Colorado Trip

A couple of weeks ago, my sister Lisa asked me if I could come with my other sister Trish to Colorado for six days.  It was all very last minute, and I had to juggle some things and details around, but we made it happen, and it was easy to do, since my kids are all older now and more independent.  I am so thankful for a husband who so easily agrees to me going, because he knows how much I wanted to meet my twin great nieces.  He has always pushed me to do things for myself, and for that, I am so grateful.  I know not every husband is like that.

We left my house at four on Tuesday of last week, and my mom, stepdad, Trish, and I all went to Chili's to eat at the old folks hour.  Our plane would land in Denver at 8:50 their time, an hour later our time.  After eating dinner and stopping to get a drink and a snack once we made it through security, we were excited to get going.  Also, we were a teensy bit nervous.  Neither of us loves to fly.  Thankfully, the flight was smooth, except for the last 45 minutes or so.  The turbulence was rough as we flew through dense clouds, and the poor and pregnant lady next to Trish threw up for the last half hour.  Trish took her baby for her, and just turned her head. (The lady had a baby, and a toddler.) We were glad to see the ground, once we landed!

Debi and Lisa came to get us, and we went to Lisa's house.  We pretty much went right to bed, we were so tired.  Well, we were, but Lisa and I sat up talking until after midnight.  I miss her when I don't see her!

The next morning, Erika (my niece and mommy to the twins) came over with the girls, and we left for Breckinridge.

Kylie is the one on the left of the screen (she scratched her nose on the way to GiGi's house) and Kinsley is on the right.  Aren't they precious?!

My heart was filled to overflowing, meeting these little angels/miracles from God.

On the road to Breckinridge.

It is a gorgeous drive.

Once there, we settled into our hotel room, had lunch, entertained babies, and then went for a quick swim.

I do not recommend swimming in Breckinridge.  The water was fine, really warm actually, but when I got out and felt that wind blow, I started shaking uncontrollably.  I covered myself up in like five towels to dry off, and was glad to go back inside and change into pj's until dinner that night.

While I was in the pool, Erika and I sat and talked for a long time.  I loved spending that time with her.  She is my original girl, I told her (and Todd's), and I loved hearing about her life with twins, and comparing stories with her.  I miss her!

After that swim, we all started getting ready for dinner.  Debi recommended a place known for their wings, called Eric's.

We ate, held babies, laughed and talked, then strolled around town for a bit.  I love Breckinridge!  It's my second time to go there.

Debi and me holding the girls while finishing up dinner.  Right after this I got up to go walk around with Kinsley, because she was getting a little fussy.

I love how so many of the trees in and around Denver are Christmas trees.  I never get tired of looking at them while I'm there.

Above is just a cute building I wanted a picture of.  This town is adorable and quaint, and reminds me of a Swiss village.  Not that I've ever been to a Swiss village, but I've seen Google images.

I actually took this picture above the next morning, but it's a used bookstore I wanted to visit.  They were closed when I went down to check it out, sadly.

I have so many more pictures of our time there, but if you're on social media, you can check them out there.  I'm allfiveboys on Instagram, or you can see them on Facebook.

We left around lunch time the next day and headed back down out of the mountains.  Thursday afternoon we arrived back at Lisa's house, had a late dinner, and hit the hay.  We were BEAT.

On Friday, we decided we would just stay around her house most of the day and rest.  It felt really good, because we had spent a whirlwind 24 hours in the mountains.  That night we went to Erika's house for dinner.

During our visit, I got both girls down for short naps before their nighttime routines.  They make my heart so happy, and I was literally trying to just soak them up.  I adore them!  They're each so different, and have such opposite personalities.

We ate a delicious dinner that my nephew Jaret made for all of us, visited some more, then that night I spent the night with Debi.

I love their dog, Cowboy.  And Cowboy loves me.  He sat at my feet all Saturday morning while Debi and Mike were getting ready and putting groceries away.  He is every bit as sweet as this picture makes him look.  Saturday morning, Lisa and Trish came to pick us up, and then we headed to a nearby town called Castlerock.  There's this huge shop there, The Barn, that I love, so we went there, to another shop similar to The Barn, and to lunch.

This was me waiting outside of the first shop.  I was so hungry and trying to get rid of a headache.  I sent this as a Snapchat to my family back home.

Jonah immediately commented on my new shirt and told me loved it.

I  love that.

After all of that, we went to Lisa's house to grab comfy clothes, and headed back to Erika's house to babysit for the evening.

They were going to a Colorado Rockies game, and Erika said she should get a picture with them, since she was all dressed up for their date night.

I. LOVE. THEM.

(Kylie is on the left, Kinsley on the right.)

We entertained the babies, got them all fed, bathed, burped, and then down for the night, and then they came home around ten.  We went back to Lisa's house and crashed.

Sunday morning, we stayed around Lisa's house for a while, then left around noon to go do some touristy things.

We drove to Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods national park.

I might have teared up, it was so amazingly beautiful.  I have always wanted to go see this, and I am so glad we got to go!

Also, the Colorado sky is always gorgeous.

We ate lunch at a little local Italian place, then headed up Pike's Peak to North Pole, Colorado.  We shopped a little (I shopped a little), then headed back down the mountain.  Our last stop for the day was back in Colorado Springs, to see the hotel, The Broadmoor.

This was in the back of the hotel.  Does it not look European?!  It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Another amazing thing in Colorado are all the lush flowers.  Flowering plants love the Colorado climate, and grow so beautiful.

We walked around inside for a bit, and I found where I would like to go spend a few hours.

Trish climbed up on this ladder and I almost killed her on it.  It was broken, I found out, and almost made her fall off while filming a video for Snapchat.  We laughed and laughed.

We dropped Debi off at her house in Parker, said our goodbyes, then left to go grab a late dinner before going back to Lisa's house for the night.  The next morning we left her house at ten forty five, and met Erika for one last lunch together before flying home.

The little turkey bought our lunches for us, and then we said our goodbyes.  She drove us to the airport, and then around three, we headed home on our plane.  I was so glad to see my family!  It is always fun when I go visit them in Colorado, and I am so thankful for this very unexpected trip.  I am so glad that Lisa, Jaret, Erika, Kyle (her hubby), Kinsley, and Kylie are all coming home for Thanksgiving.  It made saying goodbye so much easier, and for once, I didn't cry.  Well, I teared up when I said goodbye to Lisa, but the tears didn't fall.

As fun as trips always are, there is no place like home.  I was so glad that they were all there to greet me when I got off the plane.

Thanks for reading!  Love to all.