Thanksgiving in Colorado

This year since I had the whole week off at work we decided to make the trip out to Colorado to visit my parents. We hadn't been out since our cross-country road trip over the summer of 2010. K was GREAT on the ride up. She hardly made a peep. She's so flexible, I love her easy going personality. It was cold and windy when we arrived but after being the car we knew K needed to go out and play so we had some fun playing basketball outside.

She also had to test out Grandma's trampoline- that's right- Grandma's trampoline. I wanted one so bad when I was young but my dad said they were too dangerous. Haha. Anyway, she LOVED it. She was squealing the whole time.

On Monday we decided to take K to Santa's Workshop at the "North  Pole". It was at the base of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs. Of course, the scenery was beautiful but it was a little chilly. She was SO excited. When we pulled up she said "Look Mommy, a Playground!" She noticed all the rides. It was a cute little family owned amusement park. It has been around for a long time and even though it was dated, it was super cute and we had such a blast.

Here's Kayleigh on the Sleigh when we went in

Cute, cute place

Riding the train around the park.

Waiting in line to see Santa.

We weren't sure how she would do with Santa. Last year she was very excited to see him, but wouldn't sit. Even though she loves characters in costume, she wasn't too sure about Santa last year. This year she didn't want to sit in his lap. But she couldn't wait to show him her special Owl Gloves. She also had to do her little "Look, I fell down" routine to be silly. Then she realized Santa was AWESOME and she gave him a big hug and posed for a few pictures with him. Now we've been talking a lot about how Santa will bring her toys if she is a good girl and she totally gets it. It's so much fun.

Showing Santa her gloves

Hugging Santa

How sweet is this?

And...I've about reached my limit mom. Let's go!

After visiting Santa, we stopped by a huge fire pit (where they also were selling S'more kits) to warm our hands while mom and grandma went in the gift shop for a bit.

Warming hands

Now begins the ride portion of the visit. She LOVES rides. I wondered if she would get bored and want to get off halfway through, but she loved every second. She rode a carousel, a car ride, and a Christmas tree spinning ride.

Riding a reindeer

Riding the bus ride with Grandma

Riding the Christmas Tree ride.

They were really high up there. :) She loved every minute.

The next day we took Kayleigh up in to the mountains to see some snow. It was probably about 8 inches deep and nice and powdery. She wasn't sure what to do at first (it was up to her thighs) then she wanted to take her gloves off and spread it around. It was cold, so once we finally got her to keep her gloves on, she had a blast taking snowballs Grandpa made and throwing them. Our original plan was to sled, but we couldn't hike far enough up. My dad tried a quick ride down a steep hill. Kayleigh watched him and as he rolled off the toboggan, she said "Grandpa, you okay?" It was so funny. She loved playing with the snow.

Checking it out

What is this stuff

I love it!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Snowballs!

Hiking around

Family Pic, she wasn't cooperating

Hiking with Grandma

On Thanksgiving it warmed up and we took the opportunity to go hiking around my parents' house. There are so many rocks and things to see and Kayleigh loves being outside.

Hiking around

Group picture from the top of "Rocky Ridge'

K digging

Playing with the rocks she found.

My grandparents, K's great grandparents, also came down for Thanksgiving. This was the first time she has met them and she had a blast. They brought her 2 adorable bears that she has been toting around the house since. I was so sad I couldn't get her to actually pose for a picture, but it typical toddler fashion- it's GO-GO-GO! These are the only pictures I could actually get.