Day 6: Vail

Vail is amazing. The only regret I have with coming here, is that we did not plan on staying here longer. Two and a half days is not long enough for all that Vail has to offer! I had only been here once before, about 15 years ago with my Dad and my sister, and that was also during the summer... and also for too short of a visit. We definitely want to come back (when the kids are a bit older) and we can hike and bike around.

Everywhere you go in Vail there are flowers, gardens and flowing river. It is simply beautiful...



There are so many wonderful parks in Vail. Of course, they all come with a "mountain view." Here is Ariana at the Ford park doing"see-saw" - her favorite park activity!




Alex and Grace navigating our way on a map...

A stroll through beautiful Ford gardens...

Alex banging on something that makes music noise...

We came a cross a really neat wooden pirate ship play structure that the kids just loved. They played for a good hour chasing each other around and playing pirate...

Ahoy, Matey....

Soon enough, it was time for popcorn and a movie to end our day....

Our trip is almost over, folks... one more day to go!

Day 5: Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park

We did a lot of driving today... and I mean A LOT!! We started out from our hotel at around 7:30 a.m. (just outside of Boulder) and we got to Estes Park about an hour and a half later. We got out and walked around the quaint little town, got some coffee and did a little shopping.

A view from beautiful Estes Park...



Here are the kids enjoying their smoothies while Mike and I drank our (much needed) coffee...

Alex & I enjoying our morning drinks...

Who knows, this may become our Christmas photo... Ariana kicking Alex and all...

We proceeded past Estes Park into Rocky Mountain National Park on the Trail Ridge Road. I'm not gonna lie- I was kinda scared. Okay I was REALLY scared. Especially when we reached the very top and it started to thunderstorm - thunder, lightening, downpour and HAIL! I was glad I was driving (ssshhh, don't tell Mike!) -but I was a little terrified. Those roads are unbelievable. I seriously had nightmares later that night of falling off the edge!

These pictures are pre-storm... though it started raining right after we took these pics...

Yes, it's all fun and games until it starts to storm at 11,000 feet in the air...

So, after it stopped storming, and we gradually started to descend, we met a herd of Elk right along the side of the road- they were unbelievably close- and we were so fortunate, there was a pull over right there, so we were able to stop and watch for a while...

Somewhere a long the way we crossed the Continental Divide...

This was one of the most beautiful scenes we came across - if you look closely, you can see the lake way down below towards the right...

The drive through Rocky Mountain National Park was amazing. It ended up taking us nearly 5 hours to get down to Vail... I had no idea it was going to take that long! But, fortunately, Ariana and Alex napped for at least a part of that time. And the first thing we did when we got to Vail was hit the pool to get some energy out!! Next up... Day 6: Vail!

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.