Meet The Kirks

All good things must come to an end, and such is true for our vacation this year.  We arrived home late this evening after the long drive.  We battled a grumpy child half of the way and a stubborn storm the  last couple hours, but arrived safe and ready to relax at last.

Our morning began with a trip to Colorado Spring’s Best Breakfast Spot, The Omlette Parlor.  We dined on pancakes, potatoes, and a concoction named after the illustrious Mount Elbert.  It was nice to go out for breakfast, which we seldom do these days.  Afterwards we intended to visit Helen Hunt Falls on our way out of town, but our weary children konked out before we arrived.  Knowing that they needed the sleep (and us the peace), we decided to turn our ship toward home.

The ride was uneventful save endless crying and nasty lightning.  We ate lunch at a Sonic in Lamar, Colorado.  Actually, we brought our veggie tray and hummus and just ordered drinks.  The carhop said,  “That looks healthy.”  I guess she hadn’t seen broccoli in awhile.

Just before crossing the Kansas border, we happened upon the Amache Japenese Detention Camp.  This was one of the interment camps during World War II where approximately 10,000 Japanese-Americans were housed.  It was an eerie sight in the middle of nowhere.

Before heading into the storm, we picked a grassy spot in Dodge City where we dove into our veggies and hummus once again.  It was somewhat subversive to eat a delicious vegetarian meal across from meat packing plants.  In fact, we learned that the train depot across the street shipped approximately 850,000 buffalo hides out in two years.  All in all it took Kansas hunters only 7 years to wipe out most of the buffalo in the Great Plains.  Red peppers never tasted so good.

So, now we’re back, looking forward to Sabbath tomorrow and retrieving Kinley from her vacation home.  It was a wonderful trip, full of new experiences and the challenges of traveling with two young children.  We were blessed to have a wonderful place to stay in Colorado Springs and to have the opportunity to go exploring.

We’re having a great time here in Vail today. Last evening, we ate some good pizza after walking around the Vail Village. This morning we headed to the Vail Nature Center and the Betty Ford Gardens for a nice nature stroll and park play. Ester got to meet Smoky the Bear.

The rain drops started falling, so we boarded the bus for Lionshead Village. There we ate some interesting burritos at The Flying Burrito. Who thought that you could put sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes in a burrito? Yummy Stuff!

After the kids wake up from nap, we’re off for some shopping, play in the Pirate Ship Park, and other fun stuff this afternoon. Vail is a pretty family-friendly place with lots of biking trails. They’re doing a great deal of construction, but it still is a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy the natural and man-made beauty. Tomorrow: Thru Denver and back to the Springs.

We’re sitting in a cafe in Historic Leadville, Colorado on our way to Vail.  The last couple days have been a lot of fun.  Yesterday, we left Colorado Springs and drove west to Buena Vista.  At Wilkerson Pass, we ate our lunch and attempted to fight off the dozen hungry chipmunks.  We enjoyed some fun play time in the park at Buena Vista and ice cream from K’s before heading to camp.

We arrived at the Elbert Creek Campground and set up camp.  We had some yummy spaghetti to dinner and settled into bed as rain tip-tapped on our tent roof.  The kids did wonderfully, and the sunset was magestic!  The sound of the creek was beautiful as we drifted to sleep.

We woke up early and began a hike.  It was a good and challenging hike.  Again, the kids did very well for their first big hiking experience.  Now, we’ve just completed our walking tour of downtown Leadville and are ready for the next phase of our vacation.  It’s on to Vail for a couple days of relaxation and good food.

We had a great day celebrating Mother’s Day for the second time. The morning began with breakfast in bed for Natasha, then the family cleared out of the house to give her some piece and quiet. Daddy took the kids to the Zoo some animal watching. The animals were very active in the early morning hours, and we almost had the park to ourselves.

After a hair appointment for Natasha, we headed to Central Riverside Park for a windy picnic lunch. We fed the remains of Ester’s sandwich to two brave ducks and hit the playground for some swing and slide action. Ester tried the big, twisty slide for the first time and loved it. But, nothing compared to Ester’s discovery of the water feature.

Last summer, Ester didn’t want to touch the water, but today was a different story. She had a blast splashing in the streams and running through the water with Daddy. Of course, we took a video of this, so without further ado “Footage from Mother’s Day II.”