First Family Vacation

Well, it has been a little crazy since we have gotten back from vacation. I have been busy trying to catch up on my master's classes and getting my classroom ready for the new school year. It is crazy that the summer is now over and I have to go back to work!! You would think that being off for so long I would be ready to go back, but I have had a wonderful time being a stay at home mom with my baby boy.

A lot has happened since we have came home. Corbin has taken his first 2 steps!! He is also walking behind his toys like crazy. He has a few toys that has wheels and he is walking everywhere. His first birthday is coming up so we are busy trying to make the preparations for that. And most of all trying to figure out what you get a little boy for his first birthday! If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share, because we are clueless!!

Our vacation was wonderful! Corbin was an absolute angel. I don't think he shed a tear the entire time, unless it was bedtime and he didn't want to go to bed. We were both so impressed that he rode in the car for 17 hours, and did just fine. We left at 7:00 p.m. on Monday and I drove all night (only changing drivers for about 4 hours) and we got to Colorado Tuesday afternoon. (If anyone tries to drive this, Kansas is extremely BORING!) While out there we had a full itenerary that we completed and had a great time. Everything we did was amazing and it all worked out so well. We started out shopping at the outlet mall in Loveland, Colorado and then went on to Estes Park where we stayed in a cabin for 2 nights. We drove on into Rocky Mountain National Park, where we some some elk. The cabin that we stayed in was amazing and even had a hot tub for us all to enjoy! When we left Estes Park we drove along Trail Ridge Road (for those of you that don't know what this is, it is the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park that goes up and over the mountain). We had some amazing views to look at! From there we went to Grand Lake to shop around and then on to the Silverthorne outlet mall. We stayed at Breckenridge where we shopped a little in the town and ate dinner. We had a condo at Breckenridge that was very nice as well. After leaving Breckenridge we stopped at yet another outlet mall in Castle Rock, and then we headed toward Manitou Springs which is where Pike's Peak is located. We rode to the top of Pike's Peak!!! I thought it was really neat, Brent did too, but he didn't really like the way he felt while at the top. He was ready to get back on the train. After riding the railway we then headed to the Royal Gorge which is in Canon City. We went to the actual bridge and park as well as rode the train that goes through the gorge. This was a lot of fun and had some amazing sights. As you can see we were very busy, but it was all worth it. We were there and home in 8 days and everything went very well. It only rained one time and we didn't have to miss any of the sights that we had planned to see! We were all so excited, but ready to be home!

Had to put a picture of an elk that we saw. We also saw mule deer, bighorn sheep, marmit and many others.

Had to share this picture, it is one of my favorites! His blue eyes really show up!

This is us at Bear Lake. We couldn't find any bears though, although we didn't look real hard!

Grammy and Corbin stop to pose for a picture in Estes Park.

Corbin posing on the bear seat!

He didn't even know he had a coonskin hat on, he was sleeping!

Here we are on the train that goes along the Arkansas River in the Royal Gorge.

Here is a picture of the Bighorn Sheep!

Isn't this a HUGE tree!!

Here we are all walking across the Royal Gorge Bridge. It is the highest suspension bridge in the World!

Pa and Corbin spent a lot of quality time together. They are on the Pike's Peak Cog Railway headed to the top! It got rather chilly on the way up and we had to put sweatshirts on!

Well, we made it to the top and are now headed back down off of Pike's Peak!

Corbin really enjoyed playing Peek-A-Boo! All you had to do was give him a blanket and he was entertained almost the entire time he was awake! It was hilarious!

This was Corbin at the beginning or our trip. I dressed him in his pajamas so he would be comfortable and he did great! He stayed awake for awhile and then it was BEDTIME!! He did wake up occasionally when we would stop, but he would go back to sleep just like he was in bed!