Goodbye Cabin: Colorado Day 4

Sunday morning, we woke up in our mountain cabin for the last time ;(


Barrett watched some Max & Ruby while I showered.

Because the owners were so gracious to let us use it, we wanted to make sure we left it spotless!
After many loads of laundry, making beds, and scrubbing tubs and toilets...we were ready to head home.

Uncle Bobby kept Barrett entertained while the ladies cleaned.

Justin went for one last hike.
We really wanted to see a moose on this trip...but the moose poop Justin found behind the cabin will have to do.

{a tour of the cabin}

A few gifts we picked up in The Village shops for the cabin owners

 

the view from our front porch

{our upstairs suite}

::The family::

Brandon, Jenn, Justin, Laura, Barrett, Dad and Mom

The camera was set up on a cardboard box :)
We had a take-two

Before leaving Grand Lake, we hiked up to see Adams Falls.

It was a little further than we thought, but so worth it. Thanks to Bobby for carrying Barrett!

It rained pretty hard on our hike back to the car. Daddy had to carry Barrett, and Brandon carried my baby camera under his shirt :) We thought we'd head down the road a little further for lunch, since we'd already eaten at several places in Grand Lake. Well, we didn't realize the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park was so close. Our plan was to take go through the park and into Estes to eat. After stopping several times to photograph wildlife and enjoy the views, we made it through in about three hours. Barrett fell asleep just before we entered the park and slept the entire way! We were just about 100 yards into the park when we spotted our first elk! It was so exciting. We pulled the cars over and everyone jumped out. I hurried to get my zoom lens on. They were quite a ways from the road, but still beautiful! We stopped several more times after that to see more elk.

Simply breath-taking views! God is AMAZING!!

Barrett woke up just as we were exiting the National Park. There were a lot of winding roads, and the poor little guy got sick. He'd been up for about 30 minutes, then I noticed he got really quiet. Thankfully Mama was on it fast, and Gigi had LOTS of napkins in the glove-box, so it wasn't too bad :) We finally reached Estes Park...starving! After looking for a parking spot for 10 minutes, we decided to drive on through. It is the cutest place, and I'd love to take Justin back one day. I remember going there as a child. BUT this time, we were just too worn out to deal with all those people! As we drove through, Brandon said it looked like a "tourist trap." So, we drove just a bit further and found a Chili's. By the time we got there...it was 5pm! So much for lunch, it was supper time!

After dinner, we said goodbye to Brandon and Jenn! They had a 3-4 hour drive back to Sidney, and we planned to drive a bit further and stay the night in a hotel. Barrett had fun swimming in the hotel pool, and sleeping in a big room with Gigi and Papa. Monday morning, we got up and finished the drive back to Winfield. It seemed so much longer than the drive there!

It was a great trip!! Looking forward to visiting Colorado again soon, and looking forward to next Summer's vacation with ALL the family. We missed having Brian and his family there.

Boating: Colorado Day 3

On Saturday morning, we got up and around early.
We'd rented a boat for a couple hours, so we headed to the marina.

We had a great time exploring the lake by boat. Uncle Bobby was our driver,
and we enjoyed looking at all the beautiful homes along the shores.

It took Barrett a little while to warm up to the boating idea.
Last summer in Branson was the last time he'd been on a boat. He had a good time watching daddy fish.
He got to "drive" the boat, and of course played with his cars. This kid will play cars ANYWHERE!

{ultra sun protection...and lookin' cool}


This bird swooped down right beside our boat and got him some lunch :)

After our time on the boat, we headed back to the cabin for lunch. Barrett fell asleep on the couch with Papa. Justin and Brandon went to do some more fishing. Jenn, Mom and I went downtown to shop! We walked up and down both sides of The Village shops, visiting almost every single one! I got a few gifts for friends. Mom got Barrett a little stuffed moose. We were hoping to find him a Grand Lake, Co shirt, but didn't have luck with his size.

Barrett was still snoozin' when we got home from shopping, so I went out to get a few pictures.

{wildflowers in our front yard}

{the back deck}

The deck is where we spent all of our mornings.
My favorite thing was snuggling up in one of the lounge chairs with a blanket and hot drink.
We'd watch for wildlife, and enjoy the cool air. Barrett played a lot of cars on that deck :)

On their way home from fishing, Justin and Brandon spotted this fox across the road from our cabin. They came home to get Jenn and I, and we all headed down to see it. It didn't seem too concerned with us walking up on it. I had my 300mm zoom in these pictures, so we really weren't too close.

{fox is below...then you can see the little gopher he was after in the next picture}

Another view of our cabin

After reading my Colorado posts, Justin informed me I had a typo...I said "six bedrooms and four bathrooms"
I was four bedrooms and six bathrooms :)

We finished cashing wildlife, Barrett finally woke up, and we headed downtown for the evening.


{waiting for our table at the restaurant}

After dinner, we walked down along the boardwalk by the lake again...

and took lots of pictures.

{THIS is what happens when you give the camera to my little brother}

We ended the night with ICE CREAM :)
Barrett wanted "green" and he was a happy boy!

Our last day at Grand Lake (traveling through The Rocky Mountain National Park) coming tomorrow!