Colorado Bound!

Need to break up the end of summer blues?

How about a trip to beautiful Colorado?

Sounds like a plan.

Lunch break on day 2 of our drive.

We were so excited about this little hill "mountain."

Taking a walk near our rent house. After a couple of days of driving we needed a little chill time.

Hiking!

The kids had the best time on our little excursions.

Our first hike: Treasure Falls.

The sun was still coming up over the mountain, so it was hard to get a decent picture.

Bridge at the base of the falls.

Family shot!

Minus one.

Scenic overlook.

Absolutely beautiful!

When we were at the overlook, there were tons of chipmunks! They were so friendly.

The house we stayed in had some board games, and Ryder learned to play checkers. However, this was the ways they played with these games for the week.

Hike number two: Silver Falls.
We had a long, rough drive to get to the trail head. But the views were awesome!

Since we had to go so slow on the rocky road, we let the kids peek out the windows. They were pretending to be puppies.

This was the sign for the trail head. We almost turned around before we saw a little shack and stick in the ground.

Our first attempt at timed picture taking. Nick wiped out twice maneuvering on these rocks.

Attempt number two. The Silver Falls hike was very short but really steep. I was stressed out for the kids the whole time.

We discovered that the bark on these trees smells like caramel.
No joke.
They are smelling the tree.
Yes I was laughing.

"The hills are alive!"

Ryder took a picture of us! He did a pretty good job.

The town calendar showed that the local library has a story time once a week, so we thought we'd check it out while we were there. The next day was national s'mores day, so we read camping books and made this cool s'mores craft.

Later that day we wandered around town. The San Juan River runs through town, so we visited one of their river walks.

Nick caught a crawdad that was chasing minnows.

We ate at the best brewery; Pagosa Brewing Company. Their beer was so smooth and tasty. We went back the next night just for beer and play.

They had a huge outdoor dining tent and a play area for the kids. I think they liked it even more than we did, and made many friends

Caught someone having a good ol' time with Mama's clothes. You can't beat that smile.

Our third hike: Piedra Falls. It was a bit of a drive, but, as it is in most cases in Colorado, beautiful.

The water was flowing very well here. It was misty and full of the sound of the waterfall.

Big rock formations on the side of the mountain.

Say, "waterfall!"

Nothing like climbing on river rocks.

Lunch by the creek.

So ready to play!

Sunrise on our last morning.

The trip home always feels longer, especially when you're confined to a car seat. This was Crosby's face watching Micky Mouse for the first time. He fell asleep soon after.

Kids love hotels, especially the elevators and luggage carts!

This was a special trip for us in many ways, one being that it was the first vacation that was just our family. While we would have enjoyed sharing it with more people, it was a special experience with just us. Nick is ready to book next year's trip!