This weekend the family headed up to Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park. We've been trying to do more things since the kids are getting older and more manageable, but this epic fail of a "family vacation" reminded us why spending hundreds of dollars isn't worth it yet.
We were able to borrow my parent's 4 Runner since we needed a little more space and working air conditioning. The drive up went fine. The minute we arrived in town on Saturday a fire broke out. Traffic was a mess, so we decided to check into our hotel. We planned on doing some sight seeing around town, but because of the kids, the congestion, and the fire, it quickly became a bad idea.
Highlights from the Econo Lodge include:
- Jonathan vomiting all over the bed and himself after being in the room a mere 10 minutes
- Julia crashing off the other side of the bed while playing
- Stacey whacking her shin on the bed frame that was sticking out
- A pillow hitting the ceiling and knocking popcorn texture all over the floor
- Julia talking in her sleep and then falling out of her bed in the middle of the night
- Despite moving the bed back, Jonathan falling into the bed frame, cutting his head, and gushing blood all over Stacey and himself
- Julia and Dad spending time swimming in a questionable pool
- Jonathan vomiting a little in his crib when he woke up in the morning
- Jonathan falling head first between the bed and the nightstand trying to get the phone
- Dad not sleeping between the hours of eleven and one in the morning
- Grandpa calling to tell us that a new fire had started outside of Colorado Springs
Although the pictures look nice, this was far from a vacation and not a good use of our time and money. Then again, the kids had fun. After we checked into the hotel we went back into town and were treated to an air show by the helicopters fighting the fire. We hiked down to the waterfront and watched them suck up 2,500 gallons at a time and then leave to dump it on the fire over and over again. Jonathan and I really liked watching them and having them buzz us on the shoreline as they took off.
Twenty houses and/or cabins were burned to the ground, but they got the fire put out. We almost just headed back home but the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park was again open the next morning. The area was pretty, but we only made it to one of the three ponds with the kids...probably a total of a mile. Jonathan vomited his feeding while on the trail, probably from all the effort spent riding on my shoulders or being carried. Julia was no different - most of our progress was made while we carried them up the trail.
A little ice cream and some water in the plastic pool on our back patio might be better for all. At least we tried.
