Colorado Fun

Colorado did not disappoint.  It was a little rainy when we arrived, but the weather was otherwise beautiful.  No delays in games, and just one game that the girls pushed through in a little rain.  Highs mainly in the upper 80s/low 90s and lows in the 60s for the most part.  Virtually no humidity and amazing views.  I have zero complaints about the weather/climate in Colorado.  I was able to go for a walk/run at 4pm with temps above 80 and not be completely dripping/soaked with sweat.  It got a little hot in the sun, but I will take this weather any day.

We stayed in a great neighborhood in Loveland to start and I took walks almost every day.  There was a high school and park with a lake about 1 mile away that was great to visit.  

There were trails that went around this lake... it was great.

Gracie and I found the beach in Loveland

I'm not sure why I took this pic, but here is Gracie.

Outside of softball we were able to do quite a bit.  We had a couple days off for activities and sight-seeing.  Gracie and my first opportunity was on Sunday after the Patriot Games concluded.  She had the opportunity to go white-water rafting and I explored some trails in the foothills of the mountains.

Gracie rafting with her teammates

It wore them out.

I found another trail before picking Gracie up from rafting.

Another trail with a lake

After rafting and hiking, Gracie and I made our way toward Denver, hitting up Target to waste a little time before checking into our next rental house.  It was in a very suburban, downtown Denver neighborhood, but the house was nice and clean.  Plenty of space inside for us to be comfortable.  We unpacked and had some dinner, then headed for the airport to pick up Nick and Owen.

The Pac-Man game was a hit!

Nick "teaching" Gracie how to play

Day 1 of the Denver episode, we took Gracie to practice and then met up with my parents and Ben for lunch in Golden, CO, where Ben lives.  It was so great to see him and spend a couple hours up there.  Golden is such a neat little town outside of Denver.  We debated on whether or not we should go to Mt. Evans, but decided against it...Gracie had to go back to our house to get cleaned up for her team dinner back up in Arvada that evening.  Nick and I drove her up there and went to Dick's to pick up some softball equipment.  Owen stayed back with my parents and they all grilled hot dogs.  We were back just in time to have some cake and ice cream to celebrate my dad's birthday!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Got to spend it with him this year!

We had two games on Tuesday, then decided to venture up to Mt. Blue Sky/Evans.  We headed up around 4pm and it took a good two hours to get all the way to the top in our car.  The drive is a little unnerving, and I don't know if I would have done it without Nick, but so worth the views.  I brought my hoodie and pants, but the difference in temperature at the top was more than I thought it would be.  I'm so glad we had a couple extra sweatshirts in the car for the kids.  45 degrees at the summit vs 90 degrees in Denver, with snow in the places on top that do not see the sun.  Owen was throwing snow balls at his sister, of course. 

Mr. Blue Sky (aka Evans)

Made it to the top

Our family!

Selfie with Owen

Nick and Owen

Nick and Gracie

Gracie and me!

Lots of awesome views

Owen on top of the world

Both kids on top of the world

We saw several mountain goats on our ascent.  They came so close to the car and were licking the tires when we stopped.  There was also a mama and her kid that came through so close to us when we got out of the car on top.  It was pretty awesome.  I think Owen and Gracie took videos of the encounter.

We pulled off on the way down for more photos

Owen getting some snow to make snowballs.

Nick and the kids

I love this pic of Owen.

This was probably between 6:30 and 7pm, I would guess.

Then we pulled off again, downhill of Echo Lake.

Gracie spied a waterfall and we decided to explore.

Not a huge waterfall, but pretty awesome to get out of the car and climb

Gracie and Owen

Gracie contemplating...not sure about what.

Owen found a log to walk across.

Sibling selfie.

Owen does like to climb on stuff

We made it back down to Idaho Springs a little before 8pm and found a Mexican Restaurant to have dinner at.  We had stayed in Idaho Springs when we went skiing in November 2022, which was also fun.  It is a great little town with lots to do.  We had wanted to go up to Mt. Evans at Thanksgiving, but only made it as far as Echo Lake, which was frozen over.  There was too much snow to summit the mountain that time of year.  After dinner it took about another 30 minutes to get back to Denver to our house.  It was a great day and no games the following day, so more exploring and sight seeing... all the tourist stuff.  Day 2 was a success.

Day 3 = Colorado Springs.  We ventured a little over an hour south to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, with intentions of hiking and climbing.  I don't do a lot of climbing, but the others love it.  It was kind of a strange day, only 70 degrees when we arrived around 10am, and overcast.  It looked like it was going to rain, but didn't really amount to much.  By the time we were done the sun had come out and it was a bit warmer than when we started.  We found a place to park and spent the next few hours hiking and exploring.  I think was only went a little over 3 miles, but stopped quite a bit to take it all in.

Owen was reluctant with selfies, but entertained me.

Gracie and Nick at one of our stops.

Owen posing on top of a rock.

Love this pic, too.

Gracie took advantage of having her dad's phone.

Climbing on rocks

Not happening on this one.

I think Owen eventually got to the top

You can see all of us in this one...Nick took the pic and included his feet.

Notice where I am; safe on the ground. 

Running with Owen

Owen actually wanted to run on the trails for a little while and luckily my foot was feeling pretty good, so I humored him and ran slowly with him.  Nick would tell us how far ahead to go and we would take off and wait at the next fork for Gracie and Nick. We did this for about a mile of the hike on the way back to the car.  When we returned a few hours later, we were starving and made sandwiches before packing up and heading back.  We found an outlet mall on the way and stopped for an hour or so.  Nick and I actually bought stuff for ourselves and the kids didn't get anything this trip.  Weird.  

After getting back to the house in Denver, Gracie and Nick went to hit at a D Bats facility that evening and we made some eggs and kielbasa for dinner before they left.  Days 4 and 5 were mostly softball activities back at the ball parks.

I think I posted this already, but seems pretty typical during our vacations.

We drive, kids sleep... well, sometimes I sleep, too.

After the Saturday morning game, our 6th full day in Denver, we were done playing softball and had some planning to do for the ride home.  We were gaining a teammate and had to decide if we were going to stay another night or start our drive home, and also how we were going to fit everything back into the car with extra people and more luggage.  My parents decided to start the trek home and they would take Owen with them, spending a night in Hays, KS again, about halfway.  Nick, Gracie, Kali, and I stayed the final night and left early the next morning, hoping to be home before dark on Sunday evening.  

We had one more fun night in Denver.  Nick and I took a walk around the park, which was a bout a half mile away while the girls napped/rested back at the house.  We ended up watching some "Dance Moms" episodes with them while we decided what to do for dinner.  Rather than ordering Dominos, we ventured a few blocks away to try a local pizza place, which was so good!  After dinner Kali and Gracie tried out the scooters for the ride home.  Nick and I walked.

Gracie and Kali on the lime scooters.

They had about 20  minutes of fun

Fun times in a very full car. 

Thank goodness my parents were willing to take Owen with them.

This would have been very uncomfortable for 12 hours.

It did take close to 12 hours to get back home after a few stops.  We had to pick up the truck at the airport in KC, then meet Kali's dad just off the interstate so she could finally go home, as well.  She had been staying with other families for over a week.  Another 2 hours and we were finally home.  Feels pretty good, but it's brief for Gracie and me this week.  We will be heading back to KC for more softball that starts Thursday.

I love this view, too.

Home is good