Summer in Colorado: Part 2

Sep 11

Written By Kristen

Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!

Posting these pics of the trip Luke and Zo and I took to visit my parents last month (my husband stayed behind and worked only because he was saving all his vacation for a paternity leave)...posting these pictures--especially the ones with me in them--is kind of bittersweet for me...it's like I was talking about the other day, I only have a few more pictures of me pregnant with Hunter, and it's like once they are posted, she is really gone. (Even though I know she is gone already.)

But I need...I know I need to focus on Luke and Zo, and what a lovely time we had in Colorado, visiting Grammy and Grandpa. It's weird to say this I know, but I also feel lucky that Hunter got to have this visit too...this was her one trip...

And so...

My dad flew down to do the drive there and back with us, as I wasn't sure how it was going to be with the twins. Thank you, Dad! The trip was about 8-ish hours with 2 stops...my dad has a talent for finding the best roadside stopping places...this was the first one just outside Durango, CO...we'd get out and give the kids something to snack on and let them and our two boxers (who we brought on vacation too) run around. Worked out great.

Highway 550 out of Durango is really treacherous...big dropoffs, no guard-rails...and made 100 times worse with a crazy hailstorm. My dad drove, we went slowly, we made it...

There's a great playground/sandbox area at the church my mom goes to...we had such fun taking the kids there:

And grass...how I miss grass (there is so much Xeriscaping in New Mexico, including our house), and my parent's property has big swaths of it. We spent lots of time playing on the grass. Buckets of water and measuring cups were also a big hit with the kids...

It was an interesting trip and one where we just needed to be adaptable in that I'd been sick right before, as had the kids...Luke was still sick the first few days and then my dad got sick and then my mom, and the kids were teething and sooooooo fussy (maybe due to being in a different environment as well)...we still had a great vacation, but a lot of allowances had to be made... (plus I was pregnant and not feeling well just from that...)

Grammy got books from the library...lots of time reading...

So fun to play with Grammy!

And Grammy's garden is soooooooooo beautiful. My mother is amazing! One of the most special things for me this trip was she would take one of the kids down to the garden with her each day, and they (the kids) would come back with a flower in their hand, outstretched to give it to me. I collected all the flowers in a little glass over the time we were there...it was so sweet.

This is my mom and my Uncle David, who along with my mother taught me my outdoors skills and is just such a cool guy (my first memories of him are him living in a real teepee.) His daughter and her husband and son came and spent a couple days, too...it was so fun to see them!

Luke and Zo LOVED playing my mom's piano...

Luke used his paci a lot this trip...he so wasn't feeling well, poor thing...

We went downtown one day to Kairos, which is the coolest kid's store. The kids got hats...this pink one on Sissy, and a brown one just like it for Luke...too cute!

And a trip to the water park...Sissy especially loved the fountain...

I've always felt like going to visit my parents is like going to a spa...the setting is so lush and peaceful, my mom makes these amazing and healthy meals with produce from her garden, usually we're going on hikes all the time (although not this trip). I love these pictures of Sissy because they capture that serene feeling...

Good meals three times a day in the sunroom...

And then one afternoon, Grammy set the kids up with chocolate pudding...so fun! :)

More grass time...and oh, those kids love their grandpa! :)

The last weekend we were there was the Palisade Peach Festival, a big annual event. My brother and his family came out and we started with the pancake breakfast (the kids are crazy about pancakes...they ate 6 pancakes between them!), followed by the parade and the car show and the festival itself with peaches of course and booths with food and crafts.