Finally the rest of the Colorado trip!

Ok so finally getting back to finishing the remainder of our trip now that we have upgraded our Internet speed this is a breeze. So we were on day number 5. We hung out again at the HUGE HOUSE. This place was incredible. Here are some pictures of it. The pictures do not do justice to the actual size of this place. But at least you will have an idea.

This is the basement area. Complete with pool table and Foosball. Also a big TV, another bedroom and bathroom. This is were the big boys (Cameron, Colin & Quintin) got to sleep. They loved having their own floor of the house.

The little kitchen area in the basement.

Main floor sitting room.

Main floor kitchen.

Main floor formal dining room.

Stairs to the upper floor.

One of the bedrooms upstairs

This is the master bathroom in "our" room. Now that being said......

This was were we decided to camp out for the three days.

Yep in the walk in closet of the master bedroom. It worked great for a quiet little sleeping cove for the kids and they did great.

Ben checking out the sleeping quarters.

Calvin

Clayton in his "tent"

After exploring the house and hanging out most of the day we went out for dinner to celebrate Tony's retirement with his co-workers and friends. It was a great time! Then back for some more celebrating at the house!!!

The next day was the retirement Ceremony at the Air Force Base. It was really cool!!!! Even fun. The kids behaved pretty good and we made it without any meltdowns.

Tony and his Commanding Officer.

Buffy receiving her award for helping make this all possible for Tony by taking care of the kids and everything else while he worked.

The family!

Back to the house to PARTY!!! A movie for the little kids!

And a party for the big kids!!!

The night owls! Wade, Cheryl, Buffy, Tony, Ben & I.

Tony, Heather, Buffy & Ben. Why can't we live closer????

Heather and Buffy. Funny how time changes things. Friends for life NOW.

Ok more pictures of the kids sleeping in the big closet because it was just to cute!

Calvin & Kenzie

Clayton

Thursday - final day was pack up and head out day. BOO.. Had such a great trip. Fun, exciting, relaxing. Everything vacation should be. Even the trip home went well. Perfect TRIP. Perfect time with family and friends! Would love to go again!

Calvin on the way home. Pooped out!

Kenzie and her airport treats!
Clayton - Oh I don't know. I just thought the picture was funny - I am not sure what he was thinking but I imagine it was not good. I actually think he was showing us a boo boo on his finger but it is still funny.

Cameron doing homework on the plane on the way home. School tomorrow!

So that was our trip. Only took me two months but I did get it all on here! Hope you enjoyed sharing our first official family trip out of state. What a BLAST.

Colorado Day 4

So let's start day four with a funny hotel story. What is this a picture of????

The answer is a pad of butter. It is on the ceiling in the dining room of the hotel. Classy right!! So everyday we got free breakfast at the hotel so we will not do to much complaining about it. It was decent enough for us but funny story is that the first day we were there I looked up while eating my breakfast to see that! It was just hanging over my head. We told the people at the dining room about it. Everyday we ate there we checked on the butter and it remained there. The final day Ben took a picture of it. Gross and funny at the same time!!!!

So on day 4 we checked out of the butter hotel and moved on. We were on our way to our new place in Colorado Springs for the remainder of our trip. It was a beautiful drive.

We arrived and this place was beyond AWESOME. It was a huge house that we were going to be stay at with Buffy, Tony and both of their families. It had a GREAT view and again it was wonderful weather outside. Ben suggested some family photos out on the deck. What a smart man!!!

This place was just incredible and I could share tons of photos of the whole place but I will spare you. It had 4 upstairs bedrooms along with 2 bathrooms. On the main floor was another bathroom, sitting room, formal dining room, huge kitchen, and another dining room as well as a living room and deck. The downstairs had yet another bathroom, a bedroom, family room area, pool table and Foosball table. This place was so cool and perfect for a huge group of people to hang out together and all have their own space as well. We decided to share a room with Buffy and Tony due to having all the young kids that need to go to bed early!!

We got settled in and enjoyed the place. Then we went to get some groceries and alcohol for the party. Even shopping on vacation is a good time!!!

The little kids crashed early and Cameron, Colin and Quintin had a great time staying up late playing video games and hanging out in "their basement". The adults had a great time staying up late drinking and playing games too!!!

Colorado DAY 3

Day number 3 - Chill and Hang out day.

With all our skiing excitement we decided to take a little break.

We got together with Buffy, Tony and the kids for lunch at Red Robin

(I had never been to one- Yummy)

Then we went to Buffy and Tony's for some visiting. It was great to sit and chat and the kids had a blast playing with all the kids toys. What a blast. We ended up stopping at Dave and Buster's for a little dinner and some games on the way home. To busy playing so did not get to many photos today. Did capture one of all the kids riding motorcycles!

Another great day!!!!

Better late then Never!!! Colorado Day 2

So we started off our second day looking for excitement and found it - AGAIN. We started off by going to the Ice Castles in Sliverthorne. They were awesome and we were told that they continue to grow throughout the season - becoming 2x the size they are currently. WOW. Made totally out of ICE. Even got to see an ICE farm where they run water to make icicles to use in the building of the castles. Very cool.

The kids!

The whole family!

A picture of the shy from the inside of one of the "Castles"

Cameron being handsome (and some creeper behind him trying to get in the picture)

The kids being funny.

As if that was not enough for the day we were very close to the mountains (Keystone- ski area) and I had these hopes of taking all the kids skiing. I did not really think through how it would work for two adults (one who has never skied and one who has not skied in years) to take 4 kids skiing. Cameron has skied before so I was not worried about him but the other three I guess I just figured it would work out. Well it did but it was an adventure! One I will not repeat real soon but sure am glad we did it. Every step of the way was enough entertainment for an entire day but we like to cram in the fun so BRING IT ON.

First getting four kids and ourselves fitted for boots, skis and helmets.
They did not even have boots that fit Kenzie. There were a little big on her but they were so tiny!!! Funny laugh of that experience was the staff guy (total surfer dude) asking Kenzie how the boots fit and if they pinched or felt tight. Like she was going to answer this guy.

Kenzie getting ready to hit the slopes!!!

OK - lets get serious and be ready to go!

Cameron knew what he was doing. Did great and was very independent which we needed as we had our hands full trying to figure out how to ski and then how to teach the little kids to ski.

Here is Ben pulling the boys around on their skis. See Ben wearing his ski boots. That is as close as he got to doing any skiing. He hated the boots and even those did not last too long.

Clayton was actually the first adventurous one. Dad took Calvin and Kenzie to get a bite to eat and Clayton was ready to hit the slopes. He was actually pretty good on the skis and a great listener. It would have been great if I had known how to teach him but it worked out with some minor issues. First you have to picture this cute little boy!!!

Then you have to imagine me - not to coordinated - wearing my skis and trying to pull him around. Finally I got smart and realized that I could help him more without my skis on. Ok time to hit the little hill. There was a moving walkway to take you up the hill. I figured that the best way to do this was to ride up with Clayton - minus my skis so that I could help him get on and off the walkway and then get down the hill. We made it onto the walkway and then when we got to the top they told me to just let Clayton slide off and take a step off behind him. I thought wow this was easy! Until - oops - mom slips and lands on top of Clayton! Laugh you know you want to! We did once we knew he was o.k. What a trooper he still wanted to go down the hill!!! I held his jacket tight and pretty much walked him down the hill - let him go on his own at the bottom and that was Clayton's adventure skiing.

Next on to Calvin!!!
Clavin looking like a pro skier! Looks can be deceiving can't they!

It took a little convincing - He had just heard me telling Ben how I had fallen on top of his brother - but he finally agreed to try it.

WOW - Went a lot smoother when I took off the ski boots and went in my regular boots. I did not fall on top of him!!! Calvin was a riot. He wanted me to let him go so bad. NO WAY BUDDY!

Calvin after his first trip down the hill. He liked it!!!!
He made a couple more trips and really enjoyed it.

Ok - another pretty funny story about our adventure. We found this great way to get around the ski hill! How cute right? Three kids, 2 pairs of adult ski boots, 5 pairs of skis, some poles, some helmets make a cute wagon ride!!!

Maybe it was really cute prior to the incident where it was on uneven ground and OH -YEAH. WE TIP IT OVER!!! KIDS AND ALL. No injuries - a couple shocked kids, a bunch of stuff to pick up and some embarrassed parents. But we all survived and had a good laugh (at least Ben and I did) You want to know how to get a bunch of people to stop and stare at you!!! Parents of the year application is going in NOW!

A couple last pictures of our GREAT ADVENTURE!!!

Clayton, Kenzie, Calvin and Cameron!

Cameron

Clayton - He did not want any more pictures!

Calvin

Kenzie! Did not really ski - but sure looks cute in the gear!!!

I also could not get over just how little her ski boot were.

Check this picture out. That is Ben's hand!

Ben had heard that some big snow was coming to this area and he did not want to get stuck in the mountains driving in a rental in a huge store. So we called it a day and headed back to Denver! Bye Keystone - Thanks for the memories!

Looks like the snow is coming!

Finished the amazing packed day with a wonderful dinner at a little pizza place called Beau Jo's in a little old miner town on the way back to Denver. It was a cute little place and some great food. What a day!!!!

When we got back we had Buffy, Tony and all four of the kids over to swim at the hotel and then Cameron even got to have a sleepover with Colin and Quintin. What a vacation and it has only just begun.

More for another day!!!