Let's Run Away...

...and never come back.  At least that's what we were telling ourselves after a wonderful trip to Colorado at the end of July.  Thanks to some very generous family friends and some continuing education classes for the hubster, we had a great little family/friend vacation to Breckenridge (with a couple day stopover in Denver).

First of all, let's just say that all of our kiddos are traveling rockstars!!  We left ETex at 4:00am.  Yup, that's right.  In the morning.  After going to bed at like midnight (us, not the kids), waking up to start driving 16-17 hours was difficult.  Met up with the rest of the crew for lunch in Amarillo [side bar: it's probably just me, but I can't think of Amarillo without singing George Strait's Amarillo By Morning.  Perhaps that's a side effect of growing up in Texas.]

(this iPad holder is awesome.  It'd be more awesome if I wanted to shell out the cash for bluetooth headphones, but I didn't.  These corded, ear protecting ones will work just fine)

(probably can't tell, but this is a giant wind turbine propeller.  It was ginormous!)

When we finally rolled into Breck - I think we fell in love with the weather instantly.  Something about going from 100 degrees to 65 degrees in 16 hours will do that to ya.

Each day was glorious.  We could take walks in the evening without sweating!

Even mundane things like eating at Chipotle are better in the mountains.

Picnicking by the river. Water was freezing.  But we braved it for a family photo.  First one since Christmas, I presume.

We braved the rec center for swim lessons.  Kaylynn had 4 good days - Ben had 2.  Every other day he flipped out.  Not sure why.

One day, we had to take him in a white t-shirt and a diaper.  He was not thrilled.  But he got in the pool.  Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for little boys in white t-shirts.  Or this little boy in a white t-shirt.  Probably because it reminds me of his dad, who wears white t-shirts.

We headed up the Gondie (gondola) or as my kids called it, the "oval gondowa" to the fun park.  Still not sure what this place was called, but the Alpine Slide and coaster were awesome!

Ben took naps on the chair lifts. Did a little fishing. Or rock throwing. Or picture taking in the mountains. OH, and geocaching! And we fed chipmunks organic cheerios. They weren't fans. They were jealous of chocolate sprinkled donuts. :) And then we made it to Denver for class, where we saw awesome urban gardens and ate sushi. Denver's not bad, I tell you. We were all bummed to head back to Texas. If we could just run away and hide out without no one knowing where we were - we'd do it. So if we ever go missing - look for us out west.