It's always such a breath of fresh air to escape into the mountains every summer and this year's trip to the Colorado Springs area was so rejuvenating. Mike had to stay home because of work stuff, so Blair and I braved the airports alone again (seriously, am I crazy?) and flew out for the whole week.
Our flight was at 5:00am on Monday, so Blair and I hit the airport early. She really is a good traveller and sleeps most of the plane ride, but Fisher Price iPad apps really help to bridge the gap when she's reaching her patience limit. Praise all the technology gods for iPads. We arrived in Denver and met my friend and her daughter for breakfast at a very cool splash pad/park. The girls were so cute together, sharing blueberries and splashing in the water. It was the perfect way to burn off steam after a morning in the carseat!
After an exciting morning, Blair and I made our way to Golden to meet up with Dad, Megan, Scott and Karagh. We were mostly there to rendezvous, but it was also an excuse to fill up our growlers at the Golden City Brewery - Dad was dying for some Mad Molly Brown and it had been a few years since any of us had been back! We grabbed lunch and sat on the banks of the Clear Creek while Lady, Blair and Dad played in the cold water before we packed up the caravan and headed south to our rental house.
Our first night at the house in Woodland Park was interesting - we had a quick storm blow through that brought both hail and a gorgeous double rainbow! The house had a fabulous view of Pike's Peak from the deck, lots of hummingbird friends and a trout pond on the property for fishing. We soaked up the (very warm) sun in the mornings with cups of coffee and we all took turns sitting in the blowup pool Dad brought from PA.
One of the "hikes" we did as a group was to the Rampart Range Reservoir. It was gorgeous! We walked on a semi-stroller friendly trail to the reservoir, ate lunch and dipped our feet in the cool water. Blair had a meltdown on the way back to the car, but Uncle Scott finally got her to fall asleep in the stroller.
Toddler life is hard, yo.
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| Rampart Range Reservoir |
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| Throwing rocks with Poppie! |
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| Photo courtesy of Megan. (Yes, the dog is wearing shoes). |
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| Photo courtesy of Megan :) |
The house had a great pool table, darts and air hockey in the basement and Blair was a big fan of the billiards. We had to keep her off during games, much to her dismay, but she had plenty of fun in between games (and stressed me out thinking she would destroy something - but she didn't!)
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| Tiny Pool Shark. |
One morning the hardier hikers in the group (aka, everyone but me and Blair) did a seven mile hike, so we hung out, Blair caught up on her sleep and we played with Lady, who was nursing some torn up paw pads. We filled up the baby pool and Blair had fun "boop"ing Lady on the nose, patting her and playing peek-a-boo. Lady was such a good sport with Blair the whole week and B just
loved having a "dahg" around.
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| She spent so many hours running the length of the wraparound deck |
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| Screen doors are hard. |
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| Lady girl! |
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| Sleepy puppy |
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| Cautiously keeping an eye on the busy toddler |
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| "Boo!" |
Against my fears and unfounded anxieties, we drove to the top of Pike's Peak. Thankfully they had paved the road all the way to the summit so it was far less scary than I anticipated after hearing horror stories from other people. It was a gorgeous, clear day and the views were absolutely breathtaking. I felt like we were on top of the world and it was
so worth the deep breathing and "hooooooly craps" that got me to the top. Blair slept on the ride up and loved a little walk we took about halfway back down. She kept pointing at everything asking "Ohh, waz diis?" and was very interested in large boulders.
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| Our route to the top. Look at all those switchbacks! |
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| Crystal Lake Reservoir and Pike's Peak. |
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| Terrifying. |
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| This nutjob was biking UP the mountain. |
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| Snow! |
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| Blair and Poppie at the Summit |
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| We made it! |
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| She wouldn't let go of the Veggie Straws. |
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| Karagh and Brendin |
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| Me and Dad |
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| Megan and Scott |
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| Mama and Blair! |
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| The Murphys! |
On the way down the summit we came across a family of mountain goats! They were really neat to see and I got some great close ups of them. They look a little mangy because they had shed their winter coats... they'll be needing all the fluffy winter coverage again soon though!
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| Thank goodness Dad was at the wheel! |
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| Brendin's sweet Jeep ahead of us |
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| Climbing rocks with Aunt Karagh |
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| Hanging with Poppie |
Our nightly ritual consisted of fishing and trying to keep Blair and Lady from jumping into the pond. The pond was small, but the group managed to pull out a few fish out during the week (catch and release, of course!) Dad learned how to fly fish and Blair was very excited to point and say "peeesh!" when one was caught. She even got to boop one on the nose!
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| Throwing rocks with Poppie |
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| Reeling in a fishy! |
The pond had a small stream that fed into it on one side and Blair had a blast splashing in the water and throwing rocks. There was also a little rowboat that caught her attention and she spent hours getting in and out of the boat. I am kind of obsessed with how the rowboat photos turned out.
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| Playing in the stream |
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| Inspecting the fence |
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| "Help me outta here, mama!" |
On on of our last days, Blair and I stopped at Garden of the Gods. The rocks were just gorgeous and although we didn't stay too long because it was pretty hot and *someone* was getting tired, it was definitely worth the trip. Its almost surreal how reddish orange the rocks were. It totally felt other-worldy!
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| A nice man offered to take our picture! |
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| Pointing and saying "diis!" |
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| "Hi, mama!" |
And just as quickly as we arrived, it was time to go home. Of course, we couldn't leave without taking a Go Pokes photo with Aunt Karagh - I think the little cheerleader outfit will have to be retired after this year, but the side by side from last year to this year is just too funny. Look at that chubby little baby! My how time flies...
It's always wonderful to spend time as a family, but I have to say that my appreciation for these trips only grows each year. Watching Blair play with my sisters and Scott, and create a bond with my dad is the coolest thing - it's hard to describe the way my heart swells with joy and pride to see her developing such fun, caring relationships with the people I love.
Until next year, Murphlanarouxs! <3
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