Colorado vacation

We just returned from a beautiful vacation in the mountains of Colorado!  My parents lent us their condo at a ski resort and we had a wonderful time escaping the Texas heat.  It took us a whole day to drive there and the kids were pretty good in the car.  Elizabeth got sick a couple of times and it made us wonder if her new car seat was making her car sick.  She is in a convertible seat, rear facing, but sitting up higher than her infant seat.  I’m not sure there is anything we can do about this other than turn her around when she is big enough.  To say the least I learned how to disassemble and clean her new car seat on this trip.

Saturday was our first real day there so we headed to downtown Winter Park where they were having a big, free kids festival.  Jason and Elizabeth had a blast!  Jason bounced in the bouncy houses, Elizabeth went down the slide, and they both rode a train.  Jason even got a balloon animal.  We tried to get him a train, but it seemed that the only animal the clown knew how to make was a dog, good thing that was our second choice.

Elizabeth was having a hard time adjusting to sleeping in a new place so on Sunday morning Jeff took both of the kids on a hike from the resort down to the town and let me go back to sleep.  That afternoon we went to visit one of Jeff’s old bosses that lives in the area.  We were planning on taking a route that would take us about an hour and a half, but when we got to the highway it was completely backed up.  So we took a detour over a scenic mountain pass that ended up making our trip 3 hours.  It gave Jason and Elizabeth a great time to nap.  Jeff really loved catching up with his friend and Elizabeth loved seeing the dog that they had.

On Monday we decided to stay close and explore the resort.  Jason went on the alpine slide 8 times with one parent or another.  He also loved going in the bounce house and riding on the kid zip line.  Elizabeth needed a nap and it was so nice that the condo was so close to the mountain that one of us could stay with her and the other one could take Jason on lots of fun things.  At one point when Jeff was riding up the chair lift with Jason to go on the alpine slide again and it suddenly started pouring rain and hailing on them.  As soon at they got to the top Jeff got off their shirts and wrung them out and a nice lady offered Jason her jacket.  They waited in a shed for a bus to bring them to the bottom of the mountain.  When they got back to me at the condo Jason was sobbing that he was hailed on.  I guess it wasn’t that traumatic because he went on the alpine slide 2 more times after the rain stopped and the slide dried and opened again.

When we were preparing for this trip Jason saw me researching railroads that were close by, so we knew we had to take him on a train ride.  We chose the Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad.  We got to ride in a semi-open car and it seemed like both of the kids had a great time.  They were so exhausted that they both fell asleep by the time the ride was over.  We spent a bit of time walking around Leadville.  We stopped in the Mining Museum and Hall of Fame and Jeff even knew a few people there.  Maybe one day he’ll be in there!

It wouldn’t be an outdoor vacation for Jeff if we didn’t go on a hike so we picked a mountain and climbed.  I realized I wasn’t in mountain climbing shape, but we did make it above the tree line.  We were hailed on and both kids had fussy periods, but we survived.  Jason even walked/ran down most of the mountain himself!  After Jeff forced me up a mountain I decided it was time for some payback so we went shopping in Denver the next day.  We got tons of things for the kids and a couple of things for Jeff and I.  I have also decided that Jeff looks good in Eddie Bower.

For our last day on Vacation we knew we needed to do something spectacular.  We decided that a downhill bike ride was just the ticket!  We drove over to Breckenridge and rented some bikes and a trailer for the kids.  As we were bused up the mountain I began to get more nervous because it had been a long time since I had been on a bike!  Thank goodness Jeff said he was going to take the kids.  The first part was a bit steep and I thought I might fall, but just as I was getting my groove back it flattened out.  Every time we would stop for a picture Elizabeth would call out for us to keep going.  The kids were loving it!  I didn’t get to see it but apparently they fell asleep and cuddled onto one another.  Jeff said it was adorable!  I didn’t get the pictures off of Jeff’s phone, but hopefully will do so soon.

Too soon it was time to pack up and leave, but I would say that we all had a great time!  Thank goodness for an uneventful drive home.