4th Of July Getaway

A few days before the 4th of July we didn't have any plans for the big weekend. But just before the big festivities, we decided to head down to Colorado Springs to be with Ryan's sister Jodi and her family. Ryan was able to get that Friday off so it made it possible to spend more time with family. 

When we arrived Thursday early afternoon, my Ryan teamed up with Jodi's Ryan, her father-in-law and brother-in-law to work on building a shed while Jodi, I and the kids went to Garden of the Gods.

It is a really beautiful place. We only walked a small portion of it. It reminded me a lot of southern Utah.

When I went to take a picture with P using the front facing camera, he immediately pulled up his shirt to show off his belly button. It is a favorite fascination right now. :)

P wasted no time trying out the tiny slots. In fact, I was pretty worried I wasn't going to get him out! I couldn't fit very far, so removing him was quite the challenge.

He was more than happy to follow his cousins in. I think they will have a lot of fun together in the future.

Jodi had a sweet jogger/bike trailer that made carting the kids around pretty easy. Madi and Zack just took turns. I had Dodger with me too and he did really well, even with all the other dogs around. The only incident we had was with a little wiener dog that tried to eat him. Haha.

After walking around for a while, we decided to head back home and help get ready for dinner. The original plan was to go to the park where there was supposed to be big fireworks, booths, food, etc., but the boys were still really busy with the shed and with the exception of Jodi's Ryan, none of us wanted to fight the crowds or chase kids for that long. So we decided on the American classic BBQ. Nothing better than that!

They had a great little trampoline in their basement that Pierscen was really excited about. And also equally excited about showing off that belly... again.

The view from their house was absolutely beautiful. I have never been south of Denver. Colorado Springs is gorgeous! And it was awesome to have some cloud cover. Made for the perfect weather!

After a wonderful meal, some more shed building, and watching fireworks (which this was the first time in years that they, the city of Co Springs, had had fireworks... lucky us!), it was time for sparklers!

P thought they were pretty cool. He was really tired at this point, so getting smiles out of him wasn't happening, but he was still mesmerized as you can see.

It was such a fun way to spend the holiday! Especially considering if we had stayed home, we wouldn't have done anything special. And it was really great to get to be with Jodi. We have made it a goal to try and stay close to our families even if we are separated by a state or two. This was our first trip to Colorado Springs, and hopefully it won't be the last. 

There is more of trip coming... but there were enough pictures I decided to split it into two. :)