Summer Fun ... In the Sun!

Today wraps up a fun week of Vacation Memories ... I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.  What fun for me to spend a little time reminiscing and remembering back to "when they were littler".

For today, I have some snapshots from our most recent "big" family vacation.  Last summer, we spent a week in the Denver area with Brett's folks and then five days down in Colorado Springs, being tourists and seeing long lost friends.  It was a wonderful mix of being spoiled by Gramps & Grammy and branching out for some fabulous family time ... with some ol' college buddy fun, thrown in for good measure!

Here are my favorite memories from that week:

Our final day with Gramps & Grammy ... all trying to hold still.

Our aspiring "Tony Hawkes" ... plural.

Our favorite part of the hotel.

Santa's Workshop ... loads of fun pics!

Top Five Six Memories of This Vacation:

1. Our time with Brett's folks.  It was wonderful to have an extended amount of time with them ... and we certainly packed it in!  One highlight from that week was visiting the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver.  We went to the planetarium ("How am I moving?!?" ~Norah), investigated the dinosaurs ("They're HUGE!" ~Ashley), took pictures in front of the huge walrus display (By far my favorite pic of Lydia!) and saw our first real Egyptian mummy ("Gross." ~Aaron).  An awesome day!
2. Embassy Suites.  Need I say more?  Where else can you feed a family of six a hearty breakfast every morning and not break the bank?!?  We also loved splashing in the pool, multiple times ... and soaking in the hot tub.  It was almost like being at home since we could put the kids to bed in the back room and still watch a movie in the "living room" ... instead of going to bed at 8:30 with the munchkins.  Finally ... our kids L-O-V-E-D the elevator.  We took every opportunity (sometimes multiple opportunities) to ride up and down and up again ... all while looking out the glass window as we raised high above the indoor shrubbery.  That was worth the price of admission!
3. Visiting the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  Unfortunately, the rock formations were similar enough to those seen on our Arches trip, that the kids started grumbling about 10 minutes into our ONE hike of the day.  We grumbled and mumbled our way around the 1/4 mile loop and got back into the van amid choruses of, "That was so cool!"  Really?  I must have misread their clues! :)  After driving through the rest of the park, we made plans to stop at the last formation ... only to pass it and pass out of the park.  Oops.  Okay ... I guess we're done.  Fortunately our final destination for our picnic lunch also ended up being a vacation highlight.
4. The skate park.  We stumbled upon a park/playground/skate park for lunch.  Boo-yeah!  The best of all worlds!  Lydia got to swing, the kids got to scooter and I got to sit in the grass.  I love the videos and snapshots I got of the kids on their razor scooters.  They were "zooming", "cruising" and "catching air" ... all at a very slow speed.  I'm quite certain that in Aaron's mind, he was Shaun White ... especially listening to his sound effects and the roar of the crowd.  The girls were more cautious ... but still doing some big "tricks"!
5. Seeing friends from college.  We enjoyed three different evenings with three different friends and their families.  We loved the chance to catch up and visit ... and watch our kids enjoy one another.  What a blessing to have friends who are close to our hearts ... even if they live across the state!
6. Santa's Workshop.  We took a trip to the North Pole and enjoyed a day of amusement park rides which were just the right size for our family.  We spun, we zoomed, we circled high into the air ... and we spun some more.  And then a little more spinning.  And then this spinning.  I learned that our kids just might have fun at an amusement park (better start saving my pennies for Disneyland...) and that I really shouldn't spin so much.  The look of pure joy on the kids' faces as they rode around the carousel, chugged along on the train, crested at the top of the ferris wheel and spun on the Tilt-A-Whirl ... made more a beautiful day!  And a fantastic end to a fun vacation ...