happy birthday gwyneth | great wolf lodge

Gwyneth really wanted to celebrate her birthday at Great Wolf Lodge so off we went!

Thanks to a 50% coupon we were able to stay for a couple nights for a slightly reasonable price. It’s all a bit overpriced but the coupon does help.

I think this may be the girls’ happy place. They love to swim and just love everything about this place. We stayed 3 night which wasn’t enough for them. I think two is probably good for me and 1 is probably good for B. Ha!

Let’s get in the pool!

And off they went. Sunday night they shut it down. They were so happy to swim, swim, swim.

Silly sisters!

Monday we were right back at it. Bright and early. We were at the water park when it opened at 9 am. Took breaks for meals but didn’t leave until 8 pm that evening Now, that is a day of swimming!

This is one of my favorites shots of Gwyneth!

Annabelle snapped it of her dancing underwater. Fabulous!

And just like that our baby is NINE!! Love that bed head.

Gwyneth ran the show for the day and she wanted to start the day with a big breakfast. Absolutely no surprise there.

Next stop mini-golf. Miss Annabelle was pretty pleased with her hole-in-one!

And then the ropes course. G didn’t have tennis shoes but that didn’t stop her. of course she climbed in ruby slippers. That’s how this girl rolls.

And then bowling!

Gwyneth’s buddy Ruby was there for the night as well. They have been friends since kindergarten and share the same birthday. What a fun birthday coincidence to be there at the same time.

We hit the waterpark after lunch and spent a few hours. Unfortunately B had to head home and get some work done, but we had a great time all together.

After dinner the girls talked me into playing Magiquest. I didn’t know much about it, but the girls were eager to check it out. They got a wand and got right down to it. I still don’t know much about it but it involves finding clues through the resort and it kept them entertained for hours.

While they were exploring and waving those magic wands, I sat and read an entire book and had a glass of wine. I can’t complain, but I wish B would have been there to enjoy that glass of wine with me.

Our last day we hit the water park one last time. Lots of water slides and time in the wave pool. We definitely made the most of our opportunity.

We finished off the trip with pedicures and ice cream. Gwyneth’s dream. She loves the scoops spa and it was the perfect ending to a fabulous birthday trip!

Happiest birthday to our fierce, funny, loving, smart, beautiful baby. We love this girl so, so much!

These girls have ticklish feet. She reminds me so much of my sister, Stacy in these pictures.

colorado springs | cave of the winds and cliff dwellings

We had one more day in Colorado Springs and filled it up. Our first stop was Cave of the Winds. I was really nervous for this because of my fear of heights. I’m so glad we did this anyway, because it was one of my favorites!

The view from the top is definitely a bit unnerving, but also absolutely gorgeous.

Then you travel down into the mountain and explore the amazing caves. It’s quite impressive to see and pictures do not do it justice. You just have to get down there and explore!

Just one of the very narrow passage ways

Everyone loved it!

View from the outside. I think B has a picture of me up here, but it was high, high, high and I was so nervous! We did it though.

Look at little G up there. No fear!

We planned one more stop before heading home.

We took a little detour to visit the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.

The history of this place is amazing and you can read about it here. The girls both learned about the Cliff Dwellers at school this year, but Gwyneth was especially excited to see the dwellings up close and personal.

All of these gems are nestled in the mountains just a short jog from Manitou springs. Of all the times I have visited that great little town I have never stopped. I’m so glad we took the opportunity this visit.

By the time we left it was HOT. We were ready to get out of the heat and into the a.c. We had a quiet little drive home. I think everyone was pretty worn out from our excursions.

colorado springs | garden of the gods, manitou springs, and santa’s workshop

Garden of the Gods is one our favs. When in Colorado Springs, you have to go! It’s a necessity. The girls love the exploring. Climbing the big ol’ red rocks.

The leaning rock pictures are a requirement. We have them from every visit.

One of my favorites shots of the day.

We stopped in Manitou Springs for lunch. The downtown is so quaint and I’ve been going here for years….since back in high school when my friend, Diane would come out to visit me. We’ve never really found a restaurant that we love, but we keep on trying.

Gwneth found this tap of spring water and thought it was just the best. She got such a kick out of it.

We tried salt water taffy on main street. Annabelle loved it. Gwyneth hated it.

Another fresh spring water tap.

;This was our first visit to the North Pole, a cute little amusement park on the base of Pike’s Peak. It is right up Gwyneth’s alley. No big roller coasters; just lots of fun smaller rides. They girls did most of them together and had a good ol’ time.

love that face!

having so much fun!

This is the one ride where the girls had to split up. They need an adult to take them on the reindeer zip line. B looks a bit concerned – ha!

Here they go…

On their way back…

Gwyneth’s turn:

She is going to take some convincing:

She loved it too!

This was a pole of ice/snow and it was nice and refreshing to lean against on that hot day.

Overall it was kind of a cheesy little park, but we had a blast. I would recommend it for people with younger kids or anyone who doesn’t love roller coasters.

Back at the hotel the girls begged for one more night of swimming.

They had the pool nearly to themselves. There were two other kids there, but the rest of the place was empty! They got fancy with the slide and went head first. They were nothing but smiles and giggles.

colorado springs | seven falls and the broadmoor

We planned this little mini – “staycation” for the week of the 4th. It’s pretty quiet at both of our businesses this week due to the holiday. We wanted take advantage of that down time and have a lot of family time.

The morning we were set to leave was a bit of a whirlwind. We had stayed downtown the night before because we didn’t want to drive home with all the crazies after the game and fireworks. We didn’t get back to our hotel room the previous night until almost midnight so we had some tired girls.

B received a few surprise orders and had to head back to the Kitchen that morning to do some cooking. I had to do payroll and get a few other work things done which I did from the hotel room in the dark. The girls were sound asleep from our previous night’s adventure.

B and I were a bit flustered about starting our little trip later than expected. He scurried off while it was still dark and we both worked away. Our little ladies slept through it all! They didn’t wake up until about 10 am. They got ready for the day and we were waiting in the lobby when B pulled up to pick us up and head down south.

It’s funny the things that get us worked up sometimes and then turn out to really be nothing at all…

On to our adventure!

I may love Colorado Springs more than anyone else in the world. Yes, the entire world. There is so much to do in that beautiful little town. So many natural treasures…and man-made ones too. I joke with B that I’m going to end up buying a vacation home there and he genuinely looks concerned. I really do love it. No matter how often we go there is never enough time. There is just so much to do.

I have started quite a little journey of visiting the resorts there. We tried out the Cheyenne Mountain Resort and the Garden of the Gods Resort and this year we stayed at the Lodge at Flying Horse. The only resort left on my list to stay at is The Broadmoor. Someday. Soon.

The resort was beautiful and the rooms were very nice. The views were stunning. It had more of a neighborhood feel though with the clubhouse and restaurant being across the parking lot and catered to residents. It was a bit far from the sites also. We had a really wonderful time and it was gorgeous, but given the price tag I will definitely rank it below the other two resorts we visited on prior visits.

Our first stop was Seven Falls.

This one has been really built up for us. When B was a kid he made this place “Eight Falls” and the girls just think that story is hilarious! I did very little research on this outing and thought it would be 7 individual water falls. It wasn’t quite as expected. I think the girls were a little let down but they laughed all the way to the top thinking about their dad as a little boy peeing off the side!

This trip really took me out of my comfort zone. I’m terrified of heights and was so nervous. I got a little shaky up top but I did it.

We stopped at the Golden Bee for a quick snack. The restaurant is located by the shuttle to Seven Falls and the Broadmoor. It’s a great little pub with the best smoked salmon appetizer.

After our snack we wandered around The Broadmoor. It’s such a gorgeous hotel and the grounds have the most amazing views. I love the history of the place with well-known visitors.

As we were leaving we noticed this guy just hanging out on the lawn:

You’d think the girls would have been worn out by now, but nope! They were still up for a swim. They spent the rest of the evening going down this slide. Over and over again. They loved it!

After a busy, busy day they were so hungry so we appeased with room service. I think that may be there favorite part of traveling. It was a busy, busy first day and lots more fun planned ahead…

sun | great wolf lodge

Our last day at Great Wolf Lodge was all about swimming. The girls were up again bright and early and ready to hit the pool. It was the busiest day of the weekend at the pool and luckily we got a cabana so we could all have a good meeting point and quiet place for lunch.

The girls spent the majority of their day on the slides. They went over and over and over again. They absolutely loved it. They were all smiles and laughs!

Annabelle’s friends spent the day at the pool as well so we had very happy girls all around.

More wave pool fun…

I don’t have quite as many pics of Annabelle from the day because she was a water slide junky. She stopped long enough for pizza and then back on the slides she went.

Pizza break

It was a whirlwind weekend – I feel like we need a vacation from our vacation. I’m very proud of Annabelle for joining the choir and working so hard. I’m also grateful for the school they attend, the friends they have, and the other wonderful parents who worked so hard to make this weekend a success.