Summer Trip Out West: 1st Stop Colorado Springs

For Mother's Day Paul surprised me with a trip to visit my sister Michelle in her new house in Colorado Springs.  I was so excited to be able to go out and see her since I have not been since Owen was born!  So July 16th I flew out with both kids on my own.  I was a little nervous about this and it wasn't nearly as easy as flying with just Hayden, but we made it!

My mornings started out very early since Reid has a strong internal clock!  The earliest he woke up was around 5 am and the latest he slept was about 6:30 am!  Our first full day we headed over to Manitou Springs.  The kids loved the playground and then we checked out some of the quirky shops, like the rubber ducky store and Christmas shop.  Before lunch we headed over to the arcades where Aunt Michelle treated the kids to a handful of quarters to ride the rides.  Both Hayden and Owen were quite sad when the quarters ran out!  For lunch we settled on P.J.'s Bistro.

On Friday we went swimming at the Wilson Ranch Outdoor Pool and enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather.  Hayden had fun going down the small water slides while Owen loved the whirl pool and lazy river.
Aunt Michelle was so great in helping me out with Hayden while I nursed Reid and got him ready for bed at night.  Hayden looked forward to story time the songs Michelle sang.

Recently Hayden told me her favorite Aunt was Michelle, and when I asked why she said because she was so fun and let her play with her American girl doll.  Michelle is awesome and has the complete Addy collection and she was brave and kind enough to let Hayden play with her while we were there!

Michelle and Reid snuggling!  

 On Saturday Jared was kind enough to watch the kiddos while Michelle took me for a run at Fox Run Park.  It was beautiful, but I died!  Michelle is an excellent runner, I did my best but definitely held her back!  After getting cleaned up we went shopping at Briargate and had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen.  We got some awesome deals at William Sonoma before the rain and Mr. Reid waking up from his nap forced us back home!

On Sunday Michelle took us over to the Air Force Academy so that Hayden could see where her dad went to college.  It was VERY hot this day and Hayden did not enjoy the short walk to see the grounds!  But she did like seeing where her dads dorm room was and watching the cadets training.  Coming back to the Academy brought back all kinds of fun memories about when Paul and I first started dating.

After their crazy late church (2pm-5pm) we had dinner and delicious gluten free cookies.  They really were amazing as you can see by Owen's face!

On Monday we headed over to the North Pole which is a theme park for little kids.  It was not what I was expecting at all.  Michelle and I tentatively decided to spend the morning there, but they were having so much fun so we spent the entire day!

Reid did not appreciate Santa, but to his defense he was tired!

Feeding the Reindeer 

Riding the rides.  Michelle was awesome and went on several spinny rides, I cannot do them anymore without feeling sick!

Hayden never falls asleep in the car, so this is proof of how exhausted they were!

On Tuesday we prepped and got everything ready for our drive to Utah.  That night I also got to reunite with our friends and neighbors from Cheyenne, the Sanders.  These girls are just a few weeks apart and always have a great time when we get together.  So grateful to have friends all over the country!

Wednesday morning we woke up early and started the 10 hour drive to Utah with these 3 in the back.  I was really nervous about this phase of the trip, but they all did great!  Reid barely made a peep, I was surprised and extremely grateful.

Michelle and Jared were such great hosts.  We really packed in an entire week of fun!  We had a great time and Hayden loved playing with her cousin Owen and having sleep overs in his room each night.  They played much better than previous visits, but Hayden still has some room for improvement in learning to play with Owen.  Hopefully next time will be even better.