Yes, I know how seriously far behind I am in blogging about the Colorado trip but I am determined to finish it even if it takes me until Christmas! So. . . .
After staying in Manassa for a little over a week we packed everything up and drove up to Estes Park. We wanted to take the kids up to the Rockies and Josh had heard from several customers that Estes Park was the place to go. We didn't really know what to expect but we were not disappointed.
We booked our condo for the week online and really had no idea what it was really going to be like. I was a little worried when we pulled up to this:
A little on the cheesy side but inside was really nice and spacious. This was the view from our balcony. The river was directly below us. 
We even some some wildlife (deer or elk, I can't tell the difference!) several times right there by the river's edge. We even saw a bunch (herd?) right downtown at a very busy intersection!
Views like this from your window are exactly why Josh wanted to come up here. The kids were amazed that there was snow on the mountains in the middle of August!
One of the first things we did after arriving was go and get our week long pass to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Josh would still be there if I hadn't dragged him home. :)
We went on a small little hike - really just a nice walk around a really pretty lake - as our first excursion. This picture was taken on the side of the lake we started at.
And one on the other side of the lake. . .
It was a rainy afternoon so the sky was really cloudy but the trail was pretty much covered by the trees so we stayed relatively dry. It was a nice little hike walk to start out with.
We got a little braver the next time and headed up to the tippy top of the highest point you can reach by car in the park. NOT a fun ride up there, or down from there either, but it was beautiful at the top. Chilly too! You can see the glaciers in the background.
It was so weird to be driving through all the thick pine trees and then - BOOM! Nothing. Grass barely grows up there but at least there's that. Pike's Peak was even worse and was nothing but rocks, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
It was a looooong drive up there and Sawyer was just glad to be out of the carseat.
We took advantage of the nice visitor's center and had our lunch up there.
My mountain man grew back his goatee while we were on vacation - Yay! Had to shave it off when we got back though - Boo!
While we were sitting there eating our lunch and trying to catch our breath this lady rode up on her bike!! Josh asked her where she had ridden from and it was somewhere down below Estes Park. CRAZY! Yeah, we felt like fat, lazy blobs after talking to her. I think was only like 12 miles to get to the top but it took us like two hours to get there because it was so steep and plus all the switchbacks AND Josh had to take the cool, unpaved road up to the top instead of the main highway. The lady came up the paved road but I still can't believe she rode her bike all the way up there. I was dizzy just standing up there! Seriously - dizzy from lack of oxygen.
We took the paved road down the mountain though (the dirt road is just one-way or I'm sure we would have had to go back down that way too.) This was the view from one of the stopping points on the way down. So amazing! The mountains seem to just go on and on.
We stopped at another viewing place right on one of the rivers on the way down too.
Proof that I was there!! Sawyer was in the locked car (about 10 ft away and within sight) asleep and you can bet I wasn't going to wake him up just to look at a waterfall, I don't care how cool it was!
We also went on a couple of little hikes on some other days as well. One of them was up to Alberta Falls.
I still can't believe I took this picture. Just looking at it creeps me out! 
My little hikers all had to pose on the huge boulders on the trail up there. 
They whined most of the way up to the Falls but then still had the energy to run back down the trail?
They had a blast running and jumping off all the rocks on the trail too. Ryley was the first one to try it and they all soon followed. Maddie and Cash were a little more subdued about it though - pretty typical.
We saw lots of these little critters along the trails and each time it was like the kids were seeing one for the first time. "Mom! Take a picture!! There's a chipmunk!" I must've heard that about a million times. They are pretty darn cute though.
Downtown Estes Park was really fun and we spent a lot of time walking around there. We were lucky and happened to be there on the weekend they were have their Heritage Festival. There were lots of fun things to see and do. We stopped first at the gun fight/show. 
They had a real tipi set up which was fun. All the kids commented on how big it was inside. Much bigger than it looked!
The big hit of the day was definitely the booth with the man making homemade sodas. Sasparilla, cream soda, rootbeer and a citrusbeer that was the family favorite. 
I don't know how I managed to only get pictures of Maddie drinking but everyone got a taste. From the same little cup. Needless to say, Ryley was disgusted. But not disgusted enough to not take a sip. :)
They also had a display set up where you could grind corn. The kids were so excited (weirdos?) especially after all the corn grinding they did back at GG and YoPapa's.
Some Native American musical instruments kept the kids occupied for a while too.
There is still quite a bit to post about Estes Park so I think I'll start another post - this one is getting mighty long!
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