Grand Lake

We rolled into Grand Lake a little early, so we went down to check out the main area of town until our cabin was ready.  We have been through this city a couple of times and it is really cute, with boardwalks on both sides of the main street and tons of shops and restaurants.

Down by the lake.  Still rainy!!














Had to get some ice cream of course.











I have a picture of me from our honeymoon in front of this fire truck.  Thought it was cool to have one with the kids now!












Who needs nature when there is a big tractor to see??








Our first morning we got up and headed into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Absolutely love this place!!  We started spotting wildlife right away.  I am going to do a separate post of animals we saw :)

Dave using his binocs to check out an elk.  (We may have thought this was a moose for a while...oops)

Hiking on Coyote Valley Trail.  Great scenery and we saw some (actual) moose!

At Adams Falls.

We hiked a bit past Adams Falls because a ranger told us to.  Glad we talked to him!

Our cabin.  It was super cute and perfect for us!








Thursday night we hung out at the arcade in Grand Lake and went to a city playground.  Friday morning we got up early yet again and went to do another trail in the national park.

Tried to go down this one and it was flooded over.  We were getting a little tired of the rain at this point!

Ike was still having some fun though.  Just kidding, I caught him at a good moment.  The kids are so over hiking.













After we packed up we drove over to Estes Park via Trail Ridge Road, which was a touch nerve-wracking for me.  Beautiful, but it was sure dangerous looking!  We are now hanging out on the east side of RMNP with Josh's parents and sister Emilee until Friday.

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.

Tennessee with the Bowyers and Smiths

Be prepared for picture overload!  After we left Virginia, the kids and I drove over to meet all of Josh's immediate family in Townsend, TN.  It was so nice to see everybody (Britt and her family moved down to Florida, so we don't see them very often!) and the kids had the most fun hanging out with the cousins.

Everybody arrived later in the evening on Thursday, so we just chatted with everybody and got the kids into bed. Friday morning we went to drive the Cades Cove Loop.





We have this same picture of us when I was pregnant with Ike!

Britt and Chad.

Zac and Ike-they set this pose up all by themselves!

Uncle Chad arranged an impromptu foot race.

Grandma and Brookie.

Family pic!  

We saw a bear!!  Josh did a little paparazzi action to get this shot. :)









After the loop (which took forever!!), we came back and took the kiddos swimming.  Chad and Josh did a little launching of the kids.

Dave mid-air.

Oh, cuteness.

Josh chilling with Brooklyn.

The real family picture.










Saturday turned out to be quite rainy, so we went over to Pigeon Forge to do some old time photos!

The one of our family.  Absolutely love Dave's smirk!








Once we finished with Pigeon Forge, we came back to have dinner, and then went to this cute ice cream stand.





Everybody enjoying their ice cream.






Such a nice (but super short) visit with the family.  Looking forward to the Smiths' visit to Indiana in October!  Now we are gearing up for our trip out to Colorado-leaving tomorrow morning bright and early and making a stop to stay with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Claudia in Kansas on our way out!

Smith Mountain Lake

Well we just got back from Vacation 1.0 and have a week off before heading out on our super adventure to Colorado.  First stop on last week's trip was Smith Mountain Lake.  This place was just gorgeous!  The boys and I went with my mom and stepdad and my stepbrothers Tim and Justin.  My mom found an awesome house right on the lake (well, 85 grueling steps down to the lake :) ) and we posted up for most of the week.




The boys with a view from the deck up to the house.

Enjoying a paddle boat ride with Gamma.

Dave's first catch!

Ike was a little unsure of the fish situation.

Dave flying off of the swing!  Here's a video of him in action.

Ike loved jumping from the dock.  He made us all yell, "1,2,3, pee cannonball!" every time he jumped.  He is so weird.

Justin, Ike, Dave, and Tim posing in front of the house.





On Tuesday we went to check out Appomattox Court House, which was about an hour away from us.  We all learned lots of cool info and the boys seemed to sort of enjoy themselves!

This was the room where the Civil War was officially ended.

Dave and Ike in jail.

View from the dock-so peaceful!!

Hanging out on the upper level of the dock.








We had such a fun, relaxing time with everybody and really enjoyed the lake.  We left on Thursday morning to head over to Townsend for part two of our vacation!