Colorado Day 1

So our day started EARLY! Steve and I were up about 3:30, finished packing, loaded car and carried sleeping children to the car about 4:15. We had hoped the girls would sleep a little more, but were prepared for anything and everything since they are totally unpredictable! We got our tickets (2 adults, 2 kids, 2 suitcases, 2 car seats and 3 carry-ons.....yes, with only one trip from the car) and headed thru security (Piper made it thru with her cup of milk, if that tells you how tight security is now?! and baby forks are not considered dangerous, b/c I had one of those in my purse too!)

We got on the plane. I'm not really sure why they let people with kids board the plane first, that is just more time we have to try to keep them entertained...so we boarded near the end of the line and sat on the plane.....and sat on the plane....and sat on the plane. For one hour. (Notice the guy in the background, ironically that is one of the guys that lives in our neighborhood...he lives directly at the opposite end of our cul-de-sac!)

Then we got off the plane for an hour. The girls kept themselves entertained.

Finally, we left about 8:30 (instead of our scheduled 6:15). We made good time and got into Denver about 10. We found our luggae, spent $5 on a cart to haul everything to the rental car place, and then found the shuttle to our rental car.

 

Now, we got this rental car thru Costco at a pretty good price. Then Steve started reading reviews about this company and EVERY comment was terrible, the most they got was ONE star! Complaints about wait times and extra fees...so we were prepared for the worst, Steve was ready to battle the rental car employee if needed.....but we got the shuttle within 10 minutes, Steve stood in line for maybe 5 minutes, there were no hidden fees and we got an awesome luxury car  (Cadillac XTS? That might mean something to people who know about cars) and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience!

 

However, once we got on the road for our 2.5 hour drive to Grand Lake....traffic was terrible. Really? Another delay? That is just NOT what these kids needed. It took us 1.5 hours to go 18 miles and you know what? BOTH our kids fell asleep!!! That NEVER happens to us!

They both missed the traffic and the beautiful scenery, but the nice quiet drive was wonderful!

We left about 11, stopped at a nearby grocery store and got to the cabins about 3:30....so the 2.5 drive turned about to be about 4.5 hours. Oh well, it all worked out! We got checked in, unpacked and waiting for the other families to arrive....and within two hours, everyone had made it safely to the cabins from Iowa, Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado and Oregon!

 

Some of the kids...Presley, Mary, Boston and Cameron.

We all hung out, talked, drank, ate, talked, laughed....it is always so nice to see everyone at these reunions and amazing at how many people are able to make this vacation a priority every other year!