I'm back! I'm back! I'm back! After what seems like the longest travel day in the world, I'm back in New York and ready to face the next few weeks.
Last Thursday, my family packed up and shipped out to Colorado. My brother and I had never been, and I don't think that we could have prepared ourselves for what an incredible trip it would be.
It all started at LaGuardia Airport where we saw Eric Trump as we waited to go through security. Pretty dang awesome, eh? After two flights, not enough sleep, and reuniting with Popop, we picked up our rental car and headed West towards my cousins' house.
Driving through the Rocky Mountains was hands down the most beautiful road trip I have ever been on. The snow capped mountains were perfection. Seriously, I'm obsessed.
Rockies in the distance.
About two hours later, we arrived at the hotel that my parents were staying at with Popop. I just could not get enough of the views -- can you just imagine waking up every day and seeing this out your window?
We met up with my cousin who I haven't seen in years, and headed to dinner at a local brewery. I highly recommend Gore Range Brewery if you are ever in the Edwards area -- the food was delicious, and everyone seemed to have enjoyed their various beers very much. They also had ample variety of sports on TV. My brother was super excited (at the beginning) to see that they had the Rangers game on!
My cousin's wife met up with us and brought the babies (my two new favorites, they're perfect) and Popop got to meet his Great-Grandchildren for the first time! It was something I will never forget and will forever be thankful for being part of it!
All of us were pretty tired after dinner, so we went to see my cousin's house, and play with the babies a little bit before bed. My brother and I were staying with them, so we dropped our stuff and jumped into our pajamas real quick.
Popop holding little Evan for the first time
Evan would not let that hat stay on Corbin's head the entire weekend.
Thanks to the time change, we were up early on Friday ready to tackle the day. The boys went out to grab coffee while me and Shannon happily caught up on our lives. When they got back, we packed up the kids and went to the diner for breakfast at the Eagle Diner. My lord, it is a LOT of work to get two kids out the door!! After breakfast, Shannon and I ran to the grocery store to get some food for a picnic lunch that we were going to have at Sylvan Lake State Park.
Now, let's talk about some amazing scenery.
Is this real life? Doesn't that look PAINTED on there? This doesn't even do it justice.
No cell phone service. Lots of family. Delicious food. Gorgeous weather. Seriously, I still can't describe how incredible it was to stand there and take it all in.
In the late afternoon, we headed back to the house and took naps. I just love naps. That evening we headed to Vail for dinner and bowling at bol. It was a high-end bowling alley with specialty cocktails, delicious food, and a great atmosphere for bowling. Popop had not been bowling in 40 years, so this was definitely something fun to do with him!
Me, Shannon and Char!
Super stylish bowling attire.
Someone left out the mayo and Charlotte decided that eating it using a french fry as a spoon would be just a fabulous idea!
After dinner and two rounds of bowling (neither of which I completely bombed.. YAY!) we took a stroll around Vail to look at the shops. That town is adorable. The cobblestone streets, little boutiques, fancy restaurants, and gorgeous scenery is enough to make me want to stay forever. As we were walking back to the car, we even saw a white tailed fox trotting through the center of town. I wish it had been light outside so I could have snapped some pictures! I can only imagine how gorgeous it must be during Christmastime with the snow falling and the decorations up. I could absolutely picture myself living there someday (you know, when I win the lottery and learn to ski).
Saturday we kept everything low key. We hung around the house, did a little food shopping, and cooked on the grill for dinner. The boys went for a LONG walk while I got to spend lots of quality time with the babies!
Char and her pretty little pony. Complete with a song that will be stuck in our heads for the next month.
She would only drink out of Popop's "big boy" glass
And she decided that she needed to do some light housework.
While Evan stocked the fridge with beer.
We grilled chicken and steak and had a super low key night. The parentals went back to their hotel fairly early and the rest of us had fun with margaritas, ski goggles, and winter hats. If ONLY I had those pictures on my phone...
Sunday morning we were up early and out the door to go to Aspen for the morning. The hour and a half drive through the canyons was even more incredible than the drive through the Rockies to get to Eagle. I still cannot get over how beautiful this state is!
We drove through what seemed like 4 different seasons to get there, but when we finally arrived in Aspen, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect! Since it is the off-season, most of the shops and restaurants were closed, but we did manage to sneak into a little log-cabin restaurant for lunch. Little Annie's had a wide variety of sandwiches, soups, and burgers. It had something for everyone, and we all enjoyed our meals. After lunch, we did a little more walking around, and even scooped up a few souvenirs.
Downtown Aspen.
We finally saw the "wildlife"
We all napped on the way back to Eagle, and when we got back, we started dinner, had some cocktails, played some Catch Phrase, and took more pictures.
We all called it an early night since we had to leave bright and early for the airport on Monday. I was certainly not ready to leave, and I made a promise to myself to get out there again soon!
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