Just When You Think The Fun Is Over…

Today is the last day with our family. We were not too proactive in leaving as we were trying to spend as much time with Guy and Gigi (Noah’s adorable cousins) as possible. Guy and I played our own version of angry birds in the living room with his stuffed bird we picked up while at Build a Bear yesterday.  Sadie (Noah’s aunt) let me rummage through a few more things before leaving.

Again, hand-me-downs are AWESOME.  Gigi rocked out on her horse while we were getting the car ready.  And eventually it was time to leave 🙁

Guy was pretty cute when we said goodbye. He was nice enough to sing Noah to sleep before we got in the car. He sang his favorite song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. It worked like a charm. So we were off…or so we thought.

Stop #1: Castle Rock

Rick and I are pretty good procrastinators. When looking at a 12 hour drive, one will come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid the excruciating drive which is Texas.  So why not do a little shopping before we were staring at nothing but highway?!

We stopped in Castle Rock at the outlet mall just to look around.

Well…by the time we got in our car it was way past 2:00pm. Knowing that we were not going to make it home that night, we started contemplating where we wanted to sleep. We wanted it to be at least a little bit fun since we are on vacation. I don’t know how many of you have made the trip between Texas and Colorado, but there is not a lot of fun between those two states.

Stop #2: Colorado Springs

This looks like a fun place to stay!

We drove about an hour (yes just an hour) and decided to stop in Colorado Springs for the night. We were now 1.5 hours from my brother’s house. We are awesome, I know.

We checked out the Broadmoor but they were booked for the night (and possibly a bit out of price range) so we then looked at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. It was beautiful (and cheaper) so we decided to stay. It was a lot like summer camp in that the outside looked like cabins and there was a lake as well as a resort pool. The inside was nothing like summer camp and surprisingly nice. That night they were having a seafood buffet so Rick felt that God was looking out for us in our hotel choices.

Lakeside Beach

We already know how much Noah enjoys swimming so we ventured down to the lake and Noah experienced sand for the first time. He wanted to put it in his mouth, as he does everything. He thought it was pretty cool and enjoyed the texture. He enjoyed rubbing his feet and hands on the sand. It also loved him, as we kept finding pieces of sand on him even after he got a bath.

We also played in the splash park and hung out in the pool.  While we were in the pool, a woman came up to us and commented on how strong Noah was.  This should have triggered my Down syndrome parent radar as Noah looks far from strong to other parents.  When her 19 year old daughter Angie sat down, I got a little excited as Angie had Down syndrome.  Angie had just graduated from high school (Woo Hoo! Go Angie!) and was enjoying her vacation.  This mom had adopted Angie as well as another boy with Down syndrome.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT???  This was a such an encouragement to us and we are very thankful we met them.

All-You-Can-Eat Seafood Buffet

I think Rick ate his money's worth in snow crab.

Rick and I went to dinner, and Rick ate enough crab legs and shrimp to cover both of our dinners plus some. He is very smart about his choices at buffets and goes straight for the good stuff rather than wasting stomach space on things like salad. While we were sitting there, we made a very spontaneous decision. Why not continue our vacation here at this resort? We were planning on taking a separate vacation once we returned, but this would be much easier and cost effecient than what we were considering. Plus, Colorado Springs had a lot to offer and our hotel was pretty awesome. So, we decided to unload the car and enjoy a little more vacation.

Have you ever made a spontaneous decision to travel? What is one of your favorite vacation spots?