Vacation, Part 2

It was good to see some family while we were there too... We got to see my Aunt Connie, my cousins, and their eight precious children. My boys had an immediate love for their "tousins". They even watched the boys for me so I could do a little shopping on my own... now THAT was a treat!

We also got to see my Grandma Marilyn on my dad's side. She gave the boys "Thomas the Train" books, much to their delight.

Next we went to the Garden of the gods. The boys, and Calvin (yes, we are one of THOSE families who plan their vacation around where they can bring their dog...) loved hiking up the orange rocks, and the biggest bonus is that it wore them out!

Nate, Calvin and the boys at the Balanced Rock.

The next day we went to Helen Hunt Falls. I grew up going to this place and it is absolutely beautiful. The great thing is that it is not as well known and it's more of a local hang out rather than a tourist trap. The boys loved playing in the COLD stream and seeing the waterfall. Nate and I had brought all the hiking gear expecting to hike at least a little, but were quickly thrown back into reality that hiking with three under three is not the easiest, most practical, or wisest thing.

Then we went to this place called Mr. Biggs, and let me tell you...this. place. is. COOL. Nate and I always dream about starting a place like this in Altus, but this place exceded our dreams by a long shot. In an old warehouse building, all under one roof, there is bowling, arcades, go-carts, laser tag, good food, bouncy castles, and soooo much more. And that is not even mentioning the Little Kids Town where we hung out with the boys. There are about 20 rooms for little kids, each one themed with plenty of props such as a propped up car with play tools where the boys can fix a car, a beauty shop with curling irons (without the cords) and curlers, the biggest sand box we've ever seen, and much more. We all had a blast.

Caleb waits on some very high maintenence clients.

All in all, it was an awesome trip. So much fun and so many new memories.

Vacation, Part 1

We just made it back from our vacation to Colorado Springs. We had an absolute blast.!! It was really hard to leave. In the military, often times vacations are spent going to see immediate family, since you aren't stationed near them. For us, that means Kansas and Florida get most of our vacation time and dollars. Although we LOVE both Kansas and Florida, we wanted to go somewhere different this time and actually rest and spend time together as a family. Nate and I both have histories in Colorado Springs...Nate went to the Air Force Academy there and I have family there and have spent most of my childhood vacations there up until I got married. We've never been there together so we decided to go there and start building some memories there together.

Where to start...

I always overpack for vacations, and since our family is growing, and we took our big dog with us, I tried really really hard to pack light and not to bring a lot of "what if this happens" items. Every time I've gone to Colorado in summer, I've always packed jeans and a sweatshirt "just in case" but have never used them...so I skipped them this time. Well, the first two days we were there the high was 55 degrees. Boy those sweatshirts would have come in handy. We went to the zoo with the boys in their pajamas because it was the only pants they had. We bundled them up pretty well though.

All three snug a boos.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was awesome. It gives you a workout climbing up the mountains to see the animals though. You don't feel as guilty eating that funnel cake when you have to take an uphill hike to see the tigers. :) My dear friend, Jen, came down from Denver to meet us at the zoo. It was great to see her and her kiddos, plus she had extra children's coats, which we were thankful for.

The zoo with a veiw.

My friend Jen and I with our children.

We also visited Nate's old stomping grounds at the Academy. He was cool to see the place where he endured hundreds of hours of torture, er, I mean, training. Corban took an instant liking to the place where daddy learned to fly planes and said he wants to be a Cadet when he grows up too. Oh boy.

The United States Air Force Academy Chapel with Nate on stroller duty (I had stroller duty on the downhill climb ;)

Next stop, Focus on the Family. Our boys loved playing here, and Nate and I are all about free fun. Although once we got to the bookstore, the "free" part stopped. Being the book-a-holics that we are, we spent a pretty penny there.

Corban and Caleb put on a show for us.

Love it! Can you tell how thrilled Nate is to put his face

in the cut out of a boy with a dog bone?

Another clap and dance and run around the stage show.

To be continued...