Tag Archives: Vacation

10 Year Anniversary

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I have always said that I could live in Colorado.  Ironically, I had never been to Colorado. So when it came time to planning our 10 year anniversary trip, we opted for the Colorado mountains instead of our typical tropical destination.

We wanted hiking, good food, beautiful scenery, and just a tad of relaxation.

Hiking – The hiking and the beautiful scenery were pretty much one in the same, granted we did see some amazing views when we weren’t hiking.  We took a total of five hikes, all quite different in nature.

Hike 1 – Maroon Bells (11 miles outside Aspen)
Once we decided we were going to Colorado, Maroon Bells became a must visit.  We opted to visit Colorado on one of the busiest fall weekends of the year.  While the bus lines to get to Maroon Bells were longer than normal, the lines moved pretty quickly and we started our hike through the bells at about 9:30 a.m.  It was simply amazing.   We experienced amazing views and had a great time hiking for three hours.

Hike 2 – Hunter Creek Trail (Aspen)
Our original plan was to hike Hanging Lake trail in Glenwood Canyon; however, it was closed for construction so the concierge recommended a trail in Aspen.  We started our hike around 8:30 and Justin and I first thought it would be a relatively easy hike based on how it started out.  The hike kept getting better and better.  There were not many people on the trail on our hike up and a few times we questioned if we were going the right direction.  When we arrived at the observation deck, I was in disbelief.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but certainly not to see the entire city of Aspen.

Hike 3 – Grizzly Creek Trail (Glenwood Canyon)
This was another hike that we did as an alternative after not being able to get into the parking lot (it was full) of Hanging Lake.  We hiked along a creek for 45 minutes each way.

Hike 4 – Palmer Trail in Garden of Gods Park (Colorado Springs)
We started our hike at about 8:50.  While this was relatively the same time we started or prior hikes, the temperatures in Colorado Springs were much warmer than Aspen.  For two hours, we were hiking among red mountains.  To arrive at this destination (Siamese Twins) was amazing.

Hike 5 – Manitou Springs Incline (Manitou Springs – 8 miles outside Colorado Springs)
As if our morning hike wasn’t enough, Justin and I challenged ourself to hike the Manitou Springs Incline, 2500 stairs to the mountain summit.  We paced ourselves and took breaks frequently, monitoring our heart rates the whole time for some HITT training. We had just reached the lower summit, about 2100 stairs, when the skies looked like they were about to open up.  We made the hard decision to take the trail down from the lower summit instead of reaching the upper summit.  It was a tough decision because while physically it was challenging, we know we absolutely could have finished and would have had it not been about to storm. The 400 additional steps and the trail down were estimated to take an additional hour (two more hours) had we chosen to continue.  And while we had been prepared with our raincoats and emergency gear for every other one of our hikes, Justin chose to take his raincoat our of his camelback earlier that morning. The hike took us a total of two hours.

With each hike, I had fun taking selfies.

With each hike, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. Seriously we hiked on average three hours a day.  The hikes were challenging but we felt good during and after our hikes.  Justin remarked that he is in the best shape of his life and I would probably venture to say the same for myself.

Each hike was uniquely different, yet each beautiful and scenic. We spent more money than we would like to admit on hiking gear prior to the trip (back packs, hiking shoes, hiking shirt, hiking pants, Patagonia jacket, socks, gloves), but we don’t regret a single purchase.  We had the right gear and ALL of it will come in useful for our future hikes, which we plan on doing many.  Perhaps they won’t be at the same elevation, but we are going to take advantage of the hiking closer to home.  Speaking of elevation, we acclimated pretty well after the initial day we arrived. The day we arrived we drove the three hour drive from Denver to Aspen via Independence Pass, a road that is so dangerous it is only open about half the year.  I felt my stomach drop at times during the 20 mile “scary” strip and couldn’t look at the views.  We got out at the Independence Pass overlook sign and about 100 steps out of the car later, the altitude got me and I had to sit before returning to the car.  Fortunately, we hydrated well, took it easy physically the day we arrived; I refrained from alcohol that night at dinner and adjusted to the altitude by the following day.

Food – Food was by far better in Aspen than Colorado Springs.  I read a lot of restaurant reviews on tripadvisor prior to and during our trip so that didn’t really come as a surprise.  Justin and I cleaned up well each evening before dinner; yet for some reason I did not take any pictures in the evenings of us dining. Aspen had a ton of excellent food choices so making the decision about which one to go to was hard!

Wild Fig (Aspen) We had reservations at Element 47; however, after walking into the restaurant which was an enclosed space in an upscale hotel, we decided it wasn’t the right spot for us.  We had passed by Wild Fig a few times and the menu was calling our name. We ate outside and enjoyed a delicious meal.

The White House Tavern (Aspen) This was actually Justin’s selection.  It was the number one rated restaurant on tripadvisor and while it looked good, we only had so many times to eat.  I was going to pass this restaurant up until a coworker of Justin’s recommended it as the best chicken sandwich one of his friends had ever eaten.  When we arrived back in the town of Aspen Friday from our Maroon Bells hike, we put our name on the wait list and ate a late lunch.  This is the chicken sandwich….it didn’t disappoint.  My salad was excellent too, although I would have preferred grilled chicken in it instead of pulled chicken, much of which was dark meat.  An excellent meal though.

Meat and Cheese (Aspen)Meat and Cheese was another restaurant that we had walked by several times.  It was small, quaint, and the menu was right up our alley.  We ate outside and enjoyed a delicious dinner our second night.

Glenwood Canyon Brewery (Glenwood Canyon) Saturday morning we headed to Glenwood Canyon, about an hours drive from Aspen.  The restaurants in the area were just okay so we settled on Glenwood Canyon knowing the highlight would probably be the beer.  The food was okay but it met expectations.  We were in and out of there pretty quickly allowing us to get to our next adventure.

Matsuhisa (Aspen) We had reservations for this place, restaurant of world renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa, which was upscale and highly rated.  Food was delicious.  Service was a different story.  I want to say it was bad (it was) but odd probably better describes it.  We walked in and the hostess kind of ignored us for a minute after we told her we had reservations.  Finally we were led to the table by the other hostess and he literally plopped the menus on the table while Justin and I took our own seat.  We sat there for a few wondering if we should pick up the menus since not a word was said by him (i.e. enjoy, your server will be right with you, etc.).  We decided not to.  When our waitress came, she simply asked if we knew what we wanted to drink.  At that point, we figured we better pick up the menu.  There were a ton of specials but she didn’t go over any of them or even make reference to the fact that they had specials.  When I asked a question about one of the entrees, she answered my question but chose not to elaborate about any of the other items which would have made sense since clearly this place and menu was new to me from my question.  I will say the bus boys were great and on top of refilling our waters and clearing plates.  We ordered four basic sushi rolls and split one tenderloin entree (6 oz. of steak with vegetables).   A modest amount of food in my opinion yet twice, she seriously told us we had ordered a lot of food, almost in a way that she was calling us fatties!   I’m still in disbelief as I write this.  We go out for sushi at home a lot and I often think too myself how much more other people order in comparison to us.  While we truly didn’t order a lot, what if we had!  Again, very odd.  The food really was delicious. Our favorite roll was the shrimp tempura.  It was warm and included a piece of asparagus giving it an excellent crunch.  Delicious food but way to pretentious and stuck up for me.  I like personable service and this was far from it.

 

Tapateria (Colorado Springs)
This was more of a cafe serving tapas.  It was good, certainly not great. If this restaurant were in Aspen, it would not have even made my list, but the restaurants in Colorado Springs were just lacking in terms of the ones that Justin and I normally enjoy.  So with reset expectations and taking literally all day to even settle on this one, it was good.   This was our final meal in Colorado Springs.

 

As for the rest of our meals in Colorado Springs, we made do.  We stopped at the store and bought fage Greek yogurts and strawberries that we ate for breakfast.  The night before we ate at the hotel lounge.  Our expectations weren’t too high so we shared three small plates and had a drink (after having some veggies and hummus in the hotel room that we had bought earlier in the day).  We opted for a late lunch Monday so we could do both hikes first. Based on where the restaurants in Colorado Springs were there wasn’t a true downtown area…well there was but when we finally found it it was kind of run down.  We walked in and out of the few restaurants that I had finally thought may be a good option.  It was nearing 3:00 and Justin could have probably eaten his left arm by now so we popped into a brewery (Colorado Crafthouse).  If we ate lunch there, being that it was 3:00, this would have been our last meal in Colorado Springs.  The menu just did not excite me so after ordering a flight for me and two beers for Justin, we decided to order the nachos (something we never do but seemed kind of fun and okay since it was our lunch and we had truly burned some calories) and then find a better option for dinner.

Hotels

The Limelight Hotel (Aspen)

This hotel was nice…great spot in the city, great service, and an excellent breakfast included as part of the rate.  Since breakfast was included and quite delicious, we ate a big yummy healthy breakfast each morning before setting off to hike.  The rate…the rate was insane and Justin and I chose to go all out with the nicest room since it was our anniversary.  We typically don’t and while having the fireplace was nice as well as the separate toilet, the truth is we aren’t in the room that much when we go on vacation and the best room was not worth the additional $600 in total that we could have saved.  This is especially true for a hotel that is in the city…we need to remind ourselves for future that the smaller room in a nice hotel is our preference.  Oh yeah, the bed was very comfortable and Justin and I got about eight hours sleep each night, even waking up around 6:15 a.m.

Garden of the Gods Resort (Colorado Springs)
Clearly this hotel has the word resort in it, but I’m not sure I truly thought about what that entailed.  Our room was enormous with a walk in closet bigger than our closet at home.  Our balcony had a beautiful view of the mountains.  The amenities were great and we took advantage of going to the hotel gym (three short workouts) and sitting by the infinity pool. While our room was great and the price tag far cheaper than the price tag of The Limelight Hotel, the truth still remains that we don’t need the best room.  We are out and about most our time on vacation and really spend so little time in our room.  Oh yeah, the bed at this hotel was also was very comfortable and Justin and I got about eight hours sleep each night, even waking up by 7:00 a.m.  The comfortable king beds at both hotels had Justin and I re-visit the discussion of getting a king bed and new bedding for our bedroom.  The verdict is still out though.

Other
Independence Pass
Glad we drove this way, but probably a one time thing in my opinion.  The rest of the drive in from Denver to Aspen was truly just as amazing, and not as frightening!  The time spent in the car from Denver to Aspen and Glenwoood Canyon to Colorado Springs was truly breathtaking,
Aspen Museum
We stopped in the Aspen Art Museum, a free muesuem Friday night prior to dinner.  It was small so we were able to explore the whole thing in less than 45 minutes.  Justin enjoys art much more than I do; however, I like to go knowing he appreciates it.

 

Iron Mountain Hot Springs
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I gave our travel agent the go ahead to purchase these tickets for us.  I guess its safe to say I wasn’t thinking.  Had I done the research I would have realized this was a big party fest where people drink in hot tubs.  The idea is kind of cool, but not what we were interested in spending our time on.  We had already purchased the tickets ($25 each) so we went and dipped in a few different pools and easdropped on a few awkward conversations for 45 minutes before taking off.

 

Tram and Cave
Same story here as the hot springs.  If I had done the research, I would have realized the tram (which by the way Justin and I hate those sort of heights) took us to the top of the mountain which was an amusement park.  Again, cool idea if you are wanting to spend the day there with your family doing rides and games, but again not really our cup of tea.  We had already purchased the tickets for the tram ride and the cave tour ($29 each).  As for the cave tour, it was cool, but we have already been to Luray Caverns and we aren’t exactly excited by that sort of stuff (granted I admit it is amazing) so again I have no idea why I had our travel agent book it for us.  The only thing I can think of are I’m not sure I realized booking it would be an actual charge (I think I thought it was more of a reservation that could be cancelled).  Second I think I probably thought it was an easy add on since we would already be in that location from  Hanging Lake.  However, Hanging Lake was closed for four days and when it re-opened Sunday, we still were not able to get in.

 

It was really a great vacation and I feel so blessed that I can finally say I have been to Colorado.  This vacation was different than our normal tropical vacation and Justin and I loved every minute of hiking and exploring and our beautiful surroundings.  We did miss the girls and talked about them a lot!  A LOT as to the point of whether we wanted to add one more to our family!  This thought has occurred many times before and this trip was our final yes or no.  While it was a difficult decision, we decided our family is great as is and to take advantage of them being older with no more strollers, diapers to change, or babies to carry.  With that, I have already been looking at possible vacation spots for our family.  I want to explore the world…..now just need to come up with a game plan to make that happen!

Happy 10 Year’s together Justin.  It seriously feels like yesterday that we just started dating.  AND that was almost 20 years ago!  You make me a better person.  You are my partner, my teammate.  I love you.  I love our family. I love the life we have created.  And by the way, we had an amazing wedding 😍

Outer Banks – 2018

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Saturday: Saturday was the drive…it was 7 hours door to door, which wasn’t too bad. The girls all watched Netflix on their IPADs most the car ride, so they were pretty quiet. Harper received a new IPAD for her 5th birthday, two days early so that she could have it for the car ride! Normally the day of arrival, we don’t do much else besides unpack and go to the grocery store. This year, we arrived a little earlier than normal (3:30) and with the help of Larrissa, were able to unpack quickly. Gus, Erin, and I went grocery shopping together to pick up items for dinner (we grilled burgers and hot dogs), and we still managed to spend a little time at the beach (this year our house was on the beach) and also go to bed early!

Sunday: Harper’s Birthday! My baby turned five. Honestly, this was a tough one to swallow. At age five, I clearly don’t have any babies…I don’t even have toddlers anymore. Ironically, Harper started acting older! I joke you not. I kept telling her happy birthday and in an annoyed voice she would respond “Mom (not even Mommy or Mama), you already told me that.” Then, she would not even let me pick her up! Maybe it was because she was with her friends! I hope so!

Anyway, Sunday morning the girls woke early….starting at 6:30! They never wake that early! Not sure if it was because it was so bright out or if it was simply the excitement of Harper’s birthday. Either way, they were up early…as were Mommy and Daddy. I started the first of many pots of coffee and then proceeded to make breakfast pancakes at Harper’s request. They were a hit!

We spent the morning at the beach and were on the beach by 9:30 am after what felt like a very leisurely morning. The light was amazing and I was having a ball with the camera!

The girls loved the water. The laughs that were coming out of them was so amazing to hear and brought such joy to me! These pictures of Emerson especially make my heart so happy because she is a tough one to please.

While Avery still didn’t like going in the water this year, she had a thrill getting close to it and having the waves hit her feet.

They even boogie boarded and had a blast riding the waves.

A little pool time followed by some lunch and then some quiet/movie/play time for the kids. While Harper and I went to the grocery store to pick out her cake, Daddy and Larissa took Avery and Emerson back to the beach.   Harper and I joined upon our return but the threat of lightning and thunder abbreviated our afternoon beach time. So we took showers and ordered pizza to celebrate Harper’s fifth birthday! And we topped it off with cake, which was also a hit. These pictures are so funny because you can see the reflection of the kids in the table!

Happy 5th Birthday Harper Paige Maddy!

Monday: Monday morning Harper was up again early but the older girls slept in until around 8:00. We spent the morning at the beach. While the light wasn’t amazing, I still managed to take some incredibly pictures using filters and taking black and white photos. Again, their joy was abundant.

Some pool (and hot tub) time followed before eating leftover pizza for lunch.

In the afternoon, our family went miniature golfing. Emerson is extremely competitive and couldn’t handle the fact that Harper wasn’t playing by the rules. We eventually had to split up in two teams so Emerson was separated from her sisters. Her attitude improved by the end; however, while we played she was having a very tough time. It was Larrisa’s first time playing and she had a great time.

It was HOT playing and we were all dripping sweat. Ice cream seemed like the perfect thing to do next…we went to Booty Treats and it was delicious!

Next stop was Nags Head Pier, where the girls saw a 40 pound cobia being gutted and fileted. We took pictures on the pier.

Then went underneath the pier and on the sand for a few. Emerson and Harper got closer to the water than I was planning. The light was amazing again.

We came home to a delicious dinner of salmon, chicken, shrimp, and asparagus that Gus and Donald cooked. Followed by watermelon, dance parties, and fun.

Tuesday: Tuesday morning we made our way to the beach again. Harper and Emerson especially loved playing in the sand, water, and hours later still weren’t tired of doing so. Avery on the other hand loved playing near the water initially but was much more apt to complain after about an hour that she wanted to head to the pool. She doesn’t go into the water as much as the other girls so I think she just gets hotter. I tried pouring buckets of water on her a few times, which helped for a few minutes at a time.

The girls took a dip in the pool next. I stayed behind and read some on the beach!

After lunch our family went to Jockey’s Ridge. We went smack in the middle of the day in the sweltering heat. Emerson complained quite a bit and Avery and Harper some but overall enjoyed the short time we were there. Emerson refused to come up the final dune, thus why she looks like spec below!

We enjoyed Taco Tuesday at the beach house courtesy of the Brophys.

Wednesday: Wednesday morning we went to the beach again followed by pool!

Wednesday early evening the three families headed to Jenette’s Pier for our annual family picture taking.

Our family

The Brophys

The Nidays

The kids….Quinn wasn’t really into it and Harrison too wanted nothing to do with it.

Everyone!

Just when we were about to leave, some guys caught a shark. The kids had a great time watching it. Avery especially was laughing hysterically watching it wiggle and twist until the man threw him back in the water.

After the pier, the families went out to dinner on our own. Justin and I decided to make it a date night and went to our can’t miss spot, Blue Moon Grill Café. Even arriving at 5:45 p.m, the wait time was 1 hour 45 minutes. After about 40 minutes and a beer at the new bar, we snagged a seat at the bar and ate a delicious dinner! Justin ordered the shrimp and grits. I ordered the swordfish special and they were both delicious! We even splurged on the lemon mascarpone cake, which too was excellent, and I had no regrets about ordering.

After dinner, we headed for a quick walk back on Jenette’s Pier since our walk on pass was good for the entire day. Justin snagged a picture of me on the turtle….the same turtle that the kids take a picture on.

We also took some selfies!

Thursday: Thursday we switched everything up…starting in the morning. I took my morning walk on the beach. The girls went swimming after breakfast, while I went to The Fresh Market to get dinner food for the evening. The girls were a little disappointed that they didn’t get to go out to eat last night so we quickly left the beach house at 11:10 to beat the crowd before doors opened at 11:30 to eat lunch at Kill Devil Grill. Lunch was delicious and fun.

Justin and I spent an hour together in the afternoon and went for another walk and a quick trip back to the grocery store since I didn’t think I had enough flank steak for dinner. He took a picture of me on a massive chair in the parking lot.

We went to the beach a little after 3:00 today and it was nice to enjoy the beach later in the day.

Dinner was flank steak with salad and of course a lot of other “little things”…pesto, chimichurri sauce, fruit, green beans, olives, sweet peppers. I didn’t get up to take my pitch, but HOMERUN!!

Friday: Our last day…always bittersweet! Justin and I woke up before 6:00 a.m. intentionally – he wanted to take pictures of the sunrise. I wanted to see it as well and figured I would just start my walk early on the beach – of course the multi-tasker in me would do that! I was on the beach walking at 6:07 a.m. Justin was waiting for the sunrise and it looked hazy….I started walking and close to a half hour later turned my head toward the ocean to see the most beautiful sunrise. Justin had said the sun started rising 14 minutes before I noticed it rising behind me. I brought a ziplock bag with me on my walk today and collected seashells at the same time. My walk ended at 8:00 a.m. – and I had 10,000 steps by then! Score!

We indulged in Duck Donuts for breakfast courtesy of Donald and Gus! I indulged having half with an oreo topping and half lemon coconut and then the crumbs and drippings in the box! Up until today, I ate darn well (nutrition wise)….todays nutrition was so-so at best.

After breakfast, we beached it up for one last time on the vacation. I took turns going for a walk and looking for shells with each of the girls individually. They enjoyed the one-on-one time.

The afternoon was spent packing and getting ready for our departure. And of course, the trip wouldn’t be complete without another trip for ice-cream. We went to Booty Treats again…just a different location. It was packed and we even got to see a few girls displaying their own booty treats. Emerson too was staring at the girl at the cash register who was wearing a string bikini thong and at certain angles appeared to be truly naked from the back.

The highlight of the day for the kids (perhaps even the week) was when the fire alarm went off and the code to turn it off wouldn’t work, triggering a visit from the police department. All was well and the kids received hats from the fire department and then proceeded to play fire and rescue in the beach house the next hour.

Our last dinner we did take out from Sooeys Barbecue and while I made better choices than I would have in the past, the hush puppies coupled with the donut, ice cream, left over slice of cake, and chocolate covered beans, clearly made today’s eating a bit disappointing in some ways. As for the entire trip, I nailed my exercise averaging 20,000 steps each day and not missing a single hour of my 250 steps during the 14-hour window. While I did indulge some earlier in the week, I made great choices for the majority of the trip!

I feel so blessed to be vacationing with the Brophys and Nidays again. The kids get along great and the memories that these kids are going to have just warms my heart. This vacation while I was more active then ever, didn’t get a single nap in or have much R&R, I still managed to take a vacation from giving my kids showers and brushing their teeth….Larissa did it daily, which was a nice break for this mama! We certainly made memories that will continue to last us a lifetime! Until next time Outer Banks!