Colorado Springs

The kids have been asking to see the mountains for a while now so we had plans to go to Colorado Springs this summer but we canceled due to all the covid craziness :( So...... since the world hadn't blown up since everyone went back to school we decided to take our chances and go!

With prices so low we flew out of College Station airport and directly into Colorado Springs. It was our best day of travel yet! We left Thursday night (after I worked during the day) and landed in Colorado Springs in checked into our airport Cheyenne Mountain Resort after 9:00 and went to bed. We also got a surprise visitor that came with us- "Owliver" from the 1st grade class!

Friday morning we woke up and explored the resort because our 'reservation' for the zoo wasn't until later. It was GORGEOUS!! The view from our room was unbeatable!! We made it to the zoo and I can safely say this rates up as one of our top 3 zoos we have visited. It is on the side of the mountain and it has a ski lift that takes you up to the top and brings you back down. We rode it twice! The kids were a little nervous about it at first and didn't laugh when daddy pretended to lean over too far. The view from the top was breathtaking! Our favorite exhibits were the giraffes (we got to see a 5 day old baby), the hippos, the bald eagle, and guinea pigs! Of course no zoo is complete without dippin dots! We were there almost to close and boy did we get our work out!! We got back to the resort and Miles and Jeff played tennis while Mallory and I went to check out the heated pool. We went and picked up a late dinner and found a park to run around at (I don't know how they still had energy!) and then went to bed!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to Seven Falls. I totally under estimated how much exercise it was going to take to go up all the stairs. It was a scenic walk through canyons to get up to the waterfalls and we got to see all sorts of cute dogs that people were walking. Then we got to the stairs up the waterfalls and that is where I (Liz) almost died. I don't think pictures do it justice- but it was SO narrow and steep! Jeff charged up them with the kids close behind him. I stopped at the halfway platform and contemplated turning around as I felt light headed. However we persevered and we made it to the top! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! We hiked around a little bit at the top and then came down and I had never been so glad to been on the ground. 

After that we headed to minature golf. Miles and Mallory rocked it like they always do! 

Then we headed to our new rental house. It was an amazing house with the nicest hosts! We got settled in and of course made slime- because who doesn't make slime when in Colorado? Just before it got dark we went for a walk/scooter ride and saw so many deer just hanging out in the neighborhood! Mallory wore her fit bit for the day and we walked just over 7 miles! 

The next morning we went sat out on the patio and Miles and I played ladder golf while the deer came up to visit us! We got our water and snacks packed and went to Garden of the Gods. We found a trail called "Siamese Twins" and it was amazing! The kids 'rocked' the hiking and bouldering! They kept telling me they wanted to hike all day! We stopped for lunch at the Garden of the Gods and then headed back to the house because I was exhausted and needed a nap. Of course the kids didn't need a nap so Jeff took them shopping to get Miles a new hoodie jacket he was promised! We packed back up and headed to Manitou Springs. It was a neat town but a cold front was blowing in so we made it a short visit- but of course we had to stop at an old fashion soda shop for ice cream first. Then on the drive home their was one more hiking spot I wanted to stop at- Red Rock Canyon! We made it home and took warm showers and packed our bags because we had an early flight. Then we sat down to the watch the Astros playoff game and played board games. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip! 

Spring Break 2020- Clear Water Beach

You might say... why Tampa? Well I googled the cheapest plane tickets for spring break and that is what I came up with :) It was fate because we had an AMAZING time!!!!

We left Saturday afternoon for Houston and for the first time in a long time had an uneventful airport trip (well minus the drama over the possibility of cornovirus coming.) The flight and rental car were a piece of cake and we landed Saturday night in Tampa. Side note.... I had some trash I needed to throw away on the plane and Mallory digs a plastic bag out of her carry on she packed because she is THAT prepared!! We stopped and ate dinner at Chili's and then got to the vacation house. It was perfect! We had 3+ acres we could roam with a river, treehouse, palm trees, a coy pond and 2 dogs to play with!

Sunday morning we got up and went to Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter from the movie Dolphin Tale... which FYI no one in our family had ever seen. We got a behind the scenes tour and I thought it was amazing. It wasn't a normal aquarium it was more like a vet hospital for marine animals- which was completely up my ally. Miles found it boring and had the worst cough.... so I felt terrible for him! We compensated the kids fairly with dippin dots after the aquarium. Then we went to the beach!!! It was like nothing I had ever seen before how beautiful it was! The sand was like powdered sugar!!! We didn't come prepared with swimsuits because we thought it would be too cold- but boy were we wrong- it got hot really quick. The kids just dug and dug some more in the sand. I packed lots of snacks and I offered Mallory a bit of my fruit roll up. Well as soon as she took a bite blood started coming out of her mouth and she said "Mom I almost lost my tooth" well I looked down and low and behold she did loose her tooth! After lots of wet paper towels we got the bleeding to stop and she was SO excited! We spent the rest of the day and evening out there and made our way to Pier 60 for their big summer celebration. There was lots of street performers, street artists, huge playground and the most BEAUTFIUL sunset!! When we got back to the house Jeff and I were exhausted but the kids were wired and ready for more  and ready for the tooth fairy to come visit:)

Monday had a lazy morning because of the time change and going to bed so late- eek! We finally made it to an incredible miniature golf place around 11. They had alligators you could feed and hold! But we were there strictly for business! It was an amazing beautiful course and we had a great time!
After that we went to another beach called Honey Moon State Park. It was rockier than Clearwater but had a lot less people. So we played in the sand for a LONG time! We then went to a dog beach that they had there and it was just in time for sunset and it was indescribable how pretty it was! There was open white beach for days and we were doing cartwheels, handstands and just running around! That night we came back to the vacation house and had a firepit on the backporch while Miles showed us magic tricks and Mallory was our waitress. Best family memories ever!!

Tuesday we stopped at a Celebration Station and Miles wanted to ride a go-kart and do a bungee jump thing. He LOVED both of them and was very brave! Mallory and I giggled on the sidelines watching his expressions :) Then it was back to Clearwater Beach for us. The kids both got an icee and we settled in to more playing in the sand! Miles dug the deepest holes I had ever seen and Mallory dug a hole just deep enough for her to lounge in. Jeff loves the beach but could never fully relax as he stood the whole time because he didn't want to get sand on him! That night we went to a souveiner store and got the kids a shirt and stuffed dolphin to remember their trip by! Then Jeff got dinner at "Cousins Maine Lobster" that we had seen on Shark Tank before. We then went back to Pier 60 to play on the playground and Mallory decided she wanted a hair wrap. It turned out adorable!!! We then watched a street performer for about 45 minutes do all sorts of magic tricks- the kids thought it was incredible!

Wednesday morning we slept in and were lazy again as we slowly started to pack. We tried fishing on the river running through our property but no luck. We checked out of our vacation house and went to downtown Tampa. Tampa has an incredible riverwalk area. We found a fun playground, splash pad and really neat hip restaurant. We hung out there until it was time to go to the airport. We had another uneventful flight home where the kids both fell asleep almost immediately and they slept through the whole flight (even everyone getting off the plane) and we had to finally wake them up! We made it home to College Station just before midnight to a cat very happy to see us!

It was an amazing family adventure I hope to never forget!!