Jen's Journal: Colorado Road Trip

At some point last year we started talking about making a trip out to Colorado to visit my two brothers and Kevin's sister. At Christmas when we found out that Kevin's sister was expecting a baby in July we decided we had to make the trip happen. Originally we had hoped that my mom, sister and her husband would be able to make the trip with us but unfortunately due to my sister's schedule she was not able to join us (Julia, you and Josh were deeply missed and we will definitely need to make the trip again when you are able to join us :) ). So, last Friday after work and my mom arrived at our house we packed up our rented van (very fancy...I think it took us most of the trip to figure out how to adjust the temperature) and started our overnight road trip to Denver, CO. The drive went really well with both boys sleeping for most of the night and we arrived in Denver on Saturday around lunch time. We stayed in Denver on Saturday and enjoyed celebrating my youngest brother Jeff's birthday. On Sunday we packed-up and headed three hours north to Steamboat Springs where we got to meet new baby Quintin (baby Q)! Kevin, the boys and I stayed at Lori and Evan's and my mom and siblings stayed at the condo of one of Lori's friends. My mom and the others (Jeff, Jon, Britta, and Rach) stayed in Steamboat until Monday evening and Kevin, the boys, and I stayed until Wednesday afternoon before heading back to Denver for our last few days. We packed-up and left on Friday evening around bedtime and again made the overnight drive back home. It was a wonderful trip!! Here are some pictures and more details of the memories we made on this trip.

Day One (Saturday, July 13. Happy Birthday Jeff!)

Playing games with grandma Liz at Uncle Jon and Aunt Rach's

Hanging out before dinner

Nolan giving Uncle Jeff his birthday animal drawings that he made in the car

Day 2: Steamboat

We left Sunday morning and drove to Steamboat. We enjoyed lunch at Double Z's bbq and then after getting settled Nolan and I went to the hot springs with my mom, Jon, Rach, Jeff, and Britta. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that to share at this time, but it was a wonderful afternoon. We then came back to Lori and Evan's for a yummy dinner.

Playing at aunt Lori and Uncle Evan's

Day 3: Steamboat continued...

Monday morning we took a hike up to the ski jumps behind Lori and Evan's house

Day 4: Tuesday we spent the day with Lori and Evan. I bought matching outfits for the boys and their new cousin so we had to take some pictures of the three of them together.

We then walked down to the park. It was the first outing for Lori and baby Q besides their doctor's appointment the day before. It was a beautiful day!

Day 5: last day in Steamboat. We spent the morning and early afternoon hanging out with Lori, Evan, and baby Q before heading back to Denver. Nolan really loves his new cousin. If he heard him crying upstairs he would take off running up the stairs saying he had to check on "Quintin and aunt Lori".

Kisses for baby Q

"He's so cute!" -Nolan

Lucas checking out baby Q. Not sure what he thinks, but he was pretty gentle

Mommas and our babies

Attempt to get a family picture...

Back in Denver...after we arrived back in Denver we headed to City Park, which is really close to where both Jeff and Jon live (right across the street from Jeff and Britta's apartment). We then went back to uncle Jon's for dinner.

This boy climbs EVERYTHING!

Day 6: Denver ZOO! Thursday we spent the morning and early afternoon (I think we spent almost 3 1/2 hours at the zoo) at the zoo. It was a very nice zoo and Nolan enjoyed seeing animals that we don't have at our zoo.

Nolan and his map of the zoo...taking us to the hippos

It was a hot day...stopped for some dippin' dots ice cream

"Nolan, make a face like a gorilla"

After the zoo and naps we again went to City Park to play before meeting my cousin Brenda and her boyfriend and his son for dinner at Vine Street. I don't know why we didn't think to take pictures with them (it might have had to do with the two crazy little boys we have :) ). It was great to see them and we enjoyed a yummy meal. After dinner we went for ice cream at Liks. Delicious!

I think he likes ice cream

Then it was back to uncle Jon and Rach's

Lucas loves putting on other people's shoes

Day 7: Last Day. Friday morning the boys went to City Park with uncle Jon and Kevin while mom and I went across the street to check out the store that Britta works in. It's a very cool little resale shop with lots of unique items (tables, chairs, lamps, art, candles, etc.). Mom and I both found a little something. We then met Kevin, Jon, and the boys and we grabbed some lunch before heading to the pool. We enjoyed our afternoon at the pool before going back to Jon and Rach's to pack-up and eat dinner.

Nolan missed his usual afternoon nap, which we weren't too worried about since we were going to be driving through the night. However, this is what happened while waiting for dinner and reading books with aunt Rach.

One last picture before hitting the road.

Here are a few additional pics from our trip....

First time holding baby Q

Hanging out Sunday evening at Lori and Evan's after the hot springs and dinner. Happy new momma!

Sweet baby Q.

love

Like I said, Nolan loves his cousin. Here Nolan was singing to Quintin because he was crying. Nolan often breaks out in "You are my sunshine" when Lucas starts crying too.