Colorado or Bust

Oh Colorado, how we love you...and the people there!  We decided to take a little bit of a last minute trip to Colorado to visit some friends that moved there a couple of years ago and also another family was going to visit at the same time.  PARTY!  We had THE BEST TIME.  Though it was a relatively quick trip, we managed to squeeze a lot of action (and relaxation) in.  Our friends (The Riffees) live in Castle Rock, which is just the cutest town.  They have an amazing little downtown area that is a little more on the "quaint" side but then have all the big city amenities as well.  Perfection.  I've lumped all of the pictures together because well I'm trying to get caught up on life so this is A LOT, but I'll try to do a little explaining along the way.

When we got in on the first evening we met everyone at Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Company, because well that's what we do on vacation.  Chad loves the beer and I always love the scene.  This was no exception.

The next day we went to Canon City to The Royal Gorge Railroad.  You get to go on a train ride, eat lunch, have some beverages and take in the most beautiful mountainside.  The adults thought it was breathtaking, while the kids thought the sugary drinks we let them have were amazing.  So everyone was winning on this particular day.  

(don't worry Grandma...the train was not moving during this photography session with Everly)

The first day we got to ride, the second day we had to WORK for our drinks.  We decided to do a 200 step climb in the morning.  Which I know, 200 steps doesn't SOUND that difficult...but it's not that fun either.  Especially in high altitude.  We all made it though, except the littlest Struckmann she kept everyone company at the bottom.  Nobody wanted to be responsible for carrying that extra luggage along the way!

Next up, we hiked Castle Rock (I told you we had to work for it on this particular day).  It's a nice easy hike for the most part, but as you will see we "disobeyed" some signage and went up a little higher to get the best view of the city and it was worth it.  The kids all had a blast and I felt like a rebel because we all know I am a rule follower through and through.  Happy to report, no arrests were made and we got a lovely picture to document our victorious climb.

 

After our "workout" for the morning we rewarded ourselves with a yummy lunch and then took the kids to the most adorable candy shop to splurge on some (read: a lot) sugary treats.  Then the girls split off and did girl things like shopping and wine drinking while the boys went and played some baseball and took naps.  Vacation is the best.

Our last day we decided to hike Devil's Head, which ends with a big tower you can climb for an amazing view.  We got all the way to the trailhead and what did we find out?  Said tower was closed for repair!  Of course it was.  We hiked anyway, and it was a great hike.  The kids climbed around like crazy and did our best to keep track of them!  Little Miss did great on the way up, but then we let her out of her carrier to have some freedom and then she decided her carrier was a thing of the past!  There was no getting her back in that thing, which would be fine if she was walking all the way down but she was not.  She wanted to be held.  I think Chad's legs hurt for daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyssssss.  What a good Dad!

 

And what hiking adventure doesn't end at a Brewery?  Not a Struckmann hike that's for sure!  We went to Breckenridge Brewery for brunch and a few beverages to cap off our vacation!