Rest of Manitou Springs

After my last post it started raining...and never really stopped until this morning!  And even this afternoon it is raining.  Ahhh, we can't escape it apparently :)  We did see some sunshine most of the day today which was wonderful.  Anyway, since it was raining, we went to Cave of the Winds.

Ike and I doing some caving.  
















The boys exploring a little.












Dave really loved the cave!  Our tour guide even pointed out that he was the perfect size because he didn't have to duck at all.  Ike was pretty good for the beginning and then totally broke down towards the end.  Can't win them all!

View from the balcony at cave of the winds.









We went back to the penny arcade again and again.  Ike could not get enough of the cars and Dave really got into some pinball.

Intense.

In tents.  See what I did there?  Couldn't resist!  :)













Tuesday morning dawned a rainy day, so we put on our hoods and went to the Anasazi Cliff Dwellings.  The picture above is Ike in a teepee (couldn't really figure out why they had a teepee there, but Ike liked it).

Thrilled about the fantastic weather.









We had enough of the cold and rain so we went to see Inside Out in Colorado Springs.  If you haven't seen it yet-go see it!  It was really great.  We headed out to Grand Lake on Wednesday morning, taking some scenic routes (some of which were quite frightening with the rain/fog!).  Will post about Grand Lake soon!

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.