Colorado Vacation Part 2

Next couple days- the North Pole and Breckenridge!

Sissy has been counting the days all year for when she could go back to the North Pole in Colorado Springs. It is a child's dream come true, even 6 months away from Christmas. The night before we wrote our letters for Santa:

Then she drew a picture of him surrounded by Christmas lights:

Big Boy made his, too.




We decided to check out Santa's House first. We had an amazing visit with Santa. There was no line and no one waiting to get in so the kids really got to take their time visiting with him and his elf. We were in there for easily over 10 minutes spending some one-on-one time with him. He was WONDERFUL with the kids. He took the time to read aloud each of their letters and talk to them about what they wrote. He posed for pictures, he talked about being good. It was amazing, both the kids were in awe and I was pretty happy, too.

Reading a letter:




The North Pole is an amazing amusement park. They are constantly adding new rides so it is always new and there is no minimum age for any ride (although some they have to be accompanied by an adult). The kids get free reign going ride to ride, deciding what they want to do. The park is clean and well-kept and (I don't know how they do it) they have a clean, child-friendly staff that are wonderful with kids. Not only are there rides but also lots of buildings- a magic house where we saw a magic show, Santa's Post Office (where Sissy mailed a postcard to Gma K postmarked from the North Pole), Christmas shops, a Boy's Toy Store, a Girl's Toy Store, it is just wonderful. Christmas music plays in the background the whole time.




Coming down the giant candy cane slide











Santa's chapel:

Sissy praying:

Reindeer

A train ride

Face Painting










I had to take a picture of this to prove it. I love Ferris Wheels but this one freaks me out! It is at the height of the park (which is on the middle of a mountain) so the view is breathtaking- and horrifying.





View from the top:

Sissy was all sorts of brave this year! T will ride anything. But Sissy (who wouldn't even ride the Ferris Wheel last year) rode the highest, scariest rides. Even ones I wouldn't go on- and she rode them multiple times! She did the Ferris Wheel five times and most of the scarier once two or three times in a row.


Transitioning to the smaller rides that night at an arcade in Manitou Springs...





The next day we decided to drive to Breckenridge which isn't too far away.



The scenery on the drive was amazing





Sissy and Molly hiding in the rocks
**side note about Molly- after spending the day at Breckenridge we were about a half hour outside of it back in the car before Sis realized she did not have Molly. Looking back at my pictures I could see Molly was in almost every shot except the ones towards the end. Sissy was FREAKING OUT. We didn't know what to do so we told her she must be in the car and we'd look for her. When we got back to the cabin I told Sissy I would drive to the gas station and clean out the car and find Molly. Instead, I drove an hour round trip back to the zoo (a long drive b/c it is at the top of the mountain and the drive is totally residential, 20 mph) to buy another mole rat. What we do for our children...

They had some cute little playgrounds and wonderful shops to check out. We wanted to do the Alpine Slides down the mountain but they weren't open yet, there was still a lot of snow.






Still more to come! ;)