Colorado Springs

I think we're up to 4 or 5 road trip/vacations for the 2009 year, with one more to come in November. Wasn't planned... but things just come up, ya know! And this weekend was one of those things.

My Dad, his wife, and my Dad's parents were heading out to Colorado Springs for Labor Day weekend to enjoy the mountains, soak up some fresh mountain air, and attend a hot air balloon launch. They threw a line out... something about us tagging along if we wanted to... and we bit!

Originally it was gonna be a caravan thing. Them in the RV, and us tagging behind in our minivan. Then we decided we needed to be able to speed - uh - I mean - go our own speed. So we took off Friday night, and made it to Colorado Springs Saturday afternoon. They had several minor problems with the RV along the way, and didn't make it until Sunday night.

Alan, the kids and I had fun while we were waiting for them to arrive. We went to the Colorado Springs zoo, rode a sky-ride up the side of the mountain and down (above the zoo), hiked Seven Falls, and thoroughly enjoyed the hot air balloon festival. The camping thing was really fun too. We called ourselves "cheater campers" because we pitched our tent in the front yard of Janice's house. So we had bathrooms, a kitchen and fridge, etc. right there. But it was still fun. Campfires at night, snuggling down in the sleeping bags, exploring in the trees and rocks. Her house is on the side of a mountain, and the kids had a great time hiking, collecting pine cones, and just enjoying being together. Once Dad and co. finally made it, we got to spend a fun day with them driving to the top of Pikes Peak, and relaxing at the camp site.

The hot air balloon launch was really neat. We went the night before to the "balloon glow" which is where the balloons, still tethered to the ground, all light up the balloons at the same time, and at night it looks like a bunch of huge lamps lighting up. Really pretty! And the launch the next morning was really fun too. I think the kids thought the coolest part was eating funnel cake at 7:00am ~ ha ~ kidding. No seriously, we did have funnel cakes and cotton candy that early, but they were fascinated with the balloons and watching them set up, blow up, and launch. I think there were a total of 77 that took off that morning. All within about an hour and a half.

We made some great memories with our little family, and with parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents too. What fun!