Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods

We made it to Colorado!  A big thank you to Joe and Claudia for letting us stay on the way out-and they even cooked us an awesome dinner!!  Our first stop is Manitou Springs, which is just outside of Colorado Springs.





The cottage we rented from vrbo.  It's super cute, and super tiny!  :)








The cottage is about a 10 minute walk to the downtown area of Manitou, which is really nice.  They have a great park and tons of shops and restaurants.





Playing at the park.










There are also fountains all over so you can try the water that made the city famous.  It is very carbonated, not my favorite way to drink water :)  The kids love sampling it though.  Also in the same area is a huge arcade.  It is indoor and outdoor and has tons of riding toys that sit outside of stores.

Ike taking a drive.

Playing a super old game.  I think it cost a dime to play!







This morning we got up super early (thanks to early-rising kids and a two hour time change!) and went to garden of the gods first thing.  It was awesome to get there before the crowds.







Part of hanging rock.


















Family picture by hanging rock.  We were seriously the only people here!
















Dave loved running around on the rocks.


















Selfie with Ike.

View from the visitor center.

Ike found a tunnel

At the center gardens.

The boys running along.

Dave was practicing his parkour skills while we were there.  Here's a video.

Ike in a little cave.













We had a couple breakdowns from Dave during the hiking-he's been super tired and not sleeping enough on this trip so far!  He has a new attitude for this afternoon though :)  We came back from a great lunch and took some naps and are heading out to either the cave of the winds or a cliff dwelling place.