part six : the grand finale

Summer in Colorado : Part Six (Horseback riding, Biking, and Winter Park)

Our last full day in Colorado was packed full of fun. The girls deemed this day "The Most Funnest Day EVER."

We started early. Really early. We had to be at the horse stables by 7 a.m. to start our breakfast ride. Everyone except my dad came on the ride which takes you through the mountains before stopping for breakfast (cooked and served from a wagon). Then it's back on the horses to ride back to the stable.

Hayes was less than impressed with the ride at first. He was riding with Robert and their horse was, shall we say, misbehaving. Once Robert and I switched kids (Adeline went to Robert and Hayes came to me), everyone was happy. Claire got to ride her own horse, on a lead rope to the trail guide. The ride was beautiful. We watched as a fox pounced on his breakfast in a meadow. The scenery was gorgeous. The breakfast was really good, too.

My camera was acting up so I didn't get nearly enough pictures.

Right after the trail ride, we were off for some biking. We rented a bike trailer for Adeline and Hayes and a trail-behind bike for Claire, then rode from Granby into Fraisier for some lunch. It is about a ten mile ride with a couple of pretty serious inclines. Claire loved riding with Papa... he was cruising down the big hills. She said it was like a roller-coaster. The grandmas sat this one out.

{Ready for a ride}

{Papa and his turbo-booster}

Next it was a quick lunch and a short drive over to Winter Park. During the summer they have all sorts of fun things at the ski resort. They, of course, have mountain biking all over the mountain. But they also have Colorado's longest Alpine slide, put-put golf, a zip line, bungee trampolines, a human maze, and outdoor movies. I'm sure there is other stuff I'm not remembering. It's like a playland at the base of the mountain.

My dad and Robert went up on the mountain to bike. The kids, the grandmas and I stayed down at the base to play. After fully exhausting themselves (the men and the kids), then having some pre-dinner ice cream, we headed back into town for to our favorite pizza place. The kids fell asleep on the way home. It really was a fabulous day.

{I know, he looks hot. Sorry ladies, he's taken.}

{See this huge line behind Linda on the alpine slide? She swears she was going slow because she didn't want to scare Adeline. But when I went with Adeline, she was screaming, "faster, faster!" and pushing my hands to release the brake. Hmmm.}

{Claire spent 50% of her time on the trampoline upside down.}

{Riding up to the alpine slide}

{Here's Robert at the end of the day. He says 80% of the time he was on the bike, he felt like he was about to fall. All the gear he's wearing is my dad's, which he handed over to Robert to wear that day. Robert said at the beginning of the day he'd almost feel bad being that geared up if he didn't fall at least once. Well, he did. Over the handlebars. Thanks again for the body armor, dad.}

And that's that. The next day we headed back into Denver, turned in our white mini-van, and flew home. We've all wished we were back in Colorado many times this summer.