Estes Park Getaway

This year we did a W Family trip to Colorado.  All four siblings along with M's dad and B were able to make the journey to spend a few days together.  I was looking forward to getting away from the heat but slightly nervous about working around J's nap schedule.

In the days leading up to the trip I talked to J about going on an airplane.  Every day he asked, "Go on airpane?"  And each day I would have to say, "Not today."  When the day finally arrived we were all thrilled.  

Going to the airport and getting on the "airpane" was quite the ordeal!  I was able to pack all five of us in 4 big suitcases.  Not bad, huh?  Well, we still had the stroller, J's big car seat for the plane, a carry on for each of us AND the 4 suitcases.  What would we do without boys that can help?!  A and his backpack were on stroller duty.  He only ran J into one light post but I caught him before driving J off the curb.Z and his backpack were in charge of a suitcase.  M had his backpack, the bulky car seat and a suitcase.  And I had my purse, J's backpack and the remaining suitcases.  

Once the suitcases were dropped off we made it through security and on to watch the "airpanes go whoooosh!".

The direct flight was a breeze until we landed.  We had to sit on the tarmac for about 20 minutes because of lightning.  With all our gear in tow we made it to the rental car, grabbed our minivan and started the hour long drive to Estes Park.  Well.  It was supposed to be about an hour long.  We didn't know the freeway was going to be shut down because of water over it.  So, 4 1/2 hours after we landed we made it to our condo...at 10:45 that night.  And who wants to sleep after you've taken a long nap in the car?  Not our boys!  The excitement of the condo, seeing Uncle Joe and the naps kept us up until 1 a.m.

The next morning we greeted all the family members and took off to check out the town.  We did a little shopping for taffy...and...hats...

This is our camp counselor...doesn't he look so official?

J and Uncle Jakob were best buds.  Maybe it was because Uncle Jakob was the only adult willing to get in the pool with him.  In my defense...it was COLD!

Maddie, the lone girl on the W side of the family.  Poor thing! :)

Oh wait, now J is best friends with Uncle Cameron...because he had the bubbles.  Man.  I'm starting to think J doesn't know the word "loyalty".

We were all enamored with the chipmunks.  They were EVERYWHERE!  Don't drop your food on the ground because there is always a little one waiting to run off with it.  One little guy was able to run off with a hot dog wiener!

After the rain cleared away we were finally able to venture out on some of our planned activities.  Camp Counselor Joe had a horseback riding session scheduled for us.  Since M is not a fan of riding horses he eagerly volunteered to stay back with J.  And since I loooove riding horses, I eagerly let him stay back at the cabin!

Here we are all ready with our helmets! 

Aunt Kendra is a very skilled rider.  She leases a horse in Denver and goes on fox hunts all the time.  She was in her element on the horses!  Maddie and A were borderline on whether or not they could ride a horse by themselves.  We opted to put them with an adult just in case.  Here's Aunt Kendra and Maddie waiting for all eleven horses to be ready to go.

Now Z.  Ugh.  Mommy was very nervous about him riding a horse alone.  I know these horses are trained to follow the leader and I know they stay on the path but the idea of letting my baby ride on a horse...ALONE...was a little scary.  Would it surprise you if I said he was a champ?  The three older boys each had their own horse and were the first three horses behind the leader so she could keep a close eye on them.  Z was able to get his horse to stop eating and keep walking.  He walked his horse across a stream, down the rock stairs and got him to line up again.  At one point the horse behind him put his face right up against his leg.  Without even flinching Z reached out to pet him on the muzzle and talk to him.  I was soo impressed!  Not bad for a city boy!!

As for A and I, well we did just fine.  (Thanks for the pic, Cameron!)  I love horses and I've decided that I love horses when I have my own saddle.  A and I were quite cozy for an hour and a half.  Twenty minutes into the ride he asked how much longer...and for the next half hour he asked how much longer about every 5 minutes.  Then he started to wiggle in the saddle to where he was almost hanging off the side!  Mommy was not impressed with these riding skills at all.  But then it dawned on me.  "Austin, is something hurting you?"  I got a little, "Yeaaaah".  Come to find out when you are squished at the front of a saddle the horn tends to dig into the boy parts.  How was I supposed to know that?!  So the remainder of the ride I spent a lot of time trying to push myself to the back of the saddle so A had more room for his "parts".

Day 3 of our Colorado adventure was just what I pictured.  We spent the day in the beautiful mountain air, warm with the sun shining down on us but cool from the gentle breeze.  We rented a fun bike cart that was a good idea in theory.  All 5 of us fit on it so that was fun but a lack of gears and altitude made it more than we bargained for! :)  We survived and it really was fun with the boys yelling "faster!" and M and I peddling our brains out.

   

We convinced Aunt Angie and Uncle Jakob to go with us but they bailed pretty early in the ride.

However, the old people managed to hang with us! :)  I'm not sure they loved it, but they were great sports about the whole thing.

Who can resist this scenery?  The mountains, the green grass, the SNAKESKIN HAT AND CAMO BANDANNA.  I am one lucky woman!

After lunch we hit the playground for a little bit.  Uncle Joe was in charge of J.  Wait, what?  I didn't tell you that you were going to have to follow him up the huge play scape and down the slide?  Oh, my bad. *wink*

That night after dinner we all went separate directions.  Our branch of the W clan decided to head into Estes Park for the evening and do a little hiking.  Again, exactly what I envisioned.  We were the only ones at this particular location and it was awesome!  While we were exploring Z was able to work on his photography belt loop.  Not bad, huh?

Don't think I let him hog the camera the whole time!  I wanted a pic of all my boys.  Love them!!

Now this guy.  We saw him grazing in an open field as we were leaving the park.  I was driving and made the executive decision to pull over and watch him for a bit.  All three boys were out of their car seats and squished at the open window.  M had a great view from the passenger window as well.  I watched from the driver's seat until I decided I wanted a better view as well.  I unbuckled my seat belt and managed to kneel with my right knee on the passenger seat supporting my weight with one knee and my arms as I peered around M.

This guy was BIG and totally uninterested in the half a dozen or so cars that had pulled over to watch him.  We were all whispering and talking about his size when I had a boy moment.  What is a boy moment?  A moment of stupidity.  I decided to whistle at him.  I just wanted to see if he'd look over at us!  I whistled once and he looked up.  Another boy moment...I did it again.  He looked over at us!!  Holy cow!  I surprised me and I lost my balance, slipped to the floor of the minivan and got stuck!  I'm struggling to get my butt out from between the seat and the dashboard and the massive animal with a giant rack is walking towards our car.  I couldn't get my butt out!!  He's coming closer to us and within seconds he gallops up the hill and is standing BEHIND OUR VAN!!  I finally managed to get my act together, the boys had already rolled up their windows and I finally got mine up as he stands three feet behind our van and a whole lot taller up close.  I think a little pee came out.

Stay tuned for pictures of our last day in beautiful Colorado!  And remember, never, EVER whistle at elk.