Estes Park 2013: Day 1

Brace yourself! I am about to post way too many pictures of us on various mountains!

Crossing the Nebraska/Colorado border, we revived the "Hooray Colorado" cheer from last year.

We spent our first night in Denver (because I can't be that close to an IKEA and not visit!) to do some shopping and break up the drive for the little people. While we were there we stopped at the indoor skydiving center thinking that the kids would get a kick out of seeing someone fly. We had a great experience although it started out inauspiciously as we were told by the receptionist that there wasn't anyone scheduled that morning. Conveniently, the owner walked in just behind us and recognized Joe, he insisted that one of his employees get suited up. We got a very skilled show, had a nice visit, got to see pictures of many of Joe's teammates and friends and discovered that neither of our children currently have the desire to fly.

 Some Chick-fil-A for lunch and we headed into the mountains! (Court slept through most of the beautiful drive clutching his chicken nugget and blanket. Luca slept too but she didn't mind me slipping the lunch detritus from her lap.)

Arrived! And stopped for the newly-traditional photo op.

 

 Sigh. So big already! Ex: last year's pic.

At the pull-off for this rock are several thousand ground squirrels that will jump into your lap (Joe's!) to check for snacks. Normally we are very conscientious wilderness visitors and never feed wildlife but there were handfuls of peanuts just laying around and the kids love chipmunks. Luca and Court both had "success" and had peanuts taken from their fingers. Personally, this grossed me out. Rodents!

 Bean Girl posing.

We were a little too early to check in at the cabin so we wandered down a couple of valley trails.

  

 Thanks to our neighbor's recommendation we stayed at Colorado Cottages this year and were so happy there! Our Cottage "The Columbine" had a living room, kitchen, bath and a bedroom with two queen beds and an additional sink/vanity. It was just right.

 

 Checking out the happenings around camp.

 The view from the front door. Not too shabby!

 One of our favorite things about this place is that the owners, John and Carolyn (we're all friends now) host a campfire each night and provide s'mores for everyone. We would end each evening there and then after the kids roasted their marshmallows we were able to put them to bed, cross the driveway and hang out at the fire. We met some really fun people, got a lot of invaluable advice on hikes and heard some great stories.