Big, long vacation post Part 2

My computer seemed to be getting a little irritated with me, so I took a little break. On with the story...

The next day we went to Pikes Peak. We took a train ride to the top and the scenery and wildlife on the way up is unbelievable. I have been up in years past where it is 70 degrees when we board the train and snowing when we got to the top. This year the weather was about 51 degrees at the top and sunny and gorgeous. When you get to the top there is no barrier stopping you from falling down the mountain, so we had to keep the kids close. There is a large building where they make the best donuts you will ever eat with lots of other great food and souvenirs.






Big Boy looking out the window with Grandma:



An absolute first for my children- passed out and sleeping on the ride back down.




And on to the highlight of the trip, for the one and three year olds, that is...

The NORTH POLE. Yes, we visited Santa's house. This is a spectacular amusement park for children. It is set on a mountain so the surroundings are wonderful. There are hundreds of rides and the best part about it- the kids could go on every ride!! The only height restrictions they have require an adult to ride with the child, but my one year old was able to do every single thing! It makes for a great adventure and 6 hours of fun. And of course, the main attraction is going to see Santa in his house.











You can't really see it in the picture, but this may be the only roller coaster you could ever ride on with llamas and reindeer a couple feet behind the ride. (Pat and Big Boy are riding with Sissy and Grandma behind them)




We visited Santa's house and it was magical. We were shocked when both of my children walked right up to Santa and hopped in his lap. Sissy took him the letter she wrote him and he looked at it and marveled at the picture she drew him. He was so great. As we were walking out the door Big Boy ran back in and kissed Santa on the arm!





The North Pole holds so many memories for me. I have gone there since I was a baby. I can't even describe the feeling of getting to share with my babies something that was part of my life when I was their age. I had so much fun taking my own kids there, and they rode the very rides that I did!

Me "driving" the car when I was a baby:



My daughter and son "driving" the car 29 years later!




Me riding on the carousel when I was little:



My son and daughter riding on the carousel 20 some years later!




Oh, and here is Sissy visiting and reading the Bible in Santa's chapel





We did several other fun things on our trip as well. We visited the local Manitou Springs Penny Arcade several times where we rode little rides and played skeeball and horse races. We also drove to Cripple Creek, a gambling and mining town where I played Black Jack forever and actually came out ahead! We played in the creek running by the cabin. It was a lot of fun.







It was a great time. We will definitely be headed there next summer and every one after! There is so much to see and do up there and as the kids get older we will have many more activities to pursue. Lily keeps asking me when we are going back to the cabin, and I tell her "SOON!"

The big, long vacation post, Part 1

This year for vacation we went to Colorado. My family has a cabin in Green Mountain Falls, a few miles outside of Colorado Springs. It is a GORGEOUS mountain community. It is such a relaxing spot. The town is small so you walk to breakfast, there's no fast food just one restaurant. And yet, you are 10 minutes from bigger towns with all the conveniences and loads of attractions and things to do.

Here is our cabin, the Sleepy Seven:




The kids walking up the street to the cabin, holding hands. Awww...



This is Green Mountain Falls:



In the mornings we walked down to breakfast at the Little Pantry, a place I have been going to since I was about 9 months old. It's a cute little restaurant where the portions are huge. This is Big Boy getting his Mother Lode Pancake- and it's the children's size!!

Our first day we visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. In my lifetime I have been to that zoo more times than I can count. But they have recently remodeled it and it was the absolute best zoo I have ever been to. Here's why!

1. It is IN the mountains. Absolutely gorgeous, 6,800 feet up high on the mountain. You are surrounded by natural wildlife and incredible views the whole time.

2. Every exhibit is designed to get you inches away from the animals. Their cages/environments are built around the visitors. For example, the mountain lion's cage- built around a see-through plastic tunnel you walk through. You are right in the middle of the cage and you get the best view.

3. The giraffe exhibit. It costs over 11 million dollars to create and it is the largest of any zoo in the world. We got to feed them, and as you can see, they get pretty darn close to you!

It was actually a little freaky how close we got. If you look carefully, that mountain lion saw T coming a mile away. It was so scary, as we got closer and went into the enclosure that mountain lion just stared at Big Boy, wouldn't take it's eyes off of him. The other people walking through with us were taking pictures of it, it was so crazy. I grabbed my fresh meat Big Boy and got the heck out of there!

Big Boys, Big Fun! (and my big secret)

This weekend Pat and I took a trip north to KC to watch his beloved Chiefs in action. Last year we took in 3 of their games and we were so happy to go again. (big shout out to my sister for babysitting, too!) My dad has season tickets, and they are great tickets. We sit just a couple rows up right by the tunnel where all of the big boys run out.

Now, I really don't consider myself a big football fan. I used to really enjoy watching it. Before we had kids Pat and I would have "football Sundays". We would watch football all afternoon and doze in and out of sleep and order pizza and watch football all night. That's right, before we had kids. Since having my little bundles of joy I have exchanged "football Sundays" for "laundry Sundays" and "vacuuming Sundays" (with maybe a touch of blogging, too).

But I quickly found out last year that no matter how much you like or care about football, there is nothing like being a couple feet away from a 6 foot 5, 259 pound NFL player in tight, tight pants. Really, any girl becomes a fan.

And since our tickets are so close, I stood by the tunnel to see boys as they came out. Okay, go ahead and make fun of me, but my final stats for the game were: 13 Chiefs players touched, 2 Seahawks players touched, and 4 appearances on the JumboTron. A personal best for me. Okay, I can hear some of you laughing at me right now, but come on! These are NFL players!

Here they are right in front of me, I actually had to zoom OUT because my camera was so close to their helmets.




Now on to my secret. I don't imagine there are too many Chiefs or maybe even football fans reading this but the story of the game was not the Chiefs loss- it was the injury of their quarterback. And I am afraid it was my fault. As I saw the injury played out on TV I recalled in my head my first, and most exciting, high five...

Matt Cassel #7, the quarterback, running out- and on the way I reach out and he slaps my hand!



Could it be just a coincidence? He slaps my hand, and only my hand, and then runs out on the field to be gripped by injury not 10 minutes later??? Could he be lying in the doctor's office today thinking "what did I do to jinx myself? Oh wait, I gave a high five to that blond girl before the game!" I am hoping that maybe his lucky socks were just lost or that his lucky jock strap was broken (do those break?) so that there is another cosmic reason he encountered such a fate.


Here are some more pics from the game:





We'll be back for their next home game versus the Raiders in mid-September. I think I may stay in my seat this time and keep my hands off of them... but it will be difficult. :)


And on a completely different note, Sissy had a princess birthday party to attend this weekend so we had to document HER MAJESTY.