One of my love languages is quality time and one of my favorite hobbies is traveling, so family trips are my jam! They are also pretty hard with the kids being young, but I still enjoy them so. Ben has worked very hard and much more since Covid-19 hit and we really needed some quality family time. After our fall hike day trip to look at fall leaves we got the idea to spend a weekend immersed in nature with limited technology and hours of sunshine. Ben knows a gentleman that owns a cabin near Cripple Creek and he let us stay there for the weekend. It was an amazing blessing to our family, and I am so thankful for his generosity.
We had a very relaxing, nature-filled weekend. We hiked several times a day and explored the area around the cabin. Eliyanah loved to find little treasures: pine cones, rocks, feathers, and sticks filled our hiking bag with each hike. The kids found animal bones on one hike and we think it was a whole animal. They creatively sorted the bones and set up a museum for us. Ben found a really cool walking stick on another hike that he whittled and it ended up resembling cow's hide. He taught the kids how to whittle and they worked hard on their own sticks too. I think Graysen felt like a big kid with his little stick and was very happy to be included in the activity.
The dogs were living their best life. They ran and explored with us and enjoyed every hike. They kept up and learned Ben's whistle on this trip. They did really well. They would run ahead of us and after a few minutes Ben would whistle and they would come right back to us. It was a good training trip for them and also the trip we realized that they needed even more exercise than we thought they did. These dogs have more energy than all our kids combined.
We did take a short trip to Cripple Creek for a little downtown exploring and donkey hunting. We bought Ellie the cutest pajamas that were on sale and the store worker gave us a tip to call the local shuttle company and ask the location of the donkeys. The sweet gentleman gave us apple flavored donkey treats to share with our 4 legged friends, if we found them. The kids really enjoyed feeding the donkeys. One donkey talked to us and I so wish I got it on video but I was too late to capture it, but it was pretty funny. We purchased the book, "The Wonky Donkey" and read it before bedtime while we stayed at the cabin to continue the donkey fun. Ben also took a quick trip to the slot machines while the kids and I explored the small town more. We went to the town jail museum, which I don't recommend for little kids, and would have chose a different location but all the others were closed for the day. We didn't last too long because the kids were quite scared of how realistic it was. We ended up finding a very nice playground to run and play, which the kids much preferred.
We have not had the opportunity for many family trips but now that we homeschool, we are trying our best to prioritize family time. This was the first of hopefully many more! It was a wonderful trip and just what my heart needed during the crazy, stressful year.
Heading to the cabin with a passed out Izzy!!
Traveling the road to the cabin!!
Welcome!!
Alivia and I unpacking the food for the weekend!!
Cool building made to look old!!
What a breathtaking place!!
We loved these Aspens!!
Two of her MANY treasures!!
Family pictures in the Aspen leaves
Grasyen Whittling away!!
Ben's cool walking stick!!
Cripple Creek Trip!!
The donkeys were so fun!!
Park fun!!
We found this really cool broken branch and took pictures in the hole!!
These dogs loved hiking with us!!
The bones!!
The super cute museum!!
Saying good bye to the cabin!!
My favorite tree by the cabin!!
