Y'all, traveling with toddlers is no joke. We went to Colorado (Colorado Springs & Denver) with Magan, Dustyn, Everett & Gentry...so that's 4 adults, a 2.5 year old, almost 2 year old & 7 month old. There were definitely some rough moments (but what do you expect with lack of sleep and schedule changes?!) but overall we had a GREAT trip!! It's so fun to compare how different Eli was during our Colorado trip at the same time last year...and to think what he'll be like on our trip next year :)
We started off our trip bright (well dark) and EARLY with a 6:40 am flight. Eli was so excited to see the planes and kept yelling "big bet" (aka big jet from Little Einsteins). The flight was a little rough because he was in our lap & the flight was full but thank goodness it was under 2 hours (another reason we love Colorado). We arrived at 8:30 am and after gathering the ridiculous amount of stuff we had we got our rental cars and headed to Torchy's for breakfast/lunch tacos. YUM! After a pit stop at Target we were on the road to Colorado Springs.
We went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the kids loved all the animals! The zoo is on the side of the mountain but Eli still insisted walking 80% of the time. The only way we got him to ride in the stroller was if we gave him snacks (shocker, I know). Eli's favorite animals were the elephants, meerkats, & orangutans.
We were able to check in to our hotel just in time to get a family nap in. When we woke up we grabbed some dinner and headed to the Balloon Glow. We got there a little late but still saw lots of balloon action. It was a LONG day and our kiddos were pushed way past their limits. Time for sleep since we had to be at the balloon festival at 615 am. *Yaaawn*
It was a BEAUTIFUL day for Labor Day Lift Off & Eli was so fascinated with all of the balloons. We got him some "dones" (aka donut holes) and this kiddo was a happy camper. And yes, Eli and I (& Magan & Everett) wore matching LuLaRoe hot air balloon leggings! We got lots of compliments :)
After breakfast tacos at Rudy's (we must be from Texas with our love of tacos haha) we drove through Garden of the Gods. Such a pretty drive! and if it weren't for car seats we would have taken the kiddos out but #toddlers.
We packed up and headed to our ADORABLE little house in Denver. It was nice to be in a house where the kids could run around & play, rather than being confined to a hotel room the whole trip. Car naps do not equal real naps so the kiddos went to bed at like 6pm.
Monday morning we decided to get out of the house ASAP because #toddlers so we hit the road for Breckenridge...one of my favorite little towns EVER! Eli slept almost the whole way (what do you expect when you get up at 4am?!) so he was ready to be free when we got there. Needless to say he was not happy when we strapped him to us, but he's a runner so you gotta do what you've gotta do. We got some Starbucks & walked around the little shops until lunch time. We had a great lunch at a local place & then hit the road to make it to Georgetown in time for our train ride!
We took a round trip train ride from Georgetown (which made a stop in Silver Plum) and the kiddos were in heaven! Eli kept saying "choochoo", "bridge" & "MAY" (his name new name for Magan). After our train ride we continued our journey back to Denver & picked up some good ol' Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner because we were POOPED!
Tuesday morning we packed up and headed to the Denver Children's Museum. Holy moly this was SUCH a cool museum for kiddos! Eli had a blast on the fire truck (and voluntarily put on a hat?!) & in the ball section. He also loved the water but spent most of his time in the other places. We worked up an appetite and had lunch at Yardhouse in downtown Denver (mmm brussels sprouts).
Thank goodness our hotel let us check in early so we all got in a nap! Woohoo! While the guys returned the rental car we let the kiddos play outside in the courtyard. Colorado weather is the BEST and we were soo sad to leave it :(
Sadly we had to head home on Wednesday. The flight wasn't full so we were able to take Eli's carseat on the plane and woah what a difference! He was such a little angel. He played on his iPad and then fell asleep. Sooo different from the flight there.
We only got back yesterday but I already feel like all of the rough parts of the vacation are a distant memory and only the great memories are sticking around. It was so fun seeing Eli & Everett experience all of these new things together and I can't wait for them to make more travel memories together :)
