Family Vacation in the Mountains!

This past week, my family headed to the mountains of southwest Colorado for a vacation. This was the first time we have headed to the mountains for our BIG family vacation...we usually head to the beach, like last year, and one year spent vacation at the lake. We stayed at Durango Mountain Resort, and our new surroundings offered all sorts of new activites for the kids and adults alike. Not to bore everyone with all the details, but I need to recount as much as I can in order to save the memories. Because in case you don't know me, my memory is terrible!

So, here it goes...we headed out Thursday night to Flagstaff, AZ with Uncle Dave, T, and Megan. Megan and Caleb slept the entire way in our car, while Tyler and Noah stuffed their faces with candy, cookies, and popcorn in Uncle Dave's car. :) After a night at Little America, we loaded up Friday morning and headed northeast, through the Navajo Indian Reservation, across the four corners, and into southwestern Colorado. Once we hit Durango, we were in the home stretch, about 25 miles up the mountain to Durango Mountain Resort. One problem....an RV fire. We stopped on the highway, parked our cars, and waited.

Megan got the first bloody nose of the trip, only to be topped by Noah's episode on the second night,

and everyone had to check out what exactly was going on.

We finally made it to the condo,

had a chaotic dinner at the resort that night, and headed to bed.

Saturday, the moms and Caleb went shopping (for groceries and supplies, nothing glamorous) while the Dads and kids enjoyed the resort amenities. Just a hangout, get acquainted with the mountain sort of day.

Sunday was train day! 11 of us headed back to Durango to catch the train to Silverton, CO. The ride was awesome,

and provided some amazing views, with one bear sighting.

Take note, the warnings about needing glasses in the open air car, which is where our seats were, should not be taken lightly. Soot was flying everywhere.

After the almost four hour ride, we were done, needing some food, and happy that Bushia had a car to pick us up!

Sunday night the Ohlers finally made it to CO!

Monday we drove over to Ouray, the entire route along the Million Dollar Highway. Pretty cool stuff.

Lunch in Ouray, then a stop a Box Canyon for a little hike. First, we headed down. The waterfall was incredible.....so much water....and so loud!

Then, we headed up. The bridge at the top, a bit scary, looked out over Ouray, atop the canyon.

Tuesday, we hung at the resort. Eric and Dave played golf and the kids hooked up with passes to the trampoline bungee, rock climbing wall, ski lift, and alpine slide. Combine that with an afternoon at the pool, followed by a mountain thunderstorm, and a take over of the game room....all in all, it was a fabulous day.

Wednesday morning we headed white water rafting on the Animas. Lots of class 2 and a couple class 3 rapids made for a perfect trip for our novice crew. Sadly, there are no pics of this, but if there were, this is what we'd have. Adults in tiny life jackets, kids sword fighting with their oars, our guide, James, back-flipping off the front of our raft, the Ohlers and Hauschilds getting out of control and having too much fun with their crazy guide Kyle, Aidan and Noah acting as pirates throughout the ride, and Emily and Caleb spotting out "cookies" a.k.a. rocks. SO MUCH FUN!

Thursday, Eric and I began our day with a trip to the Urgent Care Center with Caleb. We figured he had pink eye and knew that we needed to get him on meds asap, before spreading it to the other 10 children.

He is so brave at the doctor.

The rest of the fam was headed to Mesa Verde, and Eric and I were not wanting any extra time in the car. So, we picked up Noah and Hannah in Durango and headed to historic downtown for a little shoe shopping for Noah....he chose GOLD crocs.

We also stopped for some lunch at a local saloon. Who else was going to introduce my boys and 2 year old niece to some fish-net stockings and bustiers?

Friday, it was time to head home. :(

We stopped 7 different times, making it a nine hour trip. Here is the recap...

1. Hot springs we passed everyday but never stopped for.

2. Four Corners, USA....monument closed. We did all walk through all four states and let Noah travel to Utah by himself. Rebels.

3. Lunch at Burger King and Subway in Kayenta.

4. Gas and snacks in Tuba City.

5. Dinosaur footprints on the reservation.

6. Eric potty stop in Flagstaff.

7. and Caleb false alarm for #2 south of Sedona. Mom got coffee, boys got icees.

It was so much fun. I am ready to do it all over again. Until next year.....