kids down to Denver to hunt for the best playground.  We ended up nearly an hour away at Centennial Center Park.  It was really big and even had a splash park area.  The kids loved playing there and we spent nearly two hours at the park.

Lastly, we ran up to Breckenridge on Friday.  The kids had so much fun at the base camp last year, they were really hoping to go again.  We got the kids wrist bands so they could do all the activities and they had a blast!  It was not busy, so they were able to go over and over again with minimal waiting.  They did the bungee trampoline, zip line, ropes course, sledding, rock climbing, gemstone panning, mini golf, and the Alpine Slide.  After all that we went swimming too!  The kids were worn out by the time we were done for the day.  =)

The ropes course was popular with both kids.  Caden is quite a bit taller than he was last year, so it was a lot easier for him to maneuver the equipment.

Rock climbing was the surprise hit this time around.  Kamy climbed to the top multiple times and Caden made it half way up!  His arms aren’t quite long enough to reach some of the higher handholds, so he did his best.  There was no one else at the climbing wall, so the kids spent a solid 30 minutes going up and down and up and down.

The kids also really enjoyed mini golf!  I wouldn’t stay they’re exceptional, but they had fun and Caden made several hole-in-ones.  Now mini-golf is on their radar.

Opa, Kamy, and Caden even climbed the big snow pile to see what there was to see.  They were way up there!

Since we just bought the kids activity passes, Kamy was the only one able to ride the Alpine Slide.  It has a minimum age of 7, so it’ll be two years before Caden can ride by himself.  It takes a while to ride the ski lift all the way to the top and then wait your turn, but Kamy did it twice and loved it!  She would have done it again if we’d had more time.

Both kids did the slide into the pool this time!  I brought their goggles, so they were not worried about water splashing into their eyes.  Caden liked to dunk into the water before being caught by Opa, while Kamy preferred to keep her head above water.  They went around and around though, so everyone had a great time.

Saturday morning we loaded up and made the 900 mile trek back home.  Thanks as always for hosting us Oma and Opa — we had a blast!