Thursday, July 13, 2017

Colorado - Day 4 - Leadville

Hey, friends!  Thank y'all so much for all of your comments and suggestions and encouraging comments on yesterday's post.  The feedback is so appreciated!

Today I'm sharing Day 4 of our vacation - our day in Leadville, Colorado.  It was about an hour away from Vail and the drive was incredibly beautiful.  we saw deer on the side of the mountain, pulled over to watch a waterfall and then the road opened up into a beautiful view of snowcapped mountains.  It was fantastic.






We booked tickets on the 10 am train ride and the kids were SO EXCITED to be aboard.  They even got their tickets punched by the conductor!  There were open air cars as well as cars that were enclosed (but all the windows were open since the weather was beautiful). 






Griffin will often seek out "older friends" when we're out and about and ask us if she can go say hi.   Watching her introduce herself (seriously!) and engage always puts a smile on my face.  She wanted to show this sweet man her play phone and he was so incredibly kind to her.  They sat together for about 10 minutes and she gave him a big hug and invited him to come have lunch with us when we left. :)




The train went up the mountain for about an hour and then stopped at a historic water tower where we were able to get out, look around, take pictures and go visit the conductor in the engine!








Mason's kitty rode with us as well :)


Then it was back down the mountain where we even got to see zip liners!



  
After the train ride we headed to the Leadville National Fish Hatchery which I had read about online and had also had recommended to us as a stop by a reader who's local.  I had no idea what to expect or what the kids would think about it and y'all.. they didn't want to leave!

We got there and ate our picnic lunch and then headed to the big tanks where an employee was throwing food into the water.  We were BLOWN AWAY by how many fish there were!  It was crazy!



He would throw the food and the fish would all simultaneously jump out of the water to get it.  SO COOL!


Up the hill a bit was the visitor's center with a large pond and fish food dispenser.  I bet we sat here for an hour while the kids threw food in for the huge rainbow trout.  WHO KNEW that feeding fish would be so entertaining?!?!

 



The visitor's center didn't have anyone there to give tours, but we had fun exploring on our own, and the view from the top of the hill wasn't too shabby :)




One last visit to the tanks!



Our plan was to head back to the house, but when we passed by Turquoise Lake and saw a beach area we had to stop and take an hour or so to throw some rocks and dip our toes in the water.





Rock collecting...



The kids all took quick cat naps on the way back to Vail and so we decided to hit up one of our favorite parks from the last time we were in CO.  We figured that they were already dirty from the day so we planned to play for an hour, head back to the house for baths and dinner and call it an early night.

The park is Bighorn Park and I think it might be my favorite place in Vail.  The park is beautiful, the playground is wonderful and one of my favorite simple pleasures in life is walking barefoot in cool grass (just me?!?!).  



 Oh ... and the way to get into this playground is via slide.  #socool



It was such a fun day and the hatchery is probably in the top 3 things we did for all of the kids.  They LOVED it!  And if you want to see a little bit more of our day here's a little recap video :)


I hope that y'all are enjoying following along on our trip as much as I'm enjoying sharing it - Happy Thursday, friends!

24 comments :

  1. I mean...next time, please take me with you! (That wouldn't we weird, right?) xo

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  2. Thank you for your family vacation recap to Vail. We are taking our kiddos in 3 weeks to Avon and you've found some Must Do activities for us, especially Bighorn Park.

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    1. Your kids will love it! So glad you're finding the posts helpful!

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  3. Your Colorado posts have me wanting to plan a trip there stat! So fun!

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  4. Griffin visiting with that older gentleman is just the sweetest! I know that made his day ; )

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  5. I'm loving these vacation posts! Reminds me so much of trips we used to take when my kids were little. We'd always seek out those kid-friendly places. What fun! :)

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    1. Right?!?! I've learned that sometimes the simplest little outings are their favorite!

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  6. Griffin's interest in "older friends" just warms my heart so much! Love that her young heart is so compassionate with that age group. Really enjoy all the pictures and hearing about your adventures in Colorado. Your new blog design is great!

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  7. I love your vacation recaps! Good "old-fashioned fun" vacations are the type we like to take too. Something we do, it looks like y'all do too, is eat most meals at our "home base" and/or pack picnic lunches. It saves so much money AND we don't waste time in restaurants when we could be out exploring instead!

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  8. The trip looks great! How do you go about choosing a place to stay - internet, friend's suggestion????

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  9. I so want to go to Vail next year! Do they have golf courses as well? LOL we are big time travelers and we LOVE to golf when we travel.

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  10. Aww! I grew up in Colorado and lived in Eagle when I was 3. I don't remember much about it but every summer growing up I would go with my friend to her grandmas condo in Frisco and we would spend the 4th of July in Vail. We thought we were big shots in middle school getting to ride the busses alone from Lions Head to Vail to shop. Next summer you must buy yourself a Golden Bear! Pricey but the signature jewelry from Vail.

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  11. I grew up in Colorado. Lived in Crested Butte as a child and moved to Boulder as a young adult, where my husband is from. We live in the Bay Area now, but I sure do miss CO. Thanks for posting all of your fun vacation photos!

    I'm a teacher as well and have two boys (20 and 13). Just wanted to say your family is adorable and I really enjoy your blog!

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  12. That picture of Griffin with the gentleman is the absolute most precious thing! What a sweet heart your girl has!

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  13. I'm so glad you guys liked the hatchery. It is a must for us each summer. Next time hike to the park....best swings ever!!

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  14. Seeing Griffin in all the MJ through the years has had me hooked! We brought home our baby girl in May through adoption and I just bought our first pieces of MJ (resale but still with tags!) and have no idea how to find pants to match! ��

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  15. I absolutely love the sweetness of your little girl and her amazing heart! Did the older gentleman come to lunch with you all? I hope so:). Thanks for such an uplifting blog!

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  16. Next time you go to Colorado stop by summit point on lake Dillion in frisco. It has a short hike .6 round trip perfect for kids and at the end there is a lookout over lake Dillion and chipmunks everywhere. We brought unsalted nuts to feed the chipmunks and they were eating out of the kids hands. It was a fun activity. We stayed in breckenridge this year but may have to try avail next.

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  17. Lovely post!
    Nistha
    https://www.fashionistha.com/work-hard-party-harder-both-in-one-dress/

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