A Colorado Thanksgiving (Part 1)

This year for Thanksgiving, Mom treated our entire family to a 1 week trip to Colorado (November 20-26)!  We had been talking about a family trip for years, but it was put on hold when Daddy passed away.  He would have been so proud of all our planning and the fun we had…although I know through many tears that he was with us the entire time.  Not a day went by that we all did not say something funny that he would be doing, or has done on previous family trips.  Traveling and being with family are 2 of my favorite things…so putting them together is even better!  Get ready for a slew of pics and memories from our journey!   

Day 1- Travels to Woodland Park, Colorado

Our day started out with 2 cars traveling to the airport containing 5 adults/4 kids, 13 suitcases, and a carry on for everyone.  That was a tight ride!  The kids enjoyed the short 1 hour and 45 minute flight to Denver where we took a train to get our luggage, shuttle to the rental car place, and then rented 2 minivans. From here, we grabbed a quick lunch at Chili’s and then drove about 2 hours to the small town of Woodland Park, Colorado.  Woodland Park is about about 20 minutes outside of Colorado Springs and 45 minutes to Cripple Creek through a mountain drive. Our cabin was located on the side of a mountain and we had to drive up a steep mountain pass to get to it. The boys unloaded luggage and then went to the grocery store while the ladies unpacked and relaxed.  The kids immediately fell in love with the downstairs living room where they could all play together.  The rest of the evening we played cards, enjoyed the cabin, made a fire in the fireplace.  We had a gorgeous view of Pikes Peak that we woke up to each morning.  It was Heaven!  We quickly learned that things like cooking and breathing are definitely much harder at 9,000 feet in altitude.

Day 2- Jaxson’s 6^th birthday and Pike’s Peak

For Jaxson’s birthday we celebrated by going via cog railway up to Pike’s Peak.  We drove to Manitou Springs and then took the 1.5 hour train ride up the mountain.  The views were amazing and we started to get some sights of snow.  We even saw some mountain sheep on the way up.  Once we reached the summit, we were at 14,000 feet high and FREEZING!  I believe with the wind chill it felt like it was 14 degrees.  The kids were excited at first to shop and then after a few minutes outside in the air, they were not impressed.  Even after being bundled up, we had some tears and quickly snapped a picture and then boarded the train.  It was an adventure to say the least.  For dinner we celebrated Jax’ birthday at a Mexican Restaurant in Woodland Park before settling in for a cozy night by the fire.  What an adventure today was!

Day 3- A snowy day!

We went to bed last night at 11:00 p.m. and it was 45 degrees, no snow. All of us had been praying for snow for the kids so that they could experience it.  The weather man predicted an inch of snow…however, when we awoke by 7:00 a.m., the predicted 1" was actually 8"!  The kids were SO EXCITED and ate breakfast very quickly before bundling up and wanting to go out.  We played for over an hour sledding, exploring, snowball fights, and eating the WHITE snow.  Since the snow was so heavy, we could not leave the cabins in the mini vans, so we truly “hunkered down” and relaxed all day.  The afternoon was filled with another snow adventure and cooking pizzas in the cabin that night. 

Day 4- More snow and an escape to Garden of the Gods

When we woke up, we quickly realized the snow conditions had not changed too much.  The snow plow on the main road helped some, but we knew we needed to try and make it out of the cabin for a grocery run and to get some snow chains.  After lunch, both vans made it down the hill easily.  We decided to attempt to drive them up to see if snow chains were needed, and it didn’t take long before we realized the chains would be needed.  Thus, we had a quick 1 hour "detour" as you can see below. One set of snow chains later, we were set for the rest of the trip!  We grabbed groceries in town and then headed back to the cabin to pick up Nana and the kids so that we could venture toward the Garden of the Gods.  The kids earned their Junior Ranger badges by completing activities at the park.  We drove the scenic route and were able to climb on the rocks for some gorgeous pictures.  On our way out of Colorado Springs, we ate a delicious homestyle dinner at The Mason Jar.  The day ended with making/eating snow ice cream in the cabin.  This would have been Papa’s favorite part!

Birthday weekend surprise!

Charles outdid himself for sure this year!  He arranged for Gamee and Grampee to keep the kids for 2 nights so that we could do a weekend away.  I finally made him tell me where we were going so that I knew what to pack.  When he first said Waco, I was thinking that was an odd place since we are in Waco a lot.  Then I found out all the cool things we were gonna do!  First, we ate dinner at Diamondback's (Texas Bistro) Friday night which is a few doors down from where our first date was at a restuarant named Gratzi's (Gratzi's is no longer there).  It was an AMAZING dinner to say the least and it was so nice to have nothing to rush around for.  Saturday morning we slept in before doing some shopping and winery tours.  We fell in love at a place called Waco Wineries where we did a tasting and then we were able to just walk through the vineyards.  There is nothing like nature to take away stress.  Then we made a quick jaunt back to Chuy's to eat before the BIG finale.  I was SO EXCITED to finally get to see the Baylor Bears, Joy and Lady, up close and personal.  Of course we cannot pet them (they are not fond of that)...but I got to see their enclosed habitat, feed Joy a treat of peanut butter on a spatula, make them do tricks like "up" (they spread arms/legs and stand tall), "smile" (they open mouth real big), and of course "Sic 'Em"!  We were amazed at how well cared for they are.  It has always been a dream of mine to be close to the bears, so this was a check off my bucket list for sure!  Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel before walking the lake and geocaching on our way out of town.  Talk about a GREAT weekend!  Thanks to my sweet hubby Charles and especially Gamee/Grampee for spoiling the kids (2 weekends in a row this time) while we got away.  I feel so loved and ready to turn 36 years old.  Ha!

Some random delights...

Gamee & Grampee are AMAZING!

Charles and I wanted to go to a Baylor game on Saturday, so Gamee and Grampee decided to take the kids for an amazing trip to Grapeland, TX.  We always love it down there (likely because the cell phones do not work, ha!) and wish we could go more often with our membership.  The kids not only LOVE being with Gamee/Grampee, but they were so excited to go to Grapeland and cousin Andrew got to go as well.  They were able to fish, cook hotdogs/smores, and see "Trolls" the newest released movie!  Although the Baylor game did NOT make us smile and UT won, the pictures of the kids throughout the weekend made us smile so big.  All 4 of us are blessed by Gamee and Grampee's love!!