Colorado in July!

We just got back from such a lovely trip! Bryan's parents, a.k.a. Honey and Doc, took us, Aunt K,and Uncle David to Breckenridge, Colorado. We were there from Wednesday through Sunday, July 5th, and enjoyed every minute of our break from the heat. I don't think it ever got above 70!

We stayed in a beautiful "Mountain House" as Jackson calls it at an elevation of 10,000 feet, and my favorite part was that it was right around the corner from a winter time ski in ski out trail that during the summertime is a magnificent place to go hiking. We went at least once a day exploring and soaking the glorious weather and scenery. How cool would that be to live so close to such beauty on a permanent basis.

Thursday was Jackson's day. We spent the day at the Peak 8 Fun Park which included alpine slides, miniature golf, and other kid friendly activities. He wasn't as keen on the slides as we thought he would be, but we sure enjoyed them. My very busy boy is actually very cautious about new things, especially when they move fast or are high up in the air. I think the trait of caution will be something I will be thanking God for giving him every day of his teenage years and now I'm praying that it will stick until that point. I think our favorite part was when we took the super lift up to the top of the peak. There was a trail up there, where we found snow and a beautiful scenic view. Jackson went crazy about the snow which was just a little pile that hadn't quite melted yet. We've decided in a couple of years we have to take him here in the winter time because if he liked that little pile he will go nuts seeing the amazing blanket of white. We showed him how to make snowballs and in no time he created his own snowball baseball game. "Daddy you be the pitcher, I'll be the batter!" as he held up his pretend bat. Every time he would as if on purpose let the snowball hit him in the face and would die laughing and then immediately would want more. Jackson still talks about how funny it was. It was such a fun family day!
Friday, Bryan, Karen, and Doc went white water rafting. We originally had a bigger group going, but since I'm pregnant and David has a broken ankle from wake boarding the group became just the Three Musketeers. They had a blast, but downplayed it for our benefit. Due to the rain, Sharon and I changed our plans just to do some town strolling and headed to the local theater, suggested by David, to watch a take on "Babe." Jackson loved the sweet play as did we. I've got to find a little theater like that close by to take him to.

That evening we celebrated my birthday with a fabulous steak dinner. I think this was the first full meal I have been able to eat in quite sometime with ease. While serenaded by Jackson's birthday song I blew my candles out on the brownie goodness Sharon made. Another great day and a wonderful start to my, very sad to say, last year in the 20's.

Saturday morning we headed out to the annual Breckenridge July 4th parade extravaganza. We got there an hour and a half before it started, got a great seat, but were very shortly joined by I think everyone that lives or was visiting there. Honey brought Jackson a little flag which he waved proudly as each float passed by. My very favorite, probably along with everyone else, was the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. Without fail I'm always shocked by their greatness. Jackson's favorite though was when the cast of "Babe" came along. He told me just today how he "misses her so much!" After an hour and half of crazy candy grabbing, flag waving fun we decided to head to lunch even though as we looked down Main St. the parade had no end in sight.Of course no July 4th, at least by my standards, is not complete without fireworks and fireworks we got. Breckenridge must have a huge budget for the show, because man it was fabulous. The funniest part though was that instead of looking up this year, we looked down on them as we were so high up in the "Mountain House." Jackson wasn't as into them as Mommy was, but with the loud mountain echoes and the fact that he was up two hours past bedtime I should have known, so I quickly got him down.

We slept in a little Sunday due to the very late night and then headed to the airport. Jackson did not want to go home! He loved being in the mountains, loved spending time with Aunt K, David, Honey, and Doc, and absolutely loved our vacation attitude where he got away with much more than usual. We loved every minute too of fabulous Breckenridge but more than that loved spending such wonderful quality time with our sweet family. Thank you Honey and Doc for such a fabulous trip!