Day 4: Focus on the Family.... and lots of driving

On Day 4, we visited Focus on the Family. It really is an amazing facility. Just beautiful- and, of course, very family friendly! I could have spent hours in the bookstore- but had to settle for 4 minutes here - TRADE- 4 minutes there- TRADE, back and forth with Mike doing "Where's Ariana" duty. She only broke one thing in the whole store- a book mark.... not too $$, thank goodness.

Alex begged me to take a picture of him and Ariana holding hands. He loves to hold her hand... when he's not yelling, "NO, Ariana!" with clenched jaw and shoving her away from his stuff. Here they are in one of his loving moments....




This was a fun little toddler area for kids 5 and under to roam on soft play structures. I was secretly wishing (out loud) that we lived close by so I could take the kids here once a week for something to do. Did I mention that all of the activities and facilities are free of charge?





A fun soda fountain shop, just like the one they have in Adventures in Odyssey. We got the kids ice cream. Even though it was only 10 a.m. And, trust me, Alex was not sad - as he appears in this picture. He enjoyed his ice cream very much.




But not as much as this little one who, as the baby, is usually deprived of such treats from an over-protective Mom who tries to keep the babies on "healthy food only" diets as long as I can before Dad corrupts them with treats...

This exhibit was SO cool.... The Chronicles of Narnia room. It had a wardrobe chest that you could step into. Here are the kids going in the wardrobe...

And here is Alex and Grace in "Narnia" after they had walked into the wardrobe...



Everything in Focus is fun and interesting and just beautifully decorated- even the staircase leading upstairs....

After Focus on the Family, we drove 70 miles northwest up to Broomfield (just outside Boulder) we stayed the night there before we woke up early the next morning to drive to Estes. Tomorrow... AWESOME pictures of the mountains and an elk or two ;)

Day 3: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo & Garden of the gods

*alternately titled, "WARNING! Lots of boring family vacation pictures ahead"
or "This one's for you, Grandma..."

Today was hot, Hot, HOT!!! We got to the zoo right when it opened (at 9 a.m.) and it was already nearing 90 degrees. It only got hotter VERY quickly and I was one fairly miserable camper by about 10 a.m. I put on a brave face for the kids, who seemed to take the heat in stride, but I was like a nervous mother bear the whole time forcing water down my kids throats every 10 minutes for fear they might dehydrate!

One very cool thing about the zoo was the giraffe exhibit. You can get up close and personal with the giraffes- and by close, I mean...

Here is Alex feeding the giraffes a cracker ("that'll be $3 for your cracker, ma'am- thank you kindly!")

The kiddos took a little ride on the choo choo train...

By about 11:30, I had had enough zoo and enough sweat so we headed back to the hotel for a little bit of this...

By about 4 PM, it was still in the upper 90's so we needed to do something indoors. We went over to Poor Richards, because Fodor's 2008 Colorado told us to. And, I have to admit, it was the best pizza I think I've ever had...

Why so many pizza parlor shots, you ask? Well, I'm not sure- other than maybe subconsciously I was trying to occupy my hands as any excuse not to have to hold the baby on my lap and eat (thanks, Mike!)

After dinner, when it had finally cooled off to the mid-80's, we headed over to Garden of the gods. I had so badly wanted to spend the whole day there, but the heat simply would not permit. By the time we got there in the evening, it was cool enough to walk around for a while.

Gracie girl checking out the view

I thought this picture was so cool- I couldn't resist....

God's creation is so amazing - only He could think of this...

Apparently, Ariana had enough of the scenery and was more interested in checking out her knees, which are- after all- far more interesting.

Daddy and his kiddos (he always gets the good shots with everyone smiling - I'm never that lucky!)

So, did you happen to notice that I was wearing 2 different outfits at the Garden of the gods? Of course you didn't because there is no way you are still reading this after way too many boring family pics. So, I guess I am talking to you, Mom (grandma) - did you notice? Actually, the pic of Grace and I at Garden of the gods was from the day before. We actually went the day before, as well, but I left a sleeping Mike, Alex & Ariana in the car and walked around for a bit with the other two.

That's all for now! And, so sorry. I promise- when we get home, I'll have far less boring pics to post, and I'll try to think of something witty and interesting to write. But, for now, it's all about the vacation.

Day 2: Pikes Peak

Let me preface by saying that though I am posting about "Day 2" - we are actually at the close of Day 3 (about to go to bed!). But I was so tired the first evening we got here, my posting got delayed a bit. Nevertheless, here are details from "Day 2" of our Colorado Road trip.... and I stress the word ROAD - we have done SO much driving, even after we've arrived!

Day 2: Pikes Peak Mountain Drive

I hadn't done Pike's Peak drive for years- last time was with my Dad when we came out to Colorado Springs about 7 years ago for a business trip. It was strange because in many ways it seemed like yesterday I was standing at that very lake with my Dad (I have a similar pic with the same background)- but now to be standing here with lots of kids.... MY KIDS!!




Daddy's Kiddos....



Ta Da!!!

The picture does not do the view justice! It is a little scary driving to the top of the Peak (for me, anyway!), but definitely exciting, as well.

When we got to the top, we got out of the car and I rounded everyone up for the obligatory pictures real quickly...

Unfortunately, we didn't last very long because the Altitude really got to Grace and for a moment I was afraid she was going to faint on me. I got her back in the car and she pretty much passed out until we were about 1/2 way back down the mountain.

Two of my handsome guys....

Colorado

We're here!!! Well, actually, we got here yesterday evening, but I was too tired to post. Speaking of "actualities" and realities- why not give you an idea of how our road trip to get here went...

1. Number of hours I thought we'd spend in the car: 18

Number of hours we actually spent in the car: 18

2. Number of DVD's I thought the kids would watch: 8

Number of DVD's the kids actually watched: 12?? More??? I quit counting

3. Number of times I thought the kids would ask, "are we almost there yet?": 10

Number of times the kids actually asked: 0!

4. Number of times I thought I'd yell "be quiet!": half a dozen?

Number of times I actually yelled "be quiet": too many to count

5. Number of times I thought the kids would ask to go to the bathroom: 8

Number of times the kids actually asked to stop for the bathroom: 0 (and I had to force them to go at pit stops!)

6. Number of books, magazines and other reading material I brought to read: 13

Number of books, magazines and other reading material I actually read: 0!

7. Number of minutes of conversation I imagined my husband and I would have: 827

Number of minutes my husband and and I actually visited: about 14
(and we weren't even mad at each other!)

8. How long I thought that "last hour" would take: 1

How long the "last hour" actually took: 2!! (on the last 30 mile stretch we ran into huge

traffic due to an accident) - torture!

9. Best Rest Area: Somewhere in Nebraska with nice picnic tables, open grass and shad-y trees.

10. Hottest Temp along the way: 102 (entering Colorado). Hot even with the A.C. going full blast!

11. Worst Experience: Listening to my husband when he said "let's stop for a hotel room" at 2 a.m. (even though I was the one driving and was fine and WIDE awake). We ended up paying $110 + for the crappiest Holiday Inn I've ever stayed at. 2 double beds for 6 people. I shared a double bed with Mike and Ariana. Alex, Grace& Braden slept in the other. Unfortunately, by the time we got into the room (2:30 a.m.) Ariana was wide awake and body slammed me, walked around the bed, talked and sang until 5:00 a.m. I fell asleep at 5 a.m. and was awake for the day at 6:44 a.m. Definitely the worst part of the trip - and definitely next time I insist the DRIVER decides!

I just had to take a picture of the "Hotel from Hell" - here was Ariana at 7 a.m. the next morning- delirious from little sleep...

Here are the Siamese twins who, somehow, managed to sleep despite Ariana singing and fussing for hours in the middle of the night...

Here we are at 8 a.m. after 8+ hours of driving and 1.75 hours of sleep I had at the Holiday Inn the night before... (and, no, we weren't even quite 1/2 way there yet!).

Yes, I did have to bribe Ariana - but only once... (yes, that is a sucker)

Tomorrow- watch for better pics of times much more fun than a (too long) car ride!!