If you missed the first post in this series, you can read it here.
After having been apart for over a week, we were all so thankful to be together with our spouses and children again. Chris and I slept really well Friday night (we had a super comfortable bed!), so we woke up Saturday morning (July 21st) feeling refreshed and ready to do some sightseeing! We had a casual breakfast at the house and took our time getting ready for the day. We all wore our vacation t-shirts that Lisa designed and made for us, so of course I had to get a family photo!
Back row: Chelley, Chris, G-Jo, Grampy, Shawna, Jeremy
Front row: Brecklyn, JT, Brianna, Brenson, Kaylee, Brooke
Brecklyn was just tickled to be twinning with Aunt Shawna!
I think Kaylee was happier to be twinning with JT than JT was to be twinning with Kaylee, haha! She wanted a picture of them together, and I couldn't help but laugh at attempt number one.
Attempt number two wasn't much better, although funny!
He did finally give in and give us a nice one! The shirts say "Family Vacation Psalm 125:1,2". That scripture was our "theme" verse for the time we spent in the mountains.
After a leisurely morning, we all loaded up and headed to the small mountain town of Grand Lake to eat, shop, and sight-see. It was a gorgeous day, and I just loved all the views of the lake with a backdrop of mountains 😍.
I had filled Chris in on the issues I was having with the van, and it got hot almost immediately driving into Grand Lake from Granby Ranch (where our house was). As soon as we got parked, Chris went to get some coolant to put in the van while Jeremy went to a local pizza place (where they had dined Thursday evening) to get our names in for a table. While we waited for a table, we did some souvenir shopping.
My shopping buddy!
I had never been to Grand Lake before, and I had heard that it was comparable to Estes Park. I definitely felt like it was pretty different than Estes, but we had a good time in the cool mountain air (doesn't that make everything better?) walking around the quaint little town.
We ended up having a loooooong wait for tables to have lunch, and then we had to be seated separately. We were all hungry by the time our pizza came, but it was worth the wait!
While we were waiting for tables, an afternoon mountain storm came up and it poured rain for about 15 minutes. Thankfully, we were waiting on benches that were protected from the weather! As soon as the rain began, Brenson started kinda freaking out. He was whimpering and crying a little, and kept saying, "I need my dad! I just need my dad!" (Chris was still working on the van). I found out that they had been caught in a mountain storm one day during their hiking trip, on the top of Flattop Mountain. They were well above the timber line and had to take shelter under a large rock that had an eave of sorts. While they were huddled under the rock, the wind was ferocious, it hailed, and stormed loudly, and Brenson was pretty terrified and crying the whole time. All the guys had conveniently left this part of their hiking trip out of their stories until Bren spilled the beans! I'm pretty sure he's a bit traumatized from the experience as he's talked about it and brought it up many times since our trip. Even though they were able to find shelter and ride out the storm, I feel bad for the poor kid being so scared.
After lunch, we browsed a few more souvenir shops and then got ice cream. Because of course!
Brenson and Brianna
Shawna and Kaylee
Chelley, Brecklyn, Chris, and Brooke
Grampy and G-Jo
Once we finished our ice cream, we took the kids over to play at a large playground that was sort of in the middle of town. There was a covered pavilion where we could sit and watch them play in the sun. They had a blast!
Brooke and Brecklyn
While the kids played, I went with JT to a souvenir shop nearby to help him pick out a small gift for a girl he's interested in. She's not his girlfriend yet, but he hopes it won't be long until she is!
While we sat under the pavilion, Mom, Shawna, and I planned a menu for the evening. We decided we wanted to eat in, so we made a list of some groceries we would need. Then, Mom, Dad, and JT left Grand Lake to go to a grocery store in Granby to get the supplies. We let the kids play for a bit longer, then the rest of us also headed back to Granby.
I couldn't resist pulling off and taking a few photos with the amazing scenery!
Brenson and Brianna had both hitched a ride with others, so we only had Brooke and Brecklyn with us. Brecklyn had fallen asleep in the van, so I grabbed Brooke for a photo with Momma.
Once we got back to our house, we enjoyed some tacos for supper. I realized looking through these photos that I never took any photos of the outside of the house where we stayed, and there's not many of the inside. I did, however, get plenty of photos of the view from the back deck!
As I mentioned above, Brecklyn fell asleep in the van on the way back to Granby. When we got back to the house, she had a really hard time waking up. At first I thought maybe she was just exhausted from traveling, but I quickly realized that she had a fever! UGH. She just wanted to snuggle and be pitiful, and I was so thankful that we had an amazing back deck to do just that on!
As the sun set, the view just got better and better!
I mean, I just couldn't stop taking photos even though they don't come anywhere close to doing the view justice!
I touched on this a bit in my last post, but the purpose of this trip all along was for Dad, Jeremy, Chris, and JT to climb Long's Peak. They had spent five days hiking and camping in Rocky Mountain National Park to get acclimated to the elevation before embarking on the big climb. During the acclimation hike, Dad decided he wasn't going to attempt Long's Peak, but Jeremy, Chris, and JT continued with their plan to attempt Long's.
They had been training and planning for Long's for months and had all the timing carefully worked out. They had decided to get up early on Sunday morning, drive from Granby to Estes Park where they would attend worship services. As soon as worship was over, they would grab food and head to the trail head. After hiking all afternoon, they planned to camp that night at Boulder Field, then get up and summit Long's by about 7am on Monday, July 23rd. Because of weather, it was very important that they stick with this schedule in order to summit and be back down the mountain in a safe place before the daily mountain storm rolled through.
Unfortunately, our Sunday morning began at about 5am with Brooke throwing up. Maybe the guys should have taken this as a sign that things weren't going to go according to plan, but they got all their gear together and left early that morning while I caught and cleaned up puke from Brooke about every 45 minutes. Dad, Mom, Shawna, Kaylee, Brianna, Brenson, the twins, and I had all planned to go to worship in Granby that morning, but obviously I had to stay home with a very sick Brooke. Brecklyn still had a fever and Kaylee wasn't feeling 100 percent, so they both stayed at the house with me as well. However, Dad, Mom, Shawna, Brianna, and Brenson did all go to worship.
Poor Brooke was so sick. She would throw up, fall asleep, wake up for a few minutes, and repeat the cycle. Brecklyn wasn't doing great, but she *thankfully* wasn't throwing up.
Those who had gone to church brought home Subway for us for lunch, and we spent the rest of the day lounging around the house and catching puke. Dad did take Brianna and Brenson on a ski lift ride that was offered at Granby Ranch, then on a long walk. By the end of the day, Brooke had thrown up 18 times (!!!) and had gotten me, Shawna, Mom, and Kaylee at different times. It definitely wasn't how I'd imagined my vacation!
Sadly, the guys' hike wasn't going as planned either. It started off great . . . they were making great time and hit a steady groove with their hiking.
However, the weather was not cooperating, and a storm came up while they were trying to make it to Boulder Field where they intended to camp for the night. Initially, they thought they would be able to continue on with their plans, but the rain just WOULD NOT quit. The forecast for decent weather had been completely wrong, and as they continued to hike they found themselves soaked with rain and cold. Hypothermia was a concern, as was lightening since Boulder Field is above the timber line. After speaking with a few different rangers, they made the tough decision to turn back and abandon their mission :-(.
To say they were disappointed is an understatement! They had trained and planned for this for months, and to not be able to complete the hike was pretty devastating for them. However, they knew it was the right and safe choice, and they found comfort in knowing that it wasn't their ability or will that held them back. It was the weather and that was completely out of their control. They made it back to the house around 11pm on Sunday.
Several months prior to this trip, Kaylee had asked me if I would be willing to take some senior pictures for her while we were in Colorado. On Monday morning, Mom, Shawna, Kaylee, Brianna, and I all got up and headed out early (for good lighting) for her photo shoot.
Once we got back to the house, Jeremy followed Chris into town to drop off our van with a mechanic who had agreed to look at it. I still had one sick little girl on my hands.
Jeremy and JT were spending their morning packing up their gear to mail back to Tennessee (there wasn't room in vehicles for it), and Mom and Dad decided they wanted to drive Trail Ridge Road and see some sights. Shawna, Kaylee, and Brianna went with Mom and Dad for the day while Jeremy and JT headed to town to run their errands. Chris and I were not only without a vehicle, but had a sick kid, so we were kinda stuck at the house. Isn't that just the way it goes sometimes?!? We did, however, go on a long walk (Brooke rode in the stroller) to get some fresh air and take in the beautiful views.
Momma and Brenson
Momma and Brecklyn
Brenson, Daddy, and Brecklyn
I was so thankful that part of our group was able to take a drive and have fun even though things weren't working out as we had planned. I loved getting these photos from them!
Shawna, Brianna, G-Jo, and Kaylee
They drove through a cloud, and Brianna was fascinated!
G-Jo, Brianna, Kaylee, and Shawna
Grampy, Kaylee, Brianna, and Shawna
I love these smiles!
G-Jo, Kaylee, Brianna, and Grampy
We cooked supper at the house that evening (ham and baked potatoes) after everyone got back. Brooke was finally feeling better, and I was ready to get out of the house for a few hours. G-Jo and Grampy agreed to watch the kids while Jeremy, Shawna, Chris, and I went on a double date for ice cream!
Whoo-hoo for escaping for a bit!
At this point, we didn't know how much we'd be spending to fix the van and that was putting a bit of a damper on our vacation. However, we were trying to look at the bright side and think about how much of our food budget we had saved by eating so many meals at the house. We definitely weren't planning on that, but it worked out well for us!
Jeremy, Shawna, Chris, and I got back to the house just in time to see the magnificent sunset and participate in the family devo with the Grampy, G-Jo, and all the kids.
WOW!
We spent our last evening in Granby visiting and laughing on the deck until it was dark. I felt so very grateful for our time there.
Our plan for Tuesday (July 24th) was to be packed up and out of the house by about 1pm. We were headed to Steamboat Springs for the remainder of our time in Colorado. Before we could leave, though, Chris had to go into town to pick up our van. Thankfully, the damage wasn't too bad, and *spoiler alert* the problem was fixed! We ate lunch at the house (in attempt to eat up the food we had purchased so we didn't have to transport it), then stopped to take a few photos before hitting the road for Steamboat Springs.
Dad and Mom
Jeremy, Kaylee, Shawna, JT
Kaylee and Brianna . . . twinning!
Brecklyn, Brenson, Chelley, Brianna, Chris, Brooke
My next post will be all about our time in Steamboat Springs and our rough trip home, so check back in a few days for that!
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