Recovering from a vacation is a bit like recovering from a big night of drinking. You feel exhausted, disoriented and guilty. Of course, the causes are much different. Alcohol speaks for itself.... devil's brew. Vacation's are another story.
The guilt stems mostly from hemorrhaging money the entire time you are away, once you arrive home you are disoriented since it takes a couple days of fumbling around before you ease back into a routine and, of course, the exhaustion is from trying to squeeze a ridiculous amount of activities into an inadequate amount of time. All of this is in the attempt to "get away and relax." Right. I usually feel more stressed during a vacation then when I'm home. The only difference is at least I don't have to do the dishes. I HATE doing the dishes.
Later this week we are off on another vacation, to Albuquerque, but first I need to unpack from our trip to Colorado Springs....
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Giraffe-y Licks
On our last day in Colorado Springs we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This is one of the best zoos I've been to because it is so interactive, and Samuel had a much better zoo experience this time around. The trick is that you have to be able to actually see the animals. Who knew?
Samuel absolutely loved getting to feed the giraffes. I couldn't believe how tame they are. As soon as they see you have a cracker they come right over and stick their tongues out. They swipe the cracker out of your hand and leave a little slobber as an extra special thank you.
The zoo is built into the side of the Cheyenne Mountain so it's an uphill hike. We got quite a workout, especially Samuel, who was intent on pushing his stroller most of the way. At least getting down was easy. Allen put Samuel in the stroller and let go so he went flying down the path. I, of course, did not think that was a good idea but Samuel laughed the whole time. Sometimes I'm not sure who the kid is... Allen or Samuel!
After the hike up you can see Colorado Springs below.
Samuel made some new friends!
Mr. Meerkat, would you like to hold my stick?
Giddy-up zebra!
Giddy-up lion?
Giddy-up horse! (finally) Yay!
Shrinking Samuel!
He's after me!
I'm gonna get you!
Mommy made a new friend too.
Samuel absolutely loved getting to feed the giraffes. I couldn't believe how tame they are. As soon as they see you have a cracker they come right over and stick their tongues out. They swipe the cracker out of your hand and leave a little slobber as an extra special thank you.
The zoo is built into the side of the Cheyenne Mountain so it's an uphill hike. We got quite a workout, especially Samuel, who was intent on pushing his stroller most of the way. At least getting down was easy. Allen put Samuel in the stroller and let go so he went flying down the path. I, of course, did not think that was a good idea but Samuel laughed the whole time. Sometimes I'm not sure who the kid is... Allen or Samuel!
After the hike up you can see Colorado Springs below.
Samuel made some new friends!
Mr. Meerkat, would you like to hold my stick?
Giddy-up zebra!
Giddy-up lion?
Giddy-up horse! (finally) Yay!
Shrinking Samuel!
He's after me!
I'm gonna get you!
Mommy made a new friend too.
Roar!
Expectation and reality are often two very different things. We, unfortunately, learned this during our visit to The Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodlands Park. How anyone can, in good conscience, hype this place up and charge an exuberant admission price is beyond me.
Our expectation (based off the brochures) was that this would be a great place to take Samuel since the exhibits were hands-on and we would have a great dinosaur adventure together as a family. In reality, we paid $10.50 a piece to step into a room full of replicated dinosaur bones and some boring fact-plaques. The only part of the place that was "interactive" was a couple of fake bones that you could touch. Woo hoo!
Here is Allen with his sad, empty wallet.
We just made the best of the situation and clowned around the whole time, which I think was about 30 minutes. When we bought our tickets the lady told us we could have our hands stamped if we decide to leave for lunch (we got there around 10 AM) and come back. She could not have seriously thought we would stay two hours and then come back for more. I'm glad that Allen and I always know how to have a good time. We just cracked jokes and took funny pictures.
Samuel would have made a great dinner for a T-Rex.
He was not amused by the dino puppets.
Dad, this is lame. Can we go to the park or something?
Whoa! That's one big, fake bone.
The hip bone's connected to the leg bone....
Oh, no! We've been eaten!
We made sure to do a lot of growling while we were there and by the time we left Samuel had learned how to roar too. Rawrrrrr!
We started to head back to Colorado Springs, but decided it would be more fun to continue our prehistoric adventure and visit the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I wish we had gone here first! It was so much more interesting and way less expensive.
For a few dollars we had access to several miles of trails. Along the way you could stop and see petrified redwoods, leaves, flowers and insects. I was amazed to learn that in prehistoric times Colorado was actually very warm and humid.
The redwood stumps were petrified by a volcano. Yep, that's right. There were volcanoes in the Rocky Mountains.
The area there is so beautiful in the fall. The aspen trees were golden yellow.
Of course, all Samuel cared about was climbing the stairs.
Eventually, Samuel made it to the park.
We met up with my friend Melanie and her son. The boys had fun on the swings and the moms liked the slide!
Our expectation (based off the brochures) was that this would be a great place to take Samuel since the exhibits were hands-on and we would have a great dinosaur adventure together as a family. In reality, we paid $10.50 a piece to step into a room full of replicated dinosaur bones and some boring fact-plaques. The only part of the place that was "interactive" was a couple of fake bones that you could touch. Woo hoo!
Here is Allen with his sad, empty wallet.
We just made the best of the situation and clowned around the whole time, which I think was about 30 minutes. When we bought our tickets the lady told us we could have our hands stamped if we decide to leave for lunch (we got there around 10 AM) and come back. She could not have seriously thought we would stay two hours and then come back for more. I'm glad that Allen and I always know how to have a good time. We just cracked jokes and took funny pictures.
Samuel would have made a great dinner for a T-Rex.
He was not amused by the dino puppets.
Dad, this is lame. Can we go to the park or something?
Whoa! That's one big, fake bone.
The hip bone's connected to the leg bone....
Oh, no! We've been eaten!
We made sure to do a lot of growling while we were there and by the time we left Samuel had learned how to roar too. Rawrrrrr!
We started to head back to Colorado Springs, but decided it would be more fun to continue our prehistoric adventure and visit the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I wish we had gone here first! It was so much more interesting and way less expensive.
For a few dollars we had access to several miles of trails. Along the way you could stop and see petrified redwoods, leaves, flowers and insects. I was amazed to learn that in prehistoric times Colorado was actually very warm and humid.
The redwood stumps were petrified by a volcano. Yep, that's right. There were volcanoes in the Rocky Mountains.
The area there is so beautiful in the fall. The aspen trees were golden yellow.
Of course, all Samuel cared about was climbing the stairs.
Eventually, Samuel made it to the park.
We met up with my friend Melanie and her son. The boys had fun on the swings and the moms liked the slide!
Fizzy Pop
On day two we ventured to Manitou Springs, a kitschy little town right at the base of Pikes Peak. It has a nice downtown strip with several shops and restaurants. It's perfect for walking around and wasting time. I'd say its just like any other mountain town tourist trap except that they have a fantastic Penny Arcade.
There are literally hundreds of vintage video games, pinball machines and kiddie rides - all for their original prices. It's a great way to revel in some classic Americana. I always get nostalgic playing Ms. Pacman, Space Invaders and Frogger, but I particuarly love the retro mechanical games from the 50s. It's like stepping into a time machine.
We couldn't pass by without letting Samuel try out a few of the kiddie rides that were lined up outside. He loved the airplane that went up (really high) and down again.
Daddy helped Samuel with the control sticks.
We also rode in the fire truck.
Guess who got to push the siren button and watch the flashing lights?
We made sure to stop at the soda springs fountain in the middle of town. Allen and I both took a drink to check that the water is actually fizzy - it is!
Next, we went to Soda Springs Park which is right by the main downtown area so Samuel and Dad could ride the flying saucer swing. We'd never seen anything like it before. At first we weren't even sure what it was!
The grasshopper was pretty fun too!
Through the tunnels.
One last photo op!
There are literally hundreds of vintage video games, pinball machines and kiddie rides - all for their original prices. It's a great way to revel in some classic Americana. I always get nostalgic playing Ms. Pacman, Space Invaders and Frogger, but I particuarly love the retro mechanical games from the 50s. It's like stepping into a time machine.
We couldn't pass by without letting Samuel try out a few of the kiddie rides that were lined up outside. He loved the airplane that went up (really high) and down again.
Daddy helped Samuel with the control sticks.
We also rode in the fire truck.
Guess who got to push the siren button and watch the flashing lights?
We made sure to stop at the soda springs fountain in the middle of town. Allen and I both took a drink to check that the water is actually fizzy - it is!
Next, we went to Soda Springs Park which is right by the main downtown area so Samuel and Dad could ride the flying saucer swing. We'd never seen anything like it before. At first we weren't even sure what it was!
The grasshopper was pretty fun too!
Through the tunnels.
One last photo op!
Pizza Face
Allen took a week off this month so we decided to head down to Colorado Springs for a few days. It was fun to tell Samuel about where he lived while he was inside my tummy!
We hadn't been there for several months and we enjoyed getting to take Samuel to some new places. The first place we went was a fun center called Lil' Biggs. They had all kinds of toddler thrills.
Samuel loved sharing pepperoni pizza with Dad!
He is signing that he would like less kisses and MORE pizza.
Now he's ready to snuggle.
After our bellies were full we headed over to the play area where Samuel went shopping for the dinner groceries.
Then Samuel and I jumped around in the bounce houses.
No day-of-fun would be complete without getting a little dirty, so we played in the sandbox.
Last but not least, a few trips down the slide!
We hadn't been there for several months and we enjoyed getting to take Samuel to some new places. The first place we went was a fun center called Lil' Biggs. They had all kinds of toddler thrills.
Samuel loved sharing pepperoni pizza with Dad!
He is signing that he would like less kisses and MORE pizza.
Now he's ready to snuggle.
After our bellies were full we headed over to the play area where Samuel went shopping for the dinner groceries.
Then Samuel and I jumped around in the bounce houses.
No day-of-fun would be complete without getting a little dirty, so we played in the sandbox.
Last but not least, a few trips down the slide!
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