Steamboat Springs

We had such a nice weekend. We left a little later than we would have hoped, and didn't arrive at Steamboat until 8 or so. We headed right to bed since we had to be up so early for the hot air balloon festival. Sleeping with 12 people in my parent's 5th wheel was not my idea of fun. I am such a sensitive sleeper, so needless to say, after 2 nights, I am POOPED.

This is Kayler the morning of the balloon festival. He would NOT wake up. It was 6 a.m. though, and waking up at that time is unheard of in our house.That is Rachael next to him saying "kay-kay, wake UP!"

This is the sight we saw walking up to the festival

We got to stand right in the midst of them blowing up the balloons. It was very neat to see the logistics behind it all. This was one of the kids' favorites. The bear.

Hallie's Favorite, Marvin the Martian

Gavin was NOT happy. He was cold, tired, and "bored"- little stinker.

How cool is that. The balloons actually had a competition. They had to drag their baskets in water, pick up stuff, etc. It was very neat.

Our Family.

My parents with all the grand kids. They are the ones who put this little trip all together. They provided transportation, a place to stay, all the activities, funds, food, etc. Thanks mom and dad, I love you!

This is my brother and his wife and Rachael in front of a really cool western balloon. The people riding in it were dressed in some pretty great cowboy gear.

The next activity was the Arts festival. It is pretty much like the little booths that are in Vernal in front of the library around Rodeo time, except there are like 3 times as many and they are 3 times as expensive. The kids got their faces painted, my mom bought them these sweet tie-died shirts, and I didn't buy one thing as usual.

After the art festival Kayler crashed for a nap, so we all went to the Alpine Slide. The kids LOVED it, and when I say kids, that includes G.J., he had never did anything like that so he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

This is my brother. No, that is not his real hair, and no, he does not wear extremely tight cut off Wranglers often. He brought his little "outfit" to float down the Yampa river in. He received several compliments, and even more looks as he rode in the back of our truck holding onto our tubes down the ritzy streets of Steamboat. It provided us with a lot of entertainment. The whole family got in at the beginning. The river is low, slow, and not too cold. Kayler and Rachael decided they hated it after like 3 minutes so my parents took them back to the camper and we all finished. Besides seeing several drunk people, one group of people doing drugs, (seriously...right there in the open), tipping over, almost drowning it seemed like, we were done. Thank goodness.


What we needed was some rest. We went to the Strawberry hot springs. This place is absolutely beautiful. I rarely find a place that takes my breath away, but this did in an instant. It is in the middle of nowhere deep in the mountains. It is not the typical hot springs that is all commercialized. This place was surrounded by lush thick forest. The bottom was sand. There was a cold pool with baby trout swimming, it was so nice.

Kayler learned to swim with his little floaties. All the kids had SO much fun. I think this was our favorite activity.

This is the whole group.

Can you believe we packed all those activities into one day? Well, if you know my fast paced family, you better believe we did. We arrived home today safe and sound-exhausted and glad to be home. Thanks Mom and Dad...can't wait until next year! :)