Ellerman Family Vacation 2012: Denver, Day 2

I potentially have so much to share, but all that must wait. For now, lets talk more about Denver and how much I liked it.

Yes, I know you dont like suspence, but I will tell you when the time is right.

ok fine. FINE. We painted the kitchen and I got a new job. There, you forced it out of me. Back to Denver.

So, Denver. Its rather pretty, in the neighborhoods near downtown. See?

If the winters werent so brutal I would add the city to my list of Cities I Could Live In. But I dont do cold, so it is not making the list. The one thing I that could make me reconsider living there are the breakfasts we had. Yes, I take breakfast that seriously. On the morning of our second day we went to the Denver Biscuit Co for some enormous and tasty biscuits.

Coloring ensued.

All under the watchful eye of the cowboy vs. alien mural. I loved it, and felt inspiration for a next birthday party.

Menu was awesome. How I love you, breakfast food!

With our bellies way bigger than they need to be, we went to Red Rocks Amphitheater. Its a concert venue and state park with trails, etc. I donned the ankle brace and decided to go for it.

Our first mini hike was up the ramp and thousand + (felt like it) stairs to see the actual concert venue.

Lots of stops to admire the view and catch our breath. The altitude alone would make a healthy person huff and puff, and the broken ankle has rendered me into an out of shape fattie, so needless to say, I needed the breaks.

Hello, handsome fella.

And rockstar.

Finally we reached the amphitheater. 

After taking a quick look, naturally someone had to use the bathroom, so one parent stayed (me, of course. thank you bad ankle for giving me the excuse to stay!) and the other had to haul a kid about to poop in his pants down hundreds of stairs. Ah. Just keeping it real, this is what its like to travel with kids.

Poop break was over, and we went on a real trail. Short and easy and with spectacular views.

This outting exhausted us and we napped like champs!

Ellerman Family Vacation 2012: Denver, Day 1

A big thumbs up to our third, and longest, airplane ride. The boys did really well. Really, really well. We had a borderline crazy fit of laughter towards the end of the flight, but the other passengers didn't know we were approaching level 5 meltdown, so they thought it was cute. Kudos to me for packing snacks and more coloring books than we could ever complete in a 3 hour span. This day was mostly packing, traveling, and getting to our week-long accommodations.Not much to report there.

But early the next morning we were up and ready to sightsee! Check out our cool dude shades. Yeah, they are a little crooked, but no one has ever shopped a dollar store for quality.

With every trip, we take a picture of the state's license plate on our rental. Here you go.

I don't know what other people do when they plan a vacation, but I start by looking for good places to eat breakfast, and then I plan the rest of the day's activities around that particular morning's breakfast spot. Maybe not the best strategy for our waistlines, but whatever people, I love breakfast. This morning we took a friend's advice and went to Cozy Cottage to fuel up. And I am so glad we did-everything about this place I loved. The location, the outside patio, the food, OMG, the food, and I also loved the fact that the kids could wander about the patio because we were the only people there that early.

Thoughout the trip we spent most meals coloring while we waited for our food. Coloring session #1 went well.

And the eating that followed it went well. These pictures are for my parents, who always take pics of their food. NomNom.

On this particular day we were going to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding we were attending, but thanks to waking up really early due to the time zone change we had many hours to explore.  We drove to Boulder and explored a bit.

So the reason we picked Denver as our vacation spot is because of this lady getting married. There, next to me is a lady who I have known and babysat since she was 2.5 adn her brother, pictured here was 1.5. Yikes. That'll make a girl feel old, ya know? We had a good time at her rehearsal dinner, playing, chatting, catching up and running about.

I cannot believe she is so old. Nor can I believe I am so old.

I bet her mom cant believe it either.

Who knows what this guy was thinking.

Looking back on the day, it all felt like a blur, but this still stands out in my mind. The boys were playing on the playground and someone got a booboo. A tiny, tiny, tiny little booboo that in this child's mind was enormous. For an hour or so a wet napkin was held against this little nick in the skin, and every few minutes we were given an update not only by the patient but also by his very vocal nurse. I don't know if I remember it because it was unusual for C to be so dramatic, or if it was especially endearing how G took care of C. Either way, it was a sweet ending to a long first day of vacation.

Time for Streamers again...

...cause it's Rhett's 7th birthday! Happy birthday Rhettford! Cant believe you are that old already, you blue eyed wonder. Looking forward to calling this kid later to get really short one word replies to all my questions. Ha, he's not crazy about talking on the phone, this one.