Steamboat Springs

We pretty much live in the most awesome state, but we hardly ever get out to see it. When Ryan's mom said she could come to Colorado the week after the 4th of July, we canceled our Mount Rushmore trip (that I'd been planning since March) and scheduled a trip to the ski town of Steamboat Springs. I will admit I was pretty reluctant to visit a ski town in the summer, but Steamboat didn't disappoint. What a wonderful, beautiful, family-friendly place.

SATURDAY - Lake swimming & Balloon Glow
We left early Saturday morning and drove the almost four hours to Steamboat. We drove over the Rocky Mountains, and the view was amazing. The road was steep and winding as we followed the river. It was a pretty drive, but it seemed super long as we restricted the boys' screen time (car sickness worries) and couldn't use cruise-control.

We actually didn't head into town at first, but instead headed straight to Stagecoach State Park. There is a snow-fed mountain lake there, and we splashed in the water and played in the sand for a few hours. Brennan made "sand angels" and played tag with Dad. We ate a picnic lunch.

When we were entirely wasted, we headed to the hotel to check-in. We stayed in a Wyndham Vacation Rental. We had a 3-bedroom condo with a complete kitchen, dining area and family room. We couldn't have been more comfortable.

After a short time settling in, we headed to Old Town Steamboat. We wandered a short time, then got ice cream and taffy at a little shop and dinner at a small burger diner.

After some quick showers/baths, we put the kids to bed. We decided to be irresponsible (does anyone else ever do this?) and after we were certain everyone was asleep, Ryan and I walked to the "Balloon Glow." Seven hot air balloons were filled by their teams and lined up along a rocky creek bed.

Counting down over and over again, all the balloons would blast their fires, and since it was dusk, all the balloons would glow in unison. It was beautiful.

SUNDAY - Hot Air Balloons & Water Fall Hike
We woke up super early (4:45) and got ready to catch the hotel shuttle to the hot air balloon launch. A huge Mom-fail though: I packed jackets for everyone, but not long pants. We FROZE waiting for the shuttle and for the first 1/2 hour of the launch. Oops!

Ryan saved us when he bought us some hot chocolate, and I wrapped the boys in our picnic blanket.

First, they filled the Colorado balloon and the US flag balloon next to it. We stood and sang the National Anthem.

To call this part awesome would be an understatement. 

After the sun came up, it warmed up and the boys got to see an up-close filling of Smokey the Bear. 

And then all the balloons started filling. I love how there aren't tons of rules about where you can stand and what you can do. We all just wandered amid all the crews working. 

This balloon didn't have a basket. It was just a seat, with a flaming ball of fire and a huge container of flammable liquid over head. His legs just dangled over the great abyss below him. I think he was CRAZY!

It was perfect: my cute family, hot air balloon teams, sunrise over the mountains, hot air balloons filling and floating above us. Heaven.

The balloons were supposed to fill, launch and return to participate in a "rodeo" contest, dipping their baskets into the nearby lake. Unfortunately, the winds were unfavorable so most of the balloons didn't ever launch; they just filled for us to "ooo and ahhh."

Luckily, there were some people training for the ski jump into the lake instead, so we got to watch them for a while.

After another short rest at the hotel, we headed to Fish Creek Falls.

It was a super short walk (1/4 mile) to a beautiful, lush waterfall.

My very own Super Heroes

We let the boys splash in the water and throw in rocks.

Ethan terrified us when he decided to dive into the whitewater rapids, but luckily a lady sitting nearby (the one in the striped shirt behind Ryan in the pic) grabbed him before he even got pulled under. Thank you, Stranger! It all happened so fast, I never ever had a chance to freak out, but I've replayed all the worst-case scenarios in the following days, and I've been holding him close more.

After our hike, we had another little picnic, this time with a bunch of little chipmunks. We fed them, and it was super fun.

We rested a bit at the hotel again, then headed to the pool. It was windy so it was a little chilly, but it was so nice to be altogether and play and laugh. Brennan and I played in the hot tub after the pool too, while Ryan took everyone else up to the room to make a freezer meal we'd brought.

After getting everyone in bed, Ryan and I pressed our luck again and headed to the hot tub just outside our door. But when we got back 30 minutes later, Collin was crying on the couch. His nose was all stuffy, and he couldn't breathe. Another Parent-fail. He'd woken up too stuffed up to breathe and couldn't find us. We put him to sleep again propped up on the couch with a box of tissues nearby. Oops.

MONDAY - Trail Walk & Mini Golf
Monday was our slower day. We went to breakfast at a super cute little diner and shared the largest cinnamon roll I've ever seen. Afterwards, we walked a trail along the river that runs through town.

 Ryan had bought a fishing license, so we stopped at one point and tried some fishing.

We walked along the trail until we got to another ice cream shop, enjoyed our snack on a picnic bench by the river, and then turned back. It was a peaceful, calm morning.

After naps, we convinced the boys to try miniature golfing. They loved it! We were the only ones there (4 o'clock on a Monday - I wonder why?), and we let the boys play ahead. We decided not to keep score, since Ethan kept collecting our balls anyway.

As Ryan and I played on about Hole #12, Brennan ran over to us asking, "Where's Hole #19?" After we explained it was over at Hole #18, he announced, "I won! I won! I finished first!!!" Ooops, I guess we forgot to tell them the point. :-)

We picked up a pizza afterwards and headed back to our hotel. The boys were getting pretty excited (but were pretty wasted too!) because Ryan's mom was about to arrive. We let them stay up late to see Nana, Aunt Shan (Ryan's aunt) and Great-grandma Fooks. It was fun to have them with us for our last day.

TUESDAY - Gondola Ride

After getting packed up and checked out, we headed over to the neighboring resort to ride the gondola up the mountain. We'd been watching it all weekend, so we were excited to finally get to ride.

I am pretty afraid of heights, but it was smooth and such a gorgeous view.

We walked around up at the top, had lunch at the grill on the patio and rode down.

I think we'd worn the boys as thin as they've ever been. I was pretty wasted too, honestly! We started home a little after 1pm (the big boys had karate at 4:30 and I was hoping to get them back for it), but due to construction it took us forever to get back. Kate also got car-sick... over and over again. I've never had to manage a puking baby, and it was horrible. She couldn't tell us what was about to happen, but I did manage to catch one of the times in our ever-present ice-cream puking bucket. I felt so bad for her; she was so confused and had no idea what was happening to her. Poor Kakey. Luckily, she was fine after we got home. That night the boys were in bed by 6pm (after baths/showers and a dinner of toast). Nana, et al showed up shortly afterwards, and we enjoyed their company here until Friday morning.

It was quite a tiring week, but I really do love my little family. They are awesome, and we had such a great time together. Family vacations are expensive, but some of my fondest memories of growing up are of our vacations to the beach every other summer. We really want to create our own fond memories together. Steamboat will go down in history. It was a perfect long weekend.