Mountain Getaway

We had the wonderful opportunity to go with Shawna's parents and aunt to Beaver Creek, Colorado just out side of Vail in May. We took the kids out of school and flew up on a Saturday. The weather was beautiful. The snow had mostly melted and the sun was shining most of the time we were there. We spent time driving through all of the mountains around Denver and visiting fun tourist spots. Greg had to go to Washington, D.C. for the first few days, but joined us later in the week. It was a great vacation.


We went to the Phoenix gold mine one day. Wow, the gold veins in the walls were amazing. The camera really couldn't pick up the sparkling beauty. We went panning for gold in a very cold stream outside the mine. We collected a lot of . . . rocks. They were pretty rocks though. The kids also got to feed the chipmunks there.


We played in the natural hots springs in Glenwood Springs. The kids had fun playing in the pool. We got sunburned even though it was only 60 degrees. It is quite something to swim surrounded by snow covered mountains.



After Greg arrived, we rode the cogwheel train up to Pikes Peak. It was a beautiful trip to the top. The snow was still deep. Along the railway the snow was up past the window. We had lunch at the summit. You could see for miles. It was stunning.



On the way to the airport on Saturday, we stopped at the Denver Butterfly Pavilion. It was amazing. We got to see the newest butterflies released into the pavilion. There was a wall with cocoons of all different types. They were wiggling as they worked their way out of the cocoons to freedom. The pavilion was warm and filled with large, colorful flowers. The butterflies would land on us if we stood still, especially Alora.



It was a wonderful vacation. We have so many great memories. Enjoy the picturs.