We had a blast! This past weekend we took a trip to Colorado Springs, which is about an hour and a half away. The cabin we stayed in took closer to 2 1/2 hours to get to. It was a great cabin, tucked away in the mountains with not another sole around. The trek up the mountain to get to the cabin was a 30 minute drive up a steep, twisty, narrow (very narrow, in many places) dirt road and we had more than a couple close calls around corners with cars coming from the other direction. It was definitely an adventure just getting to and from the cabin. It was worth it though! The cabin was a perfect mix of rustic and modern and the perfect size for our family of six.
This ladder led up to the kids sleeping loft. The first time up and down scared Jonah immensely
but then he discovered the joy of climbing up and down and by the end of the trip declared the
ladder his favorite part of the trip.
The sunroom was the favorite hang for the kids, aside from exploring outside.
On Friday night we grilled chicken at the cabin and just hung and out explored the area. There was a little pond and stream close by.
The cabin had two hummingbird feeders that were in constant use. We would have to fill them twice a day to keep the hummingbirds happy. There were so many hummingbirds that they would be hovering around waiting for their turn at the feeder and fussing at others for taking too long. When they fly right by your head they sound like Light Sabers.
On Saturday we rode the Pikes Peak Cogway up to the top of Pikes Peak. The train ride was over an hour one way and very beautiful. At the top we were allowed only 40 minutes or less due to the altitude. Unfortunately that really wasn't enough time to enjoy the views, take a bathroom break and grab a snack. Next time we will plan to drive ourselves to the top so that we can stay as long as we'd like.
Saturday evening we headed to the Flying W Ranch for a cowboy meal and show. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip for all of us. We were blessed with basically front row seats and couldn't have asked for a better experience all the way around. The "grandpa" type guy in the singing group even called Katie out from the stage, pointing out the "cute little girl over there" and waving at her and Sarah.
On Sunday we visited Seven Falls and Cave of the Winds. Seven Falls is truly spectacular in itself. But due to the high commercialization of the area it lost some of it's natural splendor. It was quite a trek up to the top using stairs but our kids were quite the troopers.
Once we climbed the 224 steps to the top of Seven Falls we took a short hike to
Midnight Falls where there was a little cave the kids could sit in.
Cave of the Winds was Aidan's favorite attraction and the other kids enjoyed it too. Unfortunately we didn't get a very good tour guide and it there were so many tours going on simultaneously that it wasn't the most enjoyable experience for Jeremy and I. We were constantly having to wait for one tour group or another to pass by or finish in one of the cave rooms before we could proceed and it was quite noisy in the cave with some many different groups in there at the same time.
Sunday evening called for major thunderstorms in the area and we debated and debated about whether to make the trek down the mountain to view fireworks. We were concerned about what the dirt road would be like traversing home in the rain. We decided to give it a try and were glad we did. The rain held off and the spot we picked to watch fireworks from turned out to be amazing. We didn't know exactly where they would be launched from and so we just picked a high point in the city of Manitou Springs, pulled off the highway and set up our chairs on the grass on the side of the road. It ended up that the fireworks were shot off literally 50 yards directly in front of us. We could see them launching them and it was quite an up close and personal (and loud) experience. It also was the easily drive home from a fireworks display we've ever experienced. The thunderstorms and hail hit at about 11:00 p.m. once we were all tucked safely in our beds at the cabin.
Monday morning we packed up and said good-by to the cabin, then headed to the Ghost Town Museum. The kids really wanted to go to this, and even though it didn't really interest Jeremy and I, we decided to oblige them. The kids did seem to enjoy it, but as we suspected it was not really worth the time and we should have skipped it all together. Afterwards we headed to Garden of the Gods and walked the trails, taking pictures and thoroughly enjoying God's amazing creativity. Then we went for a quick lunch at The Mason Jar before heading to the Garden of the Gods Trading Post, a massive souvenir shop, before heading home.
Over all it was a fantastic trip and a great experience for our first official family vacation. Jonah wins the "trooper" award. At 3 1/2, we weren't sure how well he'd do but there was hardly a complaint from his lips the entire time...the girls, however, didn't fully appreciate all of the hiking and walking involved, which I expected. Our only regret was not having more time to enjoy just hanging out at the cabin. We thought we'd scheduled in quite a bit of relaxation time but with the length of the drive and many of the attractions taking a longer amount of time that expected we had very little time at the cabin other than while we were sleeping. We will plan better for that part on our next trip!
