Colorado - Mike's House

The girls have a week off of school every October for Fall Break. This year we decided to FINALLY drive up to Colorado to visit my brother and sister and their families. We were a bit leary of the 14 hour long drive, but honestly, we had a great time. It was the perfect road trip.

We left Saturday the 11th pretty early, and got to Mike's house (my 2nd oldest brother) before 10:00 that night. Mike & Laura have 3 girls, Cami, Hayley & Audrey. We had SUCH a good time with them. It was so nice to finally see their house, their neighborhood and town. It's nice to be able to think of them, and talk to them and know what it looks like where they are, in their living room, play room, out their back window. We couldn't get enough of the fall colors. We just don't get that here in Phoenix. We don't have TREES in Phoenix like there in Colorado Springs. Even though we got there after dark, the whole landscape was obviously different - there were so many trees. It was very cool. (Oh yeah, and VERY COLD too!)

The kids had a blast in their basement play room. It's basically full of toys, a swing, slide etc. They loved it. And the girls REALLY loved sleeping in the living room downstairs on the hide-a-bed. They felt very mature to have their own "room". Mike & Laura were so hospitable. :) Laura, you make thee best blueberry pancakes and YUMMY waffles! Homemade whip cream. MMMmmm..... We went hiking on Monday up a little gorgeous mountain close to Cami's school, and then stopped and at Black Eyed Pea, a restaurant I used to frequent here in Phoenix until it closed down. We were quite the scene and got many stares..... 2 bald guys, 6 kids, 4 adults and the multi-cultural thing only made it more of an anomaly. We had fun though and the kids loved it.

On Tuesday we went up to the base of Pike's Peak . They have a Cog Railway that goes almost straight up the mountain at times. It was a bit expensive but much more comfortable of a ride and safer than if we'd driven up ourselves (check out the Pikes Peak Hill Climb... no rails, sheer cliffs.... no thanks). We learned a lot about the rail and the mountain from a very informative guide. We got to the top, which is over 14,000 feet, and my hands were shaking, and my brain functioned, amazingly enough, even WORSE than at sea level. I had a very hard time concentrating on the simplest thing, like keeping all the little kids accounted for. It was bizarre. It was 6 degrees up there that day, so the kids played in the snow for about 6 seconds, and then we spent the rest of the time inside the gift shop/cafe. We had famous Pike's Peak donuts and some yummy hot chocolate. It was a totally awesome adventure, and the scenery was amazing.

On our little drive home we stopped at Garden of the Gods, a GORGEOUS little drive through a place that looks a little like Sedona, but much greener and with more deer hanging out ;) It was SO PRETTY! Mike had fun taking pictures of the girls pretending to hold up large boulders.The girls were in love with the outdoorsy nature of Mike & Laura's backyard. They have wild bunnies that live in their front & back yards, and one morning Megan came in screeching that there were 5 deer in the backyard. It was so nice spending time with Mike & Laura and the girls. Now we miss them more than before we visited. :(