Our Family Vacation in Colorado

Last month Joshua and I traveled with our niece to the state of Colorado for family vacation. This year’s family vacation was very special because it was paired with my brother in-law’s wedding. We stayed at a cozy Airbnb near the Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort in the small town of Nathrop with our immediate family.

Day 1 – Travel

There weren’t any convenient flights from Sacramento to Denver, so we flew out of San Francisco. Traffic and parking was nuts and we literally got to our gate just as they were boarding our group. Thankfully we made it, and it ended up being a very smooth flight; Joshua didn’t even get sick!

One of my brother-in-laws flew into Denver from Portland around the same time as us, so he ended up tagging along with us. We got a rental car shortly after we landed, and after a few stops at Whole Foods and Target, we ended up at the Airbnb in time for dinner and relaxing with the family.

Day 2 – Garden of the Gods

This was our family vacation day. We did a Segway tour through the Garden of the Gods. Unfortunately, it was REALLY cold and foggy so we didn’t get to see much.

However, considering how we all were adjusting to the Segways it was probably a good thing we didn’t have beautiful scenery to distract us. 😆

Our 9-year-old niece Renee wasn’t allowed to go on the Segways, so to make it up for her we stopped at Focus on the Family. There they have a soda shop and a kids play area, all of which she greatly enjoyed. While there, a few of us hung out in the bookstore (free wifi FTW), and it was there I picked up the book Grace Like Scarlett.

I ended up spending my downtime on vacation reading this book, and it really helped ease some of the conflicts I’ve had with my faith since my pregnancy losses.

Day 3 – Buena Vista

We had some downtime in between wedding festivities, so a few of us went exploring in the nearby town of Buena Vista. It was a quaint little town next to a gorgeous river.

And of course, we took advantage of the free wifi at a local coffee shop.

The Airbnb had no internet or cell signal, so a lot of us were catching up on the interwebz.

For dinner, the rest of the family came over and we had a family-friendly bachelor party for the groom. We had a taco bar for food and for activities we did mini-drone wars.

The trick was to see who could fly their mini-drone from the balcony into a bowl on the other side. There were no prizes, just bragging rights. Naturally, hilarity ensued. Good times were had by all!

Day 4 – Hot Springs + The Rehearsal Dinner

We had another free day to kinda do whatever we wanted, so most of us hung around the resort and experienced the hot springs. I have to admit it was really trippy sitting in a hot spring and literally right next to you is a freezing cold river. Pretty neat experience though.

Later in the evening was the rehearsal dinner up at the resort. Pretty much everyone that came to the wedding came to the rehearsal dinner.

Since our side of the family is Italian, we had an Italian themed dinner complete with my sister in-law’s cheesiest Italian playlist (no pun intended). My other sister in-law Serena, made the most delicious dairy-free/gluten-free pizza (she’s got an amazing blog full of delicious recipes), so Joshua and I could partake in the food without feeling deprived. There was even yummy gluten-free bread from a local bakery which we happily dipped in olive oil and balsamic, and gluten-free cookies for dessert. I didn’t get pics cuz I was too busy eating. 😜

Day 5 – The Wedding

The big day was finally here and after a few days of cold but gorgeous weather, today on the wedding day it decided to snow. This is what it looked like in the morning:

And by the time the wedding itself rolled around it was looking more like this:

The ceremony itself happened outdoors in the snow, and while it was FREEZING it was gorgeous and totally worth it!

Luckily the reception was indoors, and we had a grand time!

Day 6 – Travel Home

After a fantastic week with the family, it was time to head home. We left the Airbnb around 10am and enjoyed the scenic views of our 3-hour drive to Denver.

When all was said and done we got back home around 8pm. Another great trip in the books!