The Simonson's: First Family Vacation

We did it! We survived our first family vacation. Not only did we travel without plans, we also traveled without Becca in pull-ups. I was not sure how it was going to all work out but it was great.

We started Vacation Friday night when Mike got off work. We packed up and headed to Sutherland for an afternoon on the beach. The kids all loved it, I however had a lot of work to do keeping up with Alec. He was a mess and eating everything in site, yuck. Overall we had a great time and the kids were ready for bed after showers when we got home.

Saturday Mike went into work and checked on a couple people and then we hit the road. Our first stop was Ole's in Paxton. We meet up with Andy, Debbie, Barrett, and baby Hadley. The kids enjoyed looking at all the animals and we enjoyed the company. After Ole's we headed for Denver, while Mike drove I found us a hotel room. As some of you know I am a planner so this whole traveling without a destination or a place to stay was work for me, but in the end it worked out great. We got a room at the Westin Hotel in Lodo Denver. After checking in we headed to the Aquarium. The kids all enjoyed looking at the animals and the highlight of the night was watching the Mermaid show as we ate supper. Larry and Sherri also joined us for supper.

Sunday morning we got up and all went to the workout room. They had a basketball court for the kids to run around and play in while Mike did some lifting and I tried to run on the treadmill. I was not very successful. After breakfast we packed up and headed to Elitch Gardens. Elitch Gardens is an amusement park in Denver. Mike and Rachel really had a great time, Rachel was tall enough to go on some of the roller coasters and bigger rides with Mike and I enjoyed watching Becca and Alec enjoy some of the smaller kids rides. We ate lunch at the park and then the little two fell asleep so we stopped by the water park to see if it was worth waking them up for. Mike and Rachel went on the pirate ship and the water was so cold that they had enough; so off we went to Estes Park. When we got to Estes we went to one of the places that was recommended to us to stay and they were full so we stopped at a couple other places and ended up with the perfect little cabin. It was a two bedroom, one bath cabin with a full kitchen. After unpacking we headed into town for supper and to grab some groceries.

Monday morning Mike and Becca were up early and went to explore the place outside, after the rest of us got up we ate some breakfast and headed to Alberta Waterfall in the National Forest. It was a 1 mile hike from the parking lot and Rachel and Becca did really well walking and riding their "horses." Alec was not so fond of the back carry so Mike and I switch off carrying him up to the falls. Rachel again was our little adventurer and climbed up all the rocks and had a blast with Mike. I know that she looks a lot like me but man does she have her daddy's spirit and heart. Becca did not think the climb down was near as fun and Rachel was getting tired but we made it back to the car and headed back to town for lunch. After some amazing BBQ we took the kids to trout haven. Believe it or not we didn't get any bites so we left and headed back to the cabin for naps. While Alec napped Mike, Rachel, and Becca went to check out the pool. Alec and I joined them when Alec woke up. Believe it or not it has pretty warm but it didn't take long to get cold after you got out. After swimming we went back and showered and relaxed before going back to town for supper. After supper Alec and Becca were done and went straight to bed. Mike started a fire so that Rachel could roast marshmallows and make some s'mores. I had a headache and went to bed early while Mike and Rachel enjoyed some time together and fell asleep watching a movie.

Tuesday morning we got up and ate breakfast. After breakfast Mike took the kids down to play at the park and putt putt golf while I packed and cleaned everything up. We then loaded the Suburban and headed to Cheyenne. Mike was kind of looking for some boots, and I have never been to Wyoming so we decided to come home that way. After lunch at Chipotle we did some shopping and headed back home. It was good to be home!

The rest of the week we worked on laundry and yard work to get ready for the 3rd Annual Back to School BBQ on Saturday. Mike did get to work on his cars some and I enjoyed running to town a couple times by myself. Friday night Nick, Melissa, Tucker, and Kelcee came to stay. We had a couple babysitters come out while we all attended Brandon and Terri Kelliher's wedding. Saturday we got everything ready for the party. Mom, Dad, Sandi, Jaxson, Sam, and Patsy also stayed the night on Saturday night.