Sunday, October 16, 2016

Cog Railway

We journeyed to the top of Pike's Peak for the first time since living in Colorado.  We took the Cog Railway, a train leaving from Manitou Springs that travels all the way to Pike's Peak.  The kids were super excited to ride on a train.  In the pictures you will see Andrew's enthusiasm.  

Here is a picture before boarding the train.

Our train left at 9:20 and the trip up took a little over an hour. 

It wasn't too crowded, so we had an entire booth to ourselves. Here we are pulling out of the station!

Choo-choo!!

When the train conductor starting talking on the train speaker, Sylvia became nervous.  She did not like the loudness and sat like this for 75% of the ride.

Going up!

Our views were absolutely gorgeous, we choose the perfect time of year.

Look at the fall colors!

The song America the Beautiful was written during a trip up Pikes Peak. We could certainly understand why the views would inspire a poem/song to be written 

Artsy

There was a clear line where the trees ended and the "Colorado gravel" started

Nearing the top

We made it!  It was freezing at the summit.  They said the wind chill was 0 degrees.  Andrew loved playing in the snow.

Altitude 14,110 ft.  Rachel felt like it was hard to breathe up there but no one else seemed bothered by the altitude.

They make world famous donuts at the top and we each made sure to try one!  They were super delicious.

It was veryyyy cold and windy.  We were glad to be back on the train.  

Andrew wanted to keep playing in the snow until he heard the train whistle blow.  I turned around and saw him running back to the train because Daddy told him that meant the train would be leaving soon.

Rachel was enjoying the view

We made sure the kids wore their heavy winter coats.

Colorado Springs is in the far valley down below.
    

The kids had a great time and we are glad we waited until now to ride the Cog Railway.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Cheyenne Mountain Canyon

One day we explored Cheyenne Mountain Canyon, the highest hiking path.

The kids are ready for an adventure.

Mommy and the kids.

The kids got distracted by gathering acorns which turned into gathering dirt.

Once the kids started gathering dirt, we knew we wouldn't be hiking much farther along the path.

But before we turned back we took a family selfie! This is one of the first places we hiked after moving to Colorado.

Now we have Andrew and Sylvia to enjoy it with us.

We love Colorado!

When we drove back down the mountain there were lots of fall colors, this picture doesn't do it justice.

Andrew was so tired out from hiking he could barely keep his eyes open on the way home.  They both took good naps after we made it back.

Paint Mines

We went to a NEW hiking spot... somewhere I've been wanting to explore for awhile.  It is almost an hour drive away but totally worth it!

The Paint Mines!

The kids were raring to go after a long drive.

The kids like to find sticks on our hikes.

Sylvia was doing a great job walking and didn't want to be carried, but her legs are short and she was walking too slowly.  We wanted to get to the cool part.

We made it.

Now Andrew has a stick.

It was a beautiful place to explore! Andrew and Sylvia wanted to climb everywhere.

We had to help them sometimes though, because the terrain was so rocky and uneven.

Andrew kept wanting to explore, and usually led the way 

Sylvia and daddy posing in an opening in the rocks.

There were so many different paths and outcroppings to explore

The kids were great climbers and loved exploring everywhere

Sylvia doing some free climbing!

What a beautiful picture. The rocks look amazing too.

The different types of rocks and styles of formations were incredible. It was amazing to see so many different shapes and colors in such a small area.

The path was very sandy, and Andrew liked pretending he was at the beach.

Sylvia and Rachel posing in some shade they found.

We didn't have time to explore everywhere, but we saw lots of cool things!

Tyler carried the colorful backpack to blend in more with the colorful rocks.

This ridge looked like teeth

We had a great time at the paint mines!