Adventures in "Colorago"

The first thing JD said when we drove up to the cabin this time was "Colorago House." So it stuck for the rest of trip - JD was in "Colorago!"

One of the days we were there, Jon, JD and I took a drive to Aspen, which is an amazing route over Independence Pass. We walked around town, ate lunch and let JD run wild in a pretty green field in the square.

On Saturday, we went up a beautiful, but majorly 4WD road called Mosquito Pass while we were up in Colorado. This was the main road between Fairplay (where our cabin is) and Leadville during the mining days. JD's favorite part was playing in the snow at the top of the pass.

My mom and Ken, Dara, Josh, Emma and Ellie all arrived on Saturday at the end of our first week there and we had so much fun! JD just loves "Emma Lellie," apparently the two girls are inseperable in his mind!

We took a train trip with the kids on the Royal Gorge one day. It is about a 2 hour train ride along the Royal Gorge river. JD spent all day saying "choo choo" and pulling a train whistle and saying "All Aboard!" We saw rafters and hikers along the route. JD LOVED the train and especially loved a helicopter that "buzzed" the open air car where he was.

Another fun day trip was to South Park City, a restored mining town in Fairplay, complete with train and mine!

Eason Family in front of the old wagon -

And the day before we left, Jon and Josh went hiking up a 14K foot mountain called Quandary, just outside Breckenridge. They made it in excellent time and were back by early afternoon, although they seemed a bit sore the next day (if you ask me).

It was such an amazing trip where we managed to do a bunch of new things, considering how many years I have been going to Colorado! And it is so much more fun to see it through JD's eyes!

Visiting With Mamaw & Papaw in Colorado

This post is dedicated to the fun we had with Mamaw & Papaw (Jon's grandparents) while we were in Colorado.

After the Fourth of July celebration, we invited everyone over to the cabin for dinner and games. The guys took turns on the ATV and of course, JD insisted on being included!


There was also a rousing game (or a few) of horseshoes out in the driveway.

We had some picture time out on the bench too. Compare last year to this year!!

JD with Mamaw and Papaw
JD with Grandpa and Grandma

Then we met up with the family again a few days later for a fishing trip at a nearby (1 1/2 hours away) reservoir. There were lots of fish to catch!! JD didn't get one this year, but Jon got a couple!




We really enjoyed spending some time with Jon's grandparents and JD is still talking about Mamaw and Papaw!

And Lil' Peanut Is Going To Be...

A girl!! JD will have a little sister!

I would have never guessed it! We actually found out a few weeks ahead of schedule. Our doctor called me from Texas yesterday to tell me that he had seen something suspicious on our last sonogram and wanted us to go in immediately for a "Level II" ultrasound, performed by a perinatologist.

Wow. Talk about immediate stress on a family vacation! Since we are in Colorado, we had to do some research to find a perinatologist within a 100 mile range of us. After much calling and working out between my doctor's office and the specialist's office, we got an appointment today at 2:30 pm.

After not much sleep last night, we drove into Denver to visit the perinatologist for the ultrasound. I was very nervous and upset about what could be wrong.

Then after a very in-depth ultrasound, the specialist told us what our doctor was seeing and how there was NOTHING to be alarmed about after all (she stressed that a few times for us). Thank goodness! (The quote "O ye of little faith" came to mind for me)

And we got an extra special bonus because Lil' Peanut cooperated for the doctor and the doctor told us that we were having a GIRL! Hooray!

Now if we can just settle on a name for our daughter (yes - we had a boy name all figured out)...

July 4th and 5th

We are up in Colorado and got to celebrate the Fourth of July in Colorado Springs! July 5th also happens to be our anniversary. Six years ago, we got married at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

Jon got us a hotel room at the Broadmoor for July 4-6, so we enjoyed some swim time at their awesome pool. It wasn't for long though because we had some afternoon thunderstorms roll in, so we went to get some lunch.

In the afternoon, we went over to Jon's grandparent's house in Manitou Springs (just down the road from the Broadmoor) for a July 4th barbecue and fireworks watching.

JD loved playing with the old trains at Mamaw and Papaw's! He also loved the big KABOOM that they let off every hour before the fireworks began.

By the time the fireworks began at 9:15 pm, JD was pretty tired and it got pretty chilly outside. But we had the perfect view, since they shot the fireworks off right behind the grandparent's house! They were right over our heads!

It took JD a little bit of time to warm up to the loud noises and the bright lights that were so close, you could almost touch them. He was worried they might actually get him! But then he loved it! JD stayed over with Jon's parents for the 4th and 5th, so Jon and I could enjoy our anniversary.

We had a great day on our anniversary. Jon made reservations for us at the famous Broadmoor Sunday Brunch and it was amazing! It seemed like everyone at the hotel knew it was our anniversary and kept wishing us a great one!

Then it was off to the pool for awhile until the storms rolled back through and then we took a nap with the thunder and lightning rumbling around us. Perfect!

At the last minute, Jon was able to get us into the Penrose Room (5 star restaurant) for dinner, which is normally closed on Sunday nights. They opened it just for us! Well, not really, but there were only 3 other couples there, so it felt like it.

The dinner was amazing!! Jon started with the crab bisque (so delicious) and I had a crawfish and truffle oil gnocchi (so yummy) to start with. Then Jon had the lamb for dinner and I had Alaskan King Salmon and Braised Short Ribs (words cannot even describe how amazing my dinner was). By the time we got to dessert, I wasn't even hungry anymore, but how can you say no to this.

Or this!

After dinner, we went to the Golden Bee (the hotel's English Pub) for an old fashioned sing-along with the piano. So fun! It was the perfect anniversary!