Colorado is breathtaking in the summer. We weren't sure what to do for a summer vacation and I wanted to go someplace that would feel like a real vacation (not a staycation) but wasn't bank-breaking (Hawaii) or didn't require 14 hours on a plane with 3 kids (Italy). Colorado!
Not only could we see Reid and my God-kiddos, which was super fab, but we could be in a beautiful place together as a family - Papa Mit included! We rented a 3-bedroom cabin right on a beautiful lake just a skip and a hop away from the West entrance to Rocky National Park and 15 miles from Reid's house in Granby (that's our view in the photo above). Truly perfect.
There were a few moments at the beginning of the trip where I wondered why I bother going on vacation if I'm going to be this stressed out, but after the second nightfall, we all found our groove and settled into a week of hiking, boating and exploring. We had a such a great time that we even checked out local real estate for our make-believe second home in the mountains - a place in the Rocky Mountains, another one in Palm Springs. And since we are dreaming, I should add in a home for us here in LA!
This was truly a memory-making vacation.
Our house
Right out our back door. One of my favorite activities - taking the boat out on the lake. We borrowed life jackets and paddles from a friend of Reid's and "borrowed" the boat from the cabin owners.
Celebrating Sawyer's 6th Birthday party on our first day in Colorado. I also got to see Reid's mom - my "other" Mom - and Dara, Mike and their little girl Rye who were all in town that weekend for the festivities.
Checking out the horses at Grand Lake Lodge
Cap fishing on our dock with Xavier on his back. Cap caught a big rainbow trout which he later grilled that night for dinner.
(not great) photo of a moose Bull and Cow. My 3 goals while in Colorado were to see a moose (we saw at least 7!), go canoeing (I'm counting the boat as an equivelant experience) and eat
pie (which I did at Xavier's birthday part after I gobbled up a cupcake).
All those little brown dots are a herd of elk. Seeing what the park map referred to as "charismatic megafauna" was a highlight for me. In addition to moose and elk, we also saw mule deers, a marmot and a porcupine. Eliza does a great impression of a porcupine waddling.
12,000 feet above sea level. This alpine tundra drive through the Park was another highlight. It hailed on us and then quickly turned to sunshine. The rock formations are schist on top of granite. Addie and I thought the delicate tundra vegetation was a perfect place for fairies to live.
The girls were sworn in as Junior Rangers after completing their activity books. When the ranger asked them what their favorite animal was they had seen in the park, they didn't mention the moose or elk. Instead they told her they liked the grasshoppers and hummingbirds.
We all loved hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park which we did almost every day.
Silly sisters in their matching Winter Park t-shirts, a present from Reid.
Check out all of our photos here.
There were a few moments at the beginning of the trip where I wondered why I bother going on vacation if I'm going to be this stressed out, but after the second nightfall, we all found our groove and settled into a week of hiking, boating and exploring. We had a such a great time that we even checked out local real estate for our make-believe second home in the mountains - a place in the Rocky Mountains, another one in Palm Springs. And since we are dreaming, I should add in a home for us here in LA!
This was truly a memory-making vacation.
Our house
Right out our back door. One of my favorite activities - taking the boat out on the lake. We borrowed life jackets and paddles from a friend of Reid's and "borrowed" the boat from the cabin owners.
Celebrating Sawyer's 6th Birthday party on our first day in Colorado. I also got to see Reid's mom - my "other" Mom - and Dara, Mike and their little girl Rye who were all in town that weekend for the festivities.
Checking out the horses at Grand Lake Lodge
Cap fishing on our dock with Xavier on his back. Cap caught a big rainbow trout which he later grilled that night for dinner.
(not great) photo of a moose Bull and Cow. My 3 goals while in Colorado were to see a moose (we saw at least 7!), go canoeing (I'm counting the boat as an equivelant experience) and eat
pie (which I did at Xavier's birthday part after I gobbled up a cupcake).
All those little brown dots are a herd of elk. Seeing what the park map referred to as "charismatic megafauna" was a highlight for me. In addition to moose and elk, we also saw mule deers, a marmot and a porcupine. Eliza does a great impression of a porcupine waddling.
12,000 feet above sea level. This alpine tundra drive through the Park was another highlight. It hailed on us and then quickly turned to sunshine. The rock formations are schist on top of granite. Addie and I thought the delicate tundra vegetation was a perfect place for fairies to live.
The girls were sworn in as Junior Rangers after completing their activity books. When the ranger asked them what their favorite animal was they had seen in the park, they didn't mention the moose or elk. Instead they told her they liked the grasshoppers and hummingbirds.
We all loved hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park which we did almost every day.
Silly sisters in their matching Winter Park t-shirts, a present from Reid.
Check out all of our photos here.
2 comments:
Great photos, Sarah! I looked at your Flickr stream, too.
Excellent!
Charismatic megafauna? Really? Charismatic yes. Megafauna? That is starting me on a whole new comparative language vocabulary. Glad the girls still love microfauna!. What an incredibly wonderful trip, and richly deserved by you all.
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