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! ;)

Colorado Vacation Part 1

With Big Boy's accident, needless to say, we had a rough start to our trip. We were all exhausted but we arrived in Colorado during the early evening so we were able to go to a popular pizza place and then head up to the cabin. When we go to Colorado we stay in my family's cabin in Green Mountain Falls, right outside of Colorado Springs. It is a beautiful little mountain community that I have gone to pretty much every summer since I was a baby, my dad's family has owned it since the 50s.

Our first morning we walked down to breakfast at The Little Pantry. It's the only restaurant left in Green Mountain Falls and not much has changed about it since I first went there when I was about 9 months old. Our vacation is full of tradition- I love to do all the things with my kids that I did when I was little. A scenic walk down to breakfast was always a great way to start the morning.


Big Boy is always game for a giant pancake, especially one with whipped cream. Guess how easy it was to clean a cup of syrup out of his cuts??? Sissy, my little weinie eater, had cereal this day. What's wrong with that child? It wasn't our last breakfast trip, though, and she did indulge in our of their giant cinnamon roles as well.


Right by the breakfast place is a pond and a gazebo and a wonderful playground. The scenery always takes my breathe away.




There she is! Home Sweet Home aka The Sleepy Seven (named for my grandparents and their 5 kids) aka The Cabin


After breakfast we took a LONG hike up to the falls, in the mountains behind the cabin. Now, it was beautiful, and interesting, and scenic, and all that. But with a 4 yo and 2 yo, it was slow moving. I was pretty slow myself! It was quite a workout. We only made it to the first falls, which were small but the kids enjoyed it. I did too but I was constantly keeping an eye out for a mountain lion wanting to eat my little ones.





Later that day we headed to Woodland Park, another larger beautiful mountain town just 5 minutes up the road. Pat and I are obsessed with it, we would love to live there. Everything about it is so...Colorado. They have all the modern conviences and yet they have strict building codes so everything is authentic. The McDonalds, the Sonic- they don't look like fast food. They look like cabins.
We hit a fun park there, the kids had a great time exploring and it was really amazing. It was really cool wood play with all sorts of peaks, towers, and other stuff. In an effort to keep it low key the first day we took the kids to Shrek and had a great time.







The next day we headed to Buckskin Joe's, an authentic Colorado Frontier Town. It is an amusement park of sorts, but all of the buildings are authentic buildings from the early to mid 1800s. The buildings had all been taken down piece by piece and put back together in this location. It was a pretty fun place. There is a lot of history behind it. In the mid 1900s it was used not as a theme park but as a set for Hollywood movies. Many movies and commercials were shot there, including some John Wayne films.






Update on Big Boy: This was Day 3 of injury. It definitely slowed him down, I could tell he was in pain. We had to keep him on almost constant pain medication or he would get really cranky. At this point the bruising got really bad- small bruises appeared all over his body. Even on weird places like his fingertips! The injured side of his face became very yellowish- it made him look a little deformed, it just wasn't right.


This is the "mayor" of BJ's. Here, he happened to be in his barn eating. However, he has no restraints and just walks freely throughout the town. We saw him everywhere. We were also warned that he will walk up to anyone and try to find candy in pockets or purses.




Unfortunately on this trip both the kids discovered guns, what they looked like and what to do with them.


BJs is located right next to the Royal Gorge so we took the train out there to get a good view. You can't see it very well, but above it is the highest suspension bridge over water in the world. As a kid we would whitewater raft around the canyon.


On the train:



The train was a little rickety and freaky but the view was amazing.









The next day we hit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, one of our fave places! It is one of two mountain zoos in the country and it is breathtaking. It has over 800 animals including more than 30 endangered species. It is known for the natural environments it creates for the animals and it has the largest captive giraffe herd in the world.

And the giraffe exhibit is exquisite. You get so close to those giraffes! You can feed them, pet them, kiss them- whatever!









The kids got to pet a baby wallaby. It's parents actually roam free in a large section of the zoo.






The kids couldn't get enough of the friendly chipmunks. They would even let you touch them.


Pony rides! I was disappointed when booking things for our trip that the kids were considered too young for real horseback riding. We settled for this, but the kids had a blast.










Both kids got to pick treats from the gift shop. Big Boy picked out a 5 foot long snake, which I don't have a picture of. Sissy picked out a replica of the zoo's newest exhibit- the NAKED MOLE RAT. In person, these things were adorable. We watched them for forever, they are the neatest animals to watch. (sorry, none of my pics turned out) Sissy fell in love and picked a sparkly pink gifaffe necklace and a little naked mole rat toy, which she named Molly.




Back at the cabin at the park, Molly in hand.



More to come!