David, Sarah and I drove to Colorado in August to meet up with my parents and Becky, Josh and 3-month-old Everett for a family vacation. This is third or fourth time we have done some sort of family vacation in Colorado in the summer, and those trips always prove to be amazing. Amazing. Sarah was excited for weeks about our trip to "Codorado" (as she calls it, and thus it will forever be called in our household). And how could you not be? Gorgeous weather. Mountains. The most amazing fresh air. Mountain Streams. Codorado is the best!!
This trip was made extra special because it was our first vacation with Baby Everett. And the first time David, Sarah and I got to meet this special little guy. He is amazingly cute and aware and fun, and Josh and Becky are already incredible parents to him.
Mountain Streams. The. Best.
Views like this are simply good for the soul.
Some highlights of our vacation include a bike ride David, Josh, Sarah, my dad and I did from Avon, where we were staying, to the nearby town of Edwards. Sarah LOVED riding in the little bike pod behind David. I wish I had taken more pictures, but you will just have to trust me that it was really, really fun. Though some of my family members (Becky, Josh, David) are more athletically inclined than others (me), we always try to do some sort of bike ride on these summer trips to Colorado, and we all manage to enjoy them.
Sarah's highlight was hitting the hotel pool every day. Funny story: this did nearly get she, David and I killed. On the last afternoon we were there, Sarah wanted to go to the pool even though it was overcast and just slightly rainy. Since we knew it was the last chance, David and I agreed to take her despite the inclement weather. WRONG. We got down to the pool, and even though there was barely a hint of rain and just kind of whitish cloudiness, I thought to myself, "Is this safe? Surely this is not dangerous, right?" Well, about five minutes later when all three of us are IN THE WATER, out of nowhere comes the loudest crash of thunder and brightest flash from the closest lightening strike I have ever experienced. We think it may have hit the hotel right next to ours. In any case, it somehow set ALL the fire alarms in our hotel off at the same time (super creepy)! We jumped out of the water, of course, but had to stay outside while the fire department came and checked out our hotel to make sure the lightening hadn't set any actual fires. Basically, we were just really, really lucky that it didn't hit closer to the pool. The rest of the day the hair stood up on the back of my neck. In fact, it is standing up on my neck right now as I write this.
Family Portrait, August 2013.
The other highlight of the trip was a big family reunion dinner we hosted for our larger, extended family who live in Colorado. Nearly all of my aunts, uncles and cousins who live nearby came out to the mountains to visit while we were there, and somehow I got no photos of that evening. Josh and Becky "catered" the big meal for about 25 of us, including kiddos. It was really a great evening. That is the other thing I love about Colorado--my Colorado roots and family. I am a "Texoradan," if you will. A proud Texoradan. :)
