Rocky Mountains

Toward the end of the week, we went to Rocky Mountain National Forest, and once again I wish we had taken a couple of days to spend here. We saw elk and I saw a huge bull elk too! I would have loved to go hiking here, but after the Garden of the God hike, I knew we couldn't do it with the kids.

They views are incredible, the landscape is just so different from Indiana for sure.


We drove through, and met up with Joe's parents for lunch at Poppy's! The kids thought it was cool to eat at a place named after Poppy.

After lunch, Tom and Diane took the kids for us and Joe and I went on a horseback ride, the one thing we were wanting to do on our own. We opted for the two hour ride, instead of the one hour. It was just us and our tour guide, my horse's name was Rachel, lol. I was a little fearful at first, but I managed to loosen up a little into the ride. About 30 minutes into it, it started to POUR! and..it was COLD! But we just had to laugh, the scenery sure did make up for the shivering. We cut our tour a little short, but it was fun!

Boulder, Colorado

The following week was spent in Boulder. We got together with Joe's brother, Ryan, and met up with Joe's parents. Ryan fixed dinner for us several nights and took the kids to a local toy shop. They each picked out a toy, Addie two miniature horses, and Judah chose a gun that launches an airplane (Judah really took his time choosing). We stopped for gelato too!
Ryan also showed us the old church that he is the musical director for. The church is beautiful with stained glass windows. The kids got a pipe organ lesson with Ryan.

The kids really liked Ryan's dog, Mo-mo, Adam liked him the most I think!

We got to hike up to Boulder falls with the kids one day and the next day we rode up to a secluded park up in the mountains and had a grill-out picnic. We hiked up to the falls there too. The rushing water was really cool!

Flying W Ranch & Cave of the Winds

The evening after our trip to 7 falls we had reserved a spot at the Flying W Ranch. They have a Chuckwagon dinner and cowboy music show. We got there a few hours before dinner and checked out the Ranch, pretty much an old village you could walk around, there were a lot of old cabins and houses that were pretty much gift shops. There was also a teepee and they had old wagons and an area that you would practice your lassoing.

Dinner was pretty good, it was a huge amount of food. We stuck around for a few songs, there were 4 or 5 cowboys who played guitars and banjos and fiddles..Adam was getting tired so we left a little early.

The next day we went to Cave of the Winds and did the cave tour. Although it wasn't as big as Mammoth cave near us, it was interested and the kids freaked out when they turned the lights out. lol We ate our picnic lunch there.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the house, doing laundry and packing our stuff up to head to Boulder the next day.

Focus on the Fam & 7 Falls

Our days were pretty much packed with stuff to do in Colorado Springs, but it was fun and even relaxing to be able to come "home" put the kids to bed and relax on the balcony deck looking out over the city lights, that's probably what I miss most!

Anyway, the next day we wanted to "focus" on the kids...sooo we took them to Focus on the Family, did the tour and hung out in the toddler room a lot!

Adam LOVED goingback and forth under the log tunnel.

We ran into some folks from Jeffersonville too, weird!

There was a giant slide, which Addie was a little to short for, but Judah was able to do it..even though it was "a little too fast" after he rode it (he didn't go on it again). lol We grabbed Chik-fil-a and rode over to play putt-putt, it started raining (one of the typical quick afternoon showers there), so we postponed putt-putt and opted for Squeak for some ice cream (Squeak is a place you can get sodas mixed up with the flavor you pick). Back to putt-putt...Judah loved it, and I beat Joe by 3. ;o) Later we went "home" and made spaghetti. Fun day!

Thursday we rode over to 7 falls (also within a 15 minute drive. All the attractions are so close to each other there!) We rode the elevator up to a viewing deck, there was a gift shop too and the kids picked out some colorful rocks as a souvenir.



Then we took the many stairs (don't they look menacing) up the side of the falls and hiked up a little ways to the stream. Judah and Adelaide played in the water and Joe took pics.

Cheese!

Colorado Springs

Our first day in Colorado Springs! We settled into the house that Lisa The Great so generously let us "house-sit". And we grabbed dinner at Tumbleweed (decided to stick with what we knew).

The next day we drove over to the Cave Dwellings, but didn't quite make it there, since our van was leaking radiator fuel. We spent a few hours in the nearest mall while our radiator was being replaced, after this slight detour we made it to the Cave Dwellings.

Judah especially liked climbing through all the tunnels and up and down the ladder. It was a really cool place for kids to explore an I wish we could have spent more time there.

For dinner we packed a little lunchand hit the nearest park, let the kids play and then hiked a little ways up a hill, where we saw a deer bedding down and got a good view of Colorado Springs.

The following day we rode over to Garden of the Gods, the kids helped hold up the "balancing rock"

and we attempted the easiest trail possible around the formations. 10 minutes into the mile of flat, paved trail everyone started to complain, Adam and Adelaide hitched a ride on mommy.

We made it though, and ate our packed lunch while we drove over to Manitou Springs to visit Pikes Peak. We got tickets for the Cog Railway, ran home for a quick nap and drove back to ride the 45 minute railway to the top.

Adelaide and Adam fell asleep (probably from the altitude). Although I was skeptical on how the kids would do in such an inclosed space, it was a really cool experience and I'm glad we did it! At the top we bought hot donuts, and since it was sooo windy and cold Adam and Adelaide stayed inside the building with me, while Judah and Joe took a few pics.