Our first morning in Colorado stared out leisurely. The boys slept well and surfaced for breakfast at a reasonable time, probably thanks to the 1 hour time change for us. After breakfast, they started playing a Harry Potter DVD game that I had bought before our trip. It started out working well, but then none of us could get past the final challenge of the first round, so...
We all got dressed and headed into town to take some Old West photos for the wall at the lake house. The boys loved getting in the very far back of the minivan. I actually loved the minivan too...I'm trying to talk Casey into being okay with me driving one for my next car!
Like I said before, Colorado in summer is just ridiculously gorgeous. The flowers in the pots downtown were just the tip of the iceberg.
Logan wanted to know what those "machines" were and why we put coins into them. He did not understand why we had to pay to park. Ha! Me neither, buddy!
I think that Goofy shirt fits Ethan well. He was loving downtown!
Our photo shoot was lots of fun. The boys loved dressing up and Casey and I kind of did too. It was quick and easy and we got the photos we came for. This first one is the one we chose to print out and hang at the lake house.
They still had their crocs on, but look how cleverly the photographer hid them behind boxes and barrels!
I think my hat may have been my favorite part.
After photos, we met up with Pop at the Durango Coffee Company. He had ridden his bike into town. Mimi showed him our photo in the frame.
We've been visiting the Durango Coffee company for years. It hasn't changed very much at all. I had hot tea and Casey got hot chocolate.
The boys split a giant chocolate chip cookie and had some water. Mimi and Pop were the only ones who actually got coffee at the coffee shop!
Durango is very bike-friendly. Lots of bikes everywhere. Downtown is also very charming with several great shops and great places to get a bite to eat.
The boys, armed with their new stuffed animals that Mimi bought for them, were large and in charge walking across the street by themselves.
Of course we stopped in at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We've been going here for years too. We couldn't resist picking out a few chocolate treats to enjoy later. The boys were in awe of all the different kinds of caramel and chocolate apples.
We headed over to the train station after that, which is very close to the chocolate factory.
I wanted to trade out my email confirmation "tickets" for our train ride for actual souvenir tickets, which took 2 minutes.
And while we were down there, we decided to take the boys over to the railroad museum. I'd never been there either.
It was really quite neat...I was pleasantly surprised, not knowing what to expect beforehand. There was a lot of history, artifacts, memorabilia, etc.
After the museum, we headed back to the car so we could meet Pop again for a late lunch. He had taken off after coffee for some more bike riding.
Mimi and Pop took us to James Ranch, which was just about the best lunch spot ever. It is actually a working ranch where they raise/make their own foods.
Plus, they have a pretty picturesque setting in the valley, if you ask me.
We were all very ready to eat by this time and the food did not disappoint.
How could this burger be anything but delicious?
There was plenty of room for the boys to get up and run around, which is a novelty for them during a meal, but very fun.
Logan collected "some" pine cones.
Meanwhile, I had my sights set on trying their homemade ice cream...the salted caramel variety. To be honest, this was the only thing about the meal that was slightly disappointing. It just lacked flavor and had more of an icy rather than creamy texture to it. It wasn't terrible by any means...I'm just picky about my ice cream.
We could see that some clouds were rolling in over the valley threatening rain, but the boys were so eager to show us the paths they had been exploring. So, off we went.
Not a bad view for lunch, right?
Finally the skies did open up in a big way and we had to wait out the downpour a little before heading back to our cars to avoid being drenched. The boys, however, reveled in being drenched and ran around in the rain like little tornadoes.
When we got back to the cabin, we tossed the boys clothes in the dryer and all settled down for some late afternoon quiet time. We ended the day just as quietly...dinner at the cabin, showers, and bedtime.
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