Colorado

 You are thinking didn't I just read about a family vacation, and yes, two weeks later we took another one! We drove to Colorado for a long weekend. We had so MUCH Fun! We left town Wed after work and got to Casper, WY where we found another hotel to add to our DO NOT STAY AGAIN list, it was awful. We finished our drive on thurs getting to Denver in time for Lunch at Casa Bonita, which I have to say we went to a lot of places that I went to as a child, Denver was our Temple so we often went there and my parents would make a mini vacation out of it, Casa Bonita was one of my favorite places growing up, it is not as spectacular as it once was, but we still had fun, the kids loved the shows and for like four hours Addy was sure she wanted to be a Diver when she grew up,, Here is the family outside ready to go in. They have games, and food and shows, it was fun.

After lunch we headed to our hotel, just one I had picked up through hotwire, it was a great deal with very comfy beds, but not all that family friendly. We took late naps and then got ready for our Big family Date, We had tickets to see Mary Poppins, which is a favorite in our home. It was SO GOOD! Burt actually Danced the distance of the stage on the Ceiling!!! There were a lot of other really spectacular pieces, but that one blew me away, tap dancing is always impressive but upside down, WOW I didn't get any picture of the kiddos all ready for the show, they were very strict about pictures and wouldn't let us take them even of ourselves. By the time the show was over it was late and we needed to get to bed, The kids did amazing though the show was 2 and half hours and they barley flinched they were so enthralled.

The next day we did the Children s museum which was crazy busy due to school tours, YUCK, but the kids still found things they loved, the bubbles were a hit, the fire truck and the The Vet clinic. After that Addy was  listing 6 or 7 things she would like to be when she grows up, usually it is a Pirate

 They have a tot area for kids up to 4 in age, but our kiddos were well passed the activities they had to offer in there except the fishing, Jimmy really liked that

 After the museum we went on a Trolley ride touring the Platte river and getting a little history of the area

 The kids really wanted to sleep in the same bed, but they just couldn't handle it, one is a kicker and the other is a wiggle worm so we had to separate them much to their dismay

 This was our view of Denver out our Window we were on the 36th floor, it was amazing all that we could see up there. Our hotel was smack dab in the middle of town so we visited the 16th st Mall and a few other well known places Eliches was in sight the kids so badly wanted to go, but they just don't have enough rides for little ones to make it worth it and lets be honest it is a let down compared to Disney where we were two weeks ago, so we passed this time and did some other things instead

 We also checked out a number of parks

 Our third day there we had Cousin Day, we stole my Brothers three oldest kids (it was their Christmas Present) and spent the day playing, we started off with Donuts at Lemars supposedly the best, and the were very good, Jarod got a fritter that was bigger then his head, but size wasn't all they had great taste, we don't have a do-nut shop so this was very exciting for our kiddos. After a sugar rush we went to the park to run it off and play pirate of course, here they are all together

 Then we headed to the aquarium none of us had been there before and they had some really impressive areas, I really like this shot

 And Mermaids!!! We even got to see them put on a show in the water, very interesting and short, LOL

 The sharks were a definite hit, we had lunch at the Restaurant there so we could eat with the fish the kids thought that was great! and then we moved on to the Botanical Gardens, We were about three weeks to early to really enjoy the gardens, but we still found some treasures

 Like a Perfectly Grassed Amphitheater that was perfect for over an hour of rolling! The kids loved it This was a first for Addy and Jimmy as we just don't have many great rolling hills it was so fun

 Cousins, these two crack me up Alex is four months older then Addy and she is a full head taller then him. It really looked like we were a family of five kiddos we got many comments, a few rather snide, It made me really feel for people that do have big families, all five of these kiddos were so well behaved and kind while we were all together it was hard to believe people would be so judgmental After the botanical gardens we hit another park, then on to the Chocolate factory in Loveland, I was so sad to see how diminished our school shopping location was, so SAD! After chocolate we had dinner and then headed to Wellington to Swim It was a very busy day.

Our last day there we chased chickens and by we I use that term loosely Doug and the kids chased chickens and loved it!  I am so sad I didn't get pictures.My brother and his wife were kind enough to have us over for breakfast before we headed home, we got to see their new place and the highlight chase chickens the kids were thrilled with all the chickens and keep asking when we can get some, LOL We made it halfway and stopped to visit my My best Friend in Gillette, who is also mid moving and now on some land so the kids got to do more running and  now want motorbikes my friends husband is big into racing and the kids loved that, they were so spoiled they got to ride the four wheeler and play with all the riding toys, and now  they are both protesting their bike helmets insisting they need racing helmets. They are so funny from there we finished the trip home and called it a day. It took us a full day to recover from all our festivities, we had so much fun, thanks to my Brother and his family for letting us take the kiddos and hanging out, and to my friends we managed to see, we didn't get to see all of you we just needed more time, but I am sure we will be that way again. What a fun weekend, We are glad to be home though.