Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Family trip to Colorado

Bob and I started planning this family trip about 12 months before we left....since the last time Bob and I were in Colorado (for our 10 year anniversary). We knew we needed to take the kids and see if they loved it out there as much as we did. Bob's parents joined us after hearing about our plans and seeing how much fun we had the last time we went.

We rented a beautiful 3 bedroom condo in Frisco which is very close to Breckenridge. It is a cute Colorado town but not near as busy as some of the ski villages. Bob's parents flew to Colorado and met us there and Bob and I and the kids took our first long road trip (our longest trip before was about a 7 hour drive to Wisconsin Dells). We stopped for the night in Kansas and drove the other half the next day (we drove straight thru on the way home...the kids were amazing in the car both ways).


Love this welcome sign!!!




On our first full day (Sunday) we went on a hike. The weather was very iffy and we were a little worried about getting caught in a storm (yikes) but we stuck it out, only got a little wet, and ended up having a really great hike.







After our hike we went to Bacon Fest in Keystone (the kids love bacon just like their dad - especially Addison). Then we got some Cajun food for dinner at this cute restaurant in Frisco.
On Monday we went on our whitewater rafting adventure on the Colorado River. I have to admit it though...we were a little less impressed considering we had to take it down quite a notch since Bob and I went last year (we didn't want to freak the kids out and there was age limits we had to deal with). We did get to see a few class II and III rapids but the rest of it was very tame but we still of course had a great time. Next time we will have to try a more adventurous trip and I think the kids will be ready for it. 



Tuesday was one of my favorite days. We got bussed by a bike shop to Vail Pass and rode down hill (nothing too crazy but we did have to give the kids a big lesson in using their hand breaks and taking it slow on turns). We rode down hill for 14 breathtaking miles!!!! We took a break for lunch and then added a little crazy to the end of our bike ride....we rode an additional 6 miles from Frisco to the Dillon Marina. The hills were a little challenging for the kids but what made it more intense was the fact that it got really windy and it looked like a crazy storm was about to come down on us. It was freaky but somehow we made it to our destination in time and then celebrated 20 miles biked...a great accomplishment for the kids.


After our bike ride, Bob and I ended a great day with a date night in Breckenridge.

More adventure on Wednesday. On our way to the Cardinal game in Denver we took a side trip to Mount Evans. It is the highest paved road in North America. It took 28 miles to get to the top....a very slow and very scary 28 miles. No guard rails, very steep cliffs and it doesn't help that I am prone to getting a little car sick (nothing too bad but I am not shy to admit that I had to sit in the front seat for this car ride).

It is as scary as it looks. 


We FINALLY got to the top. The kids just loved the mountain goats...especially this mom and baby. :)




After I recovered from Mount Evans, we had a really great time at the Cardinal game.
The Cardinals won!!!






We didn't run out of things to do on Thursday. I really wish I had more pictures of our fun day but I left my phone in a locker so that I was sure to have fun!!!! We went to the Breckenridge Fun Park (a fun park/amusement park up in the mountains). We spent all day on the alpine slide, roller coaster, climbing wall, trampoline (see Bob in action below), and maze. We had way more fun than we imagined!!!!


We ended our vacation just how we started it....with a hike. We only made it half way up the mountain but it was a tough one (and Bob's mom's asthma was not really up for the climb). 


 

We rewarded ourselves with an amazing brunch and ended the trip with shopping to pick up a few things to remind us of our trip.


It was really hard to say goodbye to the mountains and Colorado. We fell more in love and the kids appreciated the mountains, beautiful views and all the adventure we got to experience.
It was a great trip and we can't wait to go back.




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