Colorado: Touristy Treasures!

We did as much as we possibly could while we were in CO this summer, many of which have been Williams Family traditions for over 20 years. When you’re next in the Colorado Springs area, be sure to check these out:

 

On the 4th of July, we went to a new tourist spot, Seven Falls. Unfortunately, since it was an unbelievably beautiful day there was a huge line. They limit the number of people in the park, so we waited in a line of cars one by one as people left the place. I, being Mom of the Year, let Bridgey creep around outside her car seat in the car and look what she found (unopened, of course)! Perfect for the 4th!

She loved being out of that darn seat! Check out the start of the 208 stairs Amanda and I climbed…

 

Oh, we also stopped for a picnic. Yummy!

I know Amanda and I look AMAZING here (hehehe), but we were actually dying of exhaustion…and only 1/2 way up to the top :(

Who knew climbing down would be way scarier/harder! We though the elevator met up at the top where we could see J and B, but it was an ugly trick. Those jerks! The ladies still went up the mountain elevator, so here’s the awesome cave to the elevator door:

And it was worth it, ‘cause I got this beautiful Mommy and Me pic! A new fav!

The next day, we said goodbye to Amanda :(, but welcomed both Scott and Cory! Yeah! We decided to do the obligatory Garden of the Gods trip and visit the GPs, but J wanted to take Rampart Range Road (dirt road winding through the pass from Woodland Park to CO Sprgs…takes an extra 1 1/2 hours!). It allowed us to see a herd of elk (sorry, no pic) and take some memorable scenic pics.

This one (by Cory) is one of my all-time favorite pics now. I love it!

And who doesn’t love this one??? Soulmates…

Attempt at group self portrait….Penny looks great!

These two are adorable :) and can you count the number of climbers on this Garden of the Gods rock??

(it’s 4 people!)

She’s excited to be at Mommy’s all-time favorite Colorado hot spot!!

And the giraffe area is the BEST! This zoo is literally ON the mountainside (good exercise), making beautiful views and awesome trees and such. The giraffes are the first friends you see upon entering :)

B feeding her first safari animal!

The awesome boys :)

Stopping for a snack inside during the daily mountain thunderstorm:

Three Men and a Baby! (and Cory designed his own pancho…)

She was so excited to see the bear…must remind her of Daddy :)

Daddy joining his long-lost family:

Pretty snow leopard:

Bear on bear attack!! And did you see me and B’s cuddly onlooker??

Those big cats walked right over us in this observation bubble…

Can you see this rapidly approaching rain wall??? Crazy…

Mommy, stop moosing me!

Hehehehe…he’s a hoot!

Donating our $$ to save wildlife!

Cute family pic!

 

The whole crew…I love that B’s crooked…its her thing!     

I just had to toss in another pic of the Hungry Bear….we took two visits this year (one with Amanda, one with the boys), of course!

Look for an entire blog about our favorite Colorado bar….:)