Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Carter turns 2!

After our summer vacation to Portland, we've decided that it's important to take vacations more often. Bill had the genius idea of going on vacation for the boys' birthdays. Since Carter's birthday was the next one in line, we decided to head down to Colorado Springs for the weekend to celebrate.

It was a nice drive straight down the 25, we booked a decent hotel that was close to a lot of activity. We went to a sports park where Logan and Bill rode go-carts, played video games and mini-golf. The boys had a blast hanging out in a huge indoor sandbox, digging for dinosaur bones. The next day we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where they have more giraffes than I've seen in one single zoo. They have treats that you can buy to feed the giraffes and the kids LOVED it. We zipped through the rest, seeing big Grizzly Bears, overlooking the vast open landscape, and riding on carousels built in the early 1900's.


We also went to the Dinosaur Resource Center, where they had a huge T-Rex and massive prehistoric sea turtles (which I'd never seen before). It was a blast and the curators working there were so friendly and helpful with the kids. Logan was having an attitude problem and started to cry because he wanted to run around. He was quickly pulled out of his funk by one of the curators who talked to him about dinosaurs and had all sorts of items in his pockets, like claws and such. It was so fun, we ended up going back again later that day after lunch!


We explored some surrounding parts by the museum to check out fossil beds and then drove to the Cave Of The Winds. This was AMAZING. The boys had such a great time walking around, but it was a pain in the ass telling them to keep their hands to themselves every single step of the way (you can't touch the cave walls - or anything, really - and you will incur a huge fine if you do). There was a part of the tour where the guide turned off all of the lights. The darkness was suffocating and incredibly uncomfortable. I was holding Carter on my hip and I could feel him rubbing his face because the extreme darkness felt so awkward. We got a family picture in the cave, and Bill keeps it at work on his desk.

On our last day there, we went to the North Pole. What a weird, strange, fun place to have way up in the Rocky Mountains. It's filled with amusement park rides that Logan couldn't get enough of. Carter was a bit more apprehensive, but still had a great time. We ate ice cream and hot dogs, got dizzy, ran around, laughed and even had a moment for the boys to sit on Santa's lap. Carter didn't want to, but sat next to Logan. Logan didn't hesitate to ask for cars and dinosaurs for Christmas.


We drove home and opened Carter's birthday presents. It's so fun with him being two! He had a blast opening books, cars and his Dinosaur Train train set. The next day we had his birthday party with friends - 20 of them - all running around the house eating our traditional, delicious vegan cupcakes with butter cream frosting (that is obviously not vegan).


We had such a fun time celebrating Carter's 2nd birthday on vacation. I hope this is a new tradition that we can keep up with. What a way to create long-lasting family memories!!

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Logan looks like he is six. All his baby fat is gone. They are growing up! Waaaaaahhhh! :(

Time flies with boys, doesn't it?

workout mommy said...

wow---I feel like i blinked and your little boys have grown up so much! They look so adorable and I"m so glad to hear about all your success and happiness!!! :)