Day 11: Colorado Springs and Denver

We were expecting a morning where everyone slept in a little given it was Saturday, but Lucy was up before 6 am with a bloody nose. She actually thought the whole thing was cool because Hudson is usually the one that has nose bleeds in our family. She kept exclaiming “I can’t believe I’m really having a nose bleed” and “make sure to tell Hudson this happened.” All the while I was thinking “there is no way she is going back to sleep after this excitement.” So we all started the day bright and early!

Jordan took the kids to replications of cave dwellings in Manitou Springs this morning while I stayed behind to clean the trailer. It didn’t take long to clean and I thought back to how easy it was to maintain our small apartment when we first got married and even our first house. Instead of Biggie’s “mo money, mo problems” my issue is “mo house, mo cleaning.” Maybe we will downsize after this adventure.

Jordan said the cave dwellings were well done and the kids enjoyed themselves.

When they got back, we packed lunches and headed to Garden of the Gods. Here is a tip – don’t go to Garden of the Gods the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. It was insanely busy. The last time Jordan and I were here was about 9 years ago. We easily drove through the park, found spots at the pull-offs, checked out the landscape, and kept driving. This experience was totally different. We couldn’t find any where to park and had to drive around 30 min before we found a place. Luckily, it was right near some picnic tables so we had lunch. It was really nice.

The last time we were at Garden of the Gods we weren’t necessarily super active so with that information I wore a dress and sneakers. After lunch, since we couldn’t easily move around the park in our car, we took off on a hiking path. I thought to myself “I am not dressed properly for this,” but I didn’t want to be the reason we all turned around. About 10 minutes in, Lucy said “I’m tired. Can we go back to the car?” I seized my opportunity and said I would take her back. It worked out well because this gave Jordan and Hudson some one on one time which Hudson thrives on. For days, Hudson has been talking about “climbing a mountain” so Jordan let him climb a 30 foot rock. He loved it!

Meanwhile, in the car, Lucy talked about how she wanted to take a girls trip to Paris between our birthdays (hers is in November and mine is in December). She planned that we would go to the Eiffel Tower, go look at art in museums, and have tea. I told her that sounds like a fabulous plan. She said the boys could go to England.

The most exciting part of the day for the kids was driving to the Denver area and seeing their cousin, Kingston. We met at a local park and the kids played hard for an hour before we went to a nearby pizza place for dinner. Littleton, where we had dinner, has main street closed down so that restaurants can have more room to seat patrons. I was really impressed by how the area has adapted. I wish I had taken a photo.

The kids loved being with each other! Kingston is the kids’ only first cousin and it’s hard to visit often since he lives in Colorado. We are hoping we see him and his dad, Jason, sometime over the holidays.

After dinner, we drove back to Colorado Springs and settled in for the night feeling a warm contentment with the day we had.

Until next time…

Sarah