Fall is by far the best season in Missouri. The trees turn beautiful color, the air dries out and the temperatures are wonderful. This weekend we had clear skies all day and temperatures in the 70s, so we tried to do all we could do outside.
So Saturday we got up early (as usual) and Aidan requested the "Bagel Place" for all of you (which would be everyone) who don't know what the "Bagel Place" is, it's Panera. One of Aid's favs is a sesame bagel with low fat plain cream cheese (who knew he was such a health nut?).
After that it was time to head west to Centennial Farms. Normally one of our favs for Apple pickin' they also have some pick-your-own pumpkins. So off we went to Augusta, Missouri and along the way we saw some of the beautiful colors of the season.
Not quite full peak yet, but still pretty impressive.
It's been a very dry and hot summer, so I'm surprised there is any color really.
Down the long and winding road....
The farm was pretty busy, but we found a wagon to take down to the pumpkin patch. The boys were pretty excited.
Daddy was the designated "puller" of the 60+ lbs of "boys"
Our great pumpkins, two big ones, 11 and 12 pounders.
Of course, every farm we go to we have to find the Johnny Tractor, didn't ride on him this time though, little too busy and a little too close to nap time. Now the second picture here was pretty interesting....it caught my eye just as we were leaving...check out the sign below:
Pretty neat huh?
We then got a few shots of the lil punkins, Aidan and Ethan
After the farm and a good nap, the boys got up and played and played downstairs.
Ethan has gotten so photogenic...his eyes just light up the camera.
He still LOVES his swing too!
And Aidan LOVES his sand box!
Hey E!
He's such a good little boy...so sweet, maybe be really is "A Creature from Next Door"? I'm sure when he turns 2 all will be different :)
He's gotten really good a climbing up and going down his treehouse slide. He doesn't even need any help now! Not sure what he's doing in the second picture there!
Ahhh, so refreshing...the boys playing nicely together!
I did grab a video of them having fun, enjoy!
Fast forward to today and after we got many of our errands done, and while the boys took great naps, Daddy painted up the pumpkins. When the boys got up...it was pumpkin picture time!
"Brothers don't just shake hands, brothers gotta hug!" They are SO best friends...
...Even to the point where when one gets in his space, the other let's him know (as seen above)
Life is so hard, because as much as you anticipate seeing them grow up together, you never want to be older than they are right here, right now....love those guys, just love them.
Wow, what a trip! Last Thursday we packed up the crew and headed back to Colorado. I say back, because before babies, before marriage, Emmy and I were bona fide Coloradans for two years after we graduated college. Colorado was and is such a beautiful place and we were so happy to be able to share many of our favorite things about Colorado with our boys. So without further ado, please enjoy our 2010 Trip to Colorado (and note, there are 150+ pictures which is a ton, but this post is as much for us as it is for all of you to experience. Someday, hopefully this blog will be something for us to look back at and really enjoy!)
Day One: Denver
It was a really early (6:00A) departure from St. Louis, so we kept the boys in their jammies. The boys were very happy and ready to fly!
The boys did great on the flight. Aidan had some pretzels and chatted with Mommy, while E and I took a little rest. Once we got to Denver, we had the whole day to have fun. So, first we drove around Denver and saw many of favorite places, i.e. the Civic Center Park (where we got engaged), Invesco Field at Mile High (where the Broncos play) and surprisingly, Emmy's hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital was....empty. Completely. They moved the hospital and all that was left was empty buildings. Kinda sad.
After hitting up an old favorite, Old Chicago Pizza, we all checked in early to the hotel for a nap. Next up, perhaps the best minature golf place in the world, Adventure Golf in Westminster. This place is awesome and a perfect place for Aidan's first golf adventure.
The Golf Pro, ready to go!
The course we played was called the "Lost Continent". The theme was that there was a plane wreck in the jungle and we were explorers going through the wreckage. Here's the boys posing by the Piranha Pond.
It took Aid a few swings to get it right, but he got it and actually birdied the first two holes.
Get in the hole!
Plane crash!
Now this "Lost Continent" had a volcano that exploded with fire every ten minutes. And the fire extended like 15 feet into the air. Spectacular: this was by far Aid's favorite.
Daddy: "When is the volcano going to go again?"
A couple of good lookin' golfers.
Here's a video of Aidan golfin' great:
Now folks, let me tell you about the last hole on the course. You have to hit the ball into a small door right below this huge Jungle Guy head. Now, it's not easy because you have to hit the ball exactly straight and uphill. If you miss there are two smaller jungle guys spray water at you...but if you get it in the door....well, just watch, it's freakin' awesome!
We finished a wonderful first day at one of our favorites, Cinzetti's, an italian-style buffet in Northglenn...really, really good dinner. :)
Day 2: Chatauqua Park, Boulder and Mountains!!
So, the weather wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad for a hike at one of our favorite places, Chatauqua Park in Boulder. The park is on the foothills of the Rockies, right in front of the Flatirons. These "iron" shaped mountains are really picturesque, check them out!
Daddy got the Ethan-pack, as we wrapped him up good in the Moby Wrap.
Mommy and Aid on the trail.
The Flatirons...beautiful
It's us! Let's go hiking!
Just can't get enough of them...
On the trail...everyone getting winded, for sure.
The Big Guy and the Mountain
Aid took this picture, pretty good huh?...Ethan is hidden behind me.
This is looking north toward the city of Boulder, the Flatirons are on the left.
This is up the road some from the Flatirons, on Flagstaff Mountain. The large mountain to the right is Long's Peak, it's over 14,000 ft.
If you look close, you can see that Aidan is just a little bit scared. There was about a 1000 foot drop 20 ft behind him.
A little closer...great picture.
Daddy Scruff and the Big Guy.
About a month ago, there was a very large fire in the forest here. You can see the burn if you look close.
Poor E couldn't make the trip up the mountain so he slept through.
Just a little bit of snow on the peaks. Thank you 20X zoom camera.
Amazing mountains, this is looking toward Winter Park Ski Resort.
A close-up of the burn. I believe that it was started by lightning and burned up over 100 houses.
As soon as we left Boulder, got showers and dressed, the weather cleared. We had lunch at rooftop deck in Westminster...it was an amazing place to have lunch!
Well, it was in our plans to get the boys to nap as we drove up into the mountains on I-70 and luckly, they complied and got a great nap as we headed toward Silverthorne, Colorado, just over the Continental Divide. Here's some shots heading to the mountains!
A lake near Georgetown and some more snow!
A great feature on I-70 is the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnel. It's over 1700 ft long and goes right through Loveland Pass...really great engineering feat!
And once on the other side...DUMPIN' SNOW!
We stopped at the Outlets at Silverthorne to do some shopping (Mommy had a 20% off coupon at Coach :) And then it happened, check the sky to her left!
SNOW!!
Catch it in your hands Aid!
And taking the Johnson tunnel back to Denver, a little more snow around?
The boys were really so good on the trip. Both Emmy and I realize how much we really, really enjoy being with them. They are such wonderful little guys...you just have to shake your head at how blessed we are to have them in our life.
Day Three: Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs
So we started out very early (before 7) to make our cog train ride up to the top of Pikes Peak. The boys were ready and excited to begin the "Train Portion" of our trip.
Invesco Field at Mile High
Castle Rock, Colorado
The Peak...we'll be on top soon!
Pikes Peak, what a beauty.
Poor Ethan (again), we had a Hyundai Santa Fe, and the seats are a little smaller than our Pilot. We felt that it still was best and safest to have him sitting backwards, so he improvised the best he could to be comfortable. Poor Pookie!
The boys posing by the old steam engine that took people to the top of Pikes
A cog train uses "cogs" to help give it traction to get to the top of Pikes
That's 7,359 feet of vertical ascent...if your counting. :)
Having fun on the train!
Mommy captured this waterfall
We were told that most of the track is ORIGINAL! That's 1800's folks!
Coming up to the peak!
Look at that amazing ascent.
How about this one?
We followed up another cog train...
Top of the world folks...
A siding to let other trains go by near the top.
Still chasing him...
Above the tree line in the tundra.
Looking west at the San Juaquin Mountains, at about 13000 feet!
The sky is so blue up here.
Looking down toward Colorado Springs.
Not much growing up here. They said that the grass grows one inch every 10 years.
Mountain lakes, probably never been touched by humans. Can you imagine how clear it probably is?
You can also drive to the top...with no guardrails.
We made it! 14,110 feet!
View from the top, looking South.
Our ride.
Looking east down at Colorado Springs
They don't call them the Rocky Mountains for nothing.
Denver is out there somewhere.
Bigger, Snowier, Mountains to the West
The weather station.
So I don't think Aid felt well, this was the best smile I could get. Even the world famous doughnuts from the gift shop couldn't cheer him up. I admit though, up there, it's tough to breathe, you're head hurts...it's pretty miserable.
Only saw one animal the whole trip...can you find the deer?
Mommy and the guys, headed down the mountain.
The original gift shop ;)
Back down in Manitou Springs, here's how the cogs work.
So, when we used to live in Colorado, I remember Manitou Springs as being a cool place to take in some shopping, food and fun. Well, its kinda turned dirty, which was a bummer. They still do though have an amazing arcade with over 300 very old, but working, video games. Here's the boys having fun on the firetruck.
And of course, we're on vacation...gotta have ice cream!
From Manitou, it was off to our next destination, Pueblo Colorado, to position us for our next day. We had a decent dinner and went to bed early...there were big diesels to ride in the morning!
Day 4: Canon City and Garden of the Gods
Our next day again started early with us heading west to Canon City, Colorado to ride the Royal Gorge Gauge Railway. On the way, Aid asked for the camera...here's what he took.
What a goofball...
And we arrived in good time for our 945A train ride through Royal Gorge Canyon, which at some spots is over 1200 feet deep and is crossed by the Royal Gorge Bridge, which is the highest suspension bridge in the world!
Our Locomotive, a General Electric F-7. Really nice.
Let's ride some trains!
Ready to roll. The train was really nice inside.
Silly boys.
Aidan posing with his diesel engine toy.
Ol Blue eyes.
So, we spent about 10 minutes in our seats because the weather was amazing and we had access to the open air car. THAT's the place to be on this train.
Mommy and Ethan...train riders.
We got some popcorn too to snack on.
Following the Arkansas River into the Royal Gorge Canyon.
Aidan was EXCITED to be on a big diesel train.
Those canyon walls are getting taller and taller!
The Royal Gorge Bridge, from 1200 feet below.
Long ago, I white water rafted these rapids...that was a really good time.
A gondala car now can be ridden across the canyon. Cool!
That bridge is up there!
Video through the canyon:
Beautiful scenery...
Getting closer....
And directly underneath.
Our engines motored about another 30 minutes before turning around.
This was great ride for both Mommy and Aidan
I don't think I took a bad picture this whole ride. It was just amazing nature.
The FFA on the train!
Seriously, it's like a postcard.
E snacking on some Cheerios.
On the western plateau between canyon and the next mountain range.
Ice Cream at 10AM...oh well, it's vacation!
"Hey guys, can I get some of that?"
Thank you Mommy.
Diesel Boy on a diesel.
I usually try to avoid sun shots, but I thought this one was cool.
I got a crummy shot of this bridge, but it actually suspends the track over the river and canyon which is only 30 feet wide here. Nice engineering.
Pretty narrow here. And big Class 3 rapids.
The perfect shot. Stunning.
Another perfect shot, the detail of the rocks is breathtaking.
There is another diesel that helps pull us back to the station.
The F-7. Nice.
Our train...great trip guys, thank you!
All the excitement of the train zonked Aid.
Garden of the gods is a cool place, but you can do it pretty quickly if you just want shots. Plus the weather was getting crappy, so we just snapped a few shots.
We were there dude.
You can see the "Kissing Camels" on the right.
Closer....
And closer, see the "humps"
These are called the "Cathedral Rocks"
And the very famous, Balancing Rock
Nice hair E...(he was sleeping)
Our Boys!
Day 5: Boulder and Heading Home to St. Louis
We found very quickly that Ethan likes to mimick Aid. Point of truth is "riding on the garbage" truck as shown below.
So, our favorite thing in Colorado is by far Chatauqua Park, and with the weather good, we decided to go hike again. The pictures are much better this time!
Mommy and Aidan
Aidan enjoying the crisp mountain air.
The aspens are turning now....gorgeous.
Ethan did great in the pack...even napped a little.
Mommy and the big guy.
Looking down at the town of Boulder. The University of Colorado at Boulder is the red roofed buildings on the right.
Alas, it was time to go home. I spotted this jet with it's clever "Bags Fly Free" advertising.
Aid's ready to fly!
Our trip home was delayed a little bit, at the time I was upset because it didn't make sense for us to wait at the gate for 35 minutes for some passengers who were connecting (really), but whatever, Ethan was a handful but it was nothing Mommy and I couldn't handle. We landed safely in St. Louis and were ready to be home in our beds.
We pack heavy...here's our load. Whoa.
All in all, this was a great trip. Probably the best we've ever taken. We really vacation hard, our days are always really busy, trying to do as much as we can do in the limited amount of time that have. The boys were really great the whole time, we met their needs (food, sleep, attention) and they rewarded us with a lot of wonderful memories as we all really enjoyed the 2010 trip to Colorado!
