Estes Park and Breckenridge

The two summers that we have lived here in Colo. Springs we have been working on our landscaping and finishing our basement. So, we haven't been able to explore as much of Colorado as we would like to. With the landscaping and basement finished we decided we would spend some time up at Rocky Mountain National Park. We rented a little cabin in Estes Park and invited my parents to come join us. My parents flew in from Oregon and even offered to take the kids for a few days at the end of the week while Kent and I spent some time in Breckenridge (another place I had never been). It was absolutely beautiful and we had a perfect week. Thanks mom and dad for coming out!!!

side note: This is probably way too long of a post but since I am using this as my journal and scrapbook I decided to put in lots of pics and details. Plus, there will be a day that I am sure I will have to prove to my kids that we did do fun things together as a family when they were little! ( blurb.com and lulu.com are two websites I have found that will turn your blog into a bound book)

Day one:

• arrive in Estes Park and check out the cute little town. Nana and Papa discovered the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory carmel apples (this wasn't our only stop on the trip!)


• check into our cabin (I don't know if you can even call it that... it was tiny)


• visit the Rock Mountain National Park visitor center and figure out what hikes we are going on
  
• a good game of hearts after the kiddos are in bed (Kent made it a quick round by playing really bad and getting to 100 really quick!)

This was our "cabin" that we stayed in. Not quite sure how they fit three bedrooms, a kitchen/living room, and a bathroom in there but they did!!! We weren't living like royalty but it was all we needed.

The view from our cabin... absolutely beautiful!

Day two:

• early morning tee time for the guys
  
• hike around Sprague Lake and picnic lunch
  
• window shopping in cute Estes Park downtown and dinner out on the town
  
• another wild game of hearts until way too late (way too many peanut m&ms, diet coke, and ridiculous laughter... and again Kent making it easy for me too win)

We got caught in a rain storm on our hike so everyone huddled around Papa while Kent ran to get the car

Day three:

• up early to start our hike to "The Pool". It was a strenous three mile hike round trip and the kids did so great. We were so proud of them! Claire just needed one little break on Papa's shoulders.


• after lunch we did a ride up the mountain on a Tram for a gorgeous view of Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park.
  
• a visit to the waterfront to play in the water
  
• walked around the hotel that "The Shinning" was filmed in
  
• another round of hearts (this time Kent did much better and beat us all!)

Day four:

• another early morning tee time for the guys while the ladies started packing up
  
• went to the lake and rented a pontoon boat to take out for a fun little ride around the lake. The kids all had fun taking turns driving the boat and wading their feet in the water.


• loaded the kids up in the van with Nana and Papa heading back to Colorado Springs and Kent and I were off for a fun time on our own. (Thanks again Mom and Dad!!!)
  
• Kent and I went to see the Steve Miller Band at the Red Rocks Ampatheatre. We had a blast!!!
  
  

Day five and six:
We had so much fun in Breckenridge! We stayed in a fun little lodge that was set up kind of like a bed and breakfast. Brekenridge is such a fun town to visit in the summer. We rode bikes, shopped, hiked, found some fun places to eat, and did some more shopping. It was fabulous!!!