The Springs Have Sprung

Yes they have.  And a while ago, too (stop looking at me that way, I've been busy).  

Going to Colorado Springs has, oddly enough, become somewhat of an annual trip for our little Hurliman family.  John and I took the girls last year, and before that Tanner and I made the trek south with Nana & Mimi.  That's kindof odd/interesting, now that I consider it. 

This year we ventured down to The Springs with John's parents, otherwise known as SueSue and Doc.  Leaving on Saturday morning AFTER swim lessons and returning in time for church on Sunday night, we packed a lot into our less-than-48-hour trip!

First stop, the Olympic Training Center.  (Sue, our ice skating aficionado, wanted to visit the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, but it's not open on weekends.  Weird). 

Sibling Rivalry at its best:  we tried to get them to stand on Gold AND Silver, but no dice.  Even a toddler knows that a lower platform is not best.

Future Bobsled Olympians? :)

In my teen years, when I dreamed of becoming an Olympic swimmer, I would've thought this was the most amazing thing EVAH to visit.  And even as an adult, I have to admit - it was pretty damn cool.  (Isn't there something about the Olympic Spirit that just makes you get goose bumps?  No?  That's just me?  I'm pretty sure that makes you weird, not me.)

Next stop, the quintessential Garden of the Gods. 

The main difference between this year's visit and previous years' visits is that the kids are bigger and want to climb and jump on more things.  The rocks pretty much stay the same.

(all of these pics are off the Perkins Central Garden Trail, fyi)

I wonder if she thinks she's Mufasa or Simba?

"Look, Mommy!  I can JUMP!"

SueSue stands guard.

As I've said before...where one sister goes, the other follows...

T & E helping SueSue & Doc get their arm workouts for the day.

What kind of a mother puts her daughters in white shirts and sandals to hike around in rocks and dirt?  (it's CUTE, YOU know it, stop judging :).

A quick break from rock climbing/jumping/scrambling.

But climbing/jumping/scrambling isn't all we did along this trail...

A game of leapfrog was in order, obvi.

As was crazy-kid trail-dancing.

When you can't be bothered to sit in the stroller and nap, you help push.

Obligatory Tourist Pic :)

John took some pretty good "Rock Formation Pics," but since I write about our kids and their adventures and not rocks, only these two pics made the cut :)

OF COURSE you can't leave GotG without visiting Balanced Rock.

Tanner thought it was SOOOOOO COOOOL to have climbed up such a big rock.

Again with the jumping! Oy Vey!

I like this picture of Doc, walking up to inspect Balanced Rock.

The crazy thing is...there are all sorts of concrete fills and posts driven in around the rock formations surrounding Balanced Rock.  It kindof takes the "neat" factor out of it.  I didn't go investigating the big rock itself, because I didn't want to be disappointed.  It's just not natural, ya know?  However, also "not natural" is for rocks to tumble down whilst my progeny are climbing on them.  So you win, GotG.

After a quick trip back to the hotel (and a call from the front desk because "it sounds like someone is jumping to the people below you" (My kids?  Jumping?  WHA?!?!?)), we hopped our no-napped kids up on cheeseburgers and fries, threw their beautiful little booties in bed, and Sue and I handily beat the boys in Euchre.  Ahhh....what a great day :) 

On Sunday, we headed to Seven Falls.  I had been there many moons ago with Janelle on our Epic Western Adventure, but that was a year of drought and the Seven Falls looked more like a trickle than anything spectacular.  I looked forward to seeing them in their "glory," so to speak.

Check out that stairway.  More on that in a bit.

Seven Falls doesn't actually mean there are seven separate waterfalls.  Instead, it refers to one waterfall that cascades six times thus creating "Seven Falls."  It's a pretty cool thing to see, to be honest.  And since we, as Hurlimans, aren't just "okey-dokey, that looks pretty!" people, we did some hiking around there, too.  

Now, to get to the hiking trails, you have to climb up these:

It's kindof like a Magic Eye.  If you look long enough, you won't be able to miss the 65 degree staircase we were about to climb.  With two kids.

From the bottom, I was undaunted by this. (Because We Are Hurlimans!  We can do ANYTHING!!!)  Looking at this picture, I'm actually surprised my sweet, caring, and generally-fearful-of-accidents mother-in-law actually "let" me take her grandchildren up these things.  But up we went.

I don't exactly remember knowing that Ellery was climbing by herself.  I must've "forgotten" because I didn't want to remember.  Or, it could be that I was watching Tanner's every step and assumed Ellery's Daddy was taking good care of her.  :):):)

Once at the top, life leveled out and we did a bit of hiking to Midnight Falls, about a 20 minute, 1/2 mile trail (if you don't have a Pre-schooler and a toddler in tow, of course).

They look so bewildered here.  Like, "what are we supposed to do for the camera?  Hmm.  I forget."

Awesome Daddy climbs up a BIG rock.  Giggles of glee from two little girls.

SueSue and Elle stroll along the trail.

What a cute pic of Daddy and Elle!

We finally made it to Midnight Falls and back, a nice little hike through very easy terrain (I had flip flops on, so it was pretty easy).  

Our Destination :)

And Then. 

We had to go DOWN.  The.  Stairs.  Of.  Doom.  (said in super-freaky horror-movie voice).  

By this time, Ellery was acting a complete fool, convinced of her almost-21-month-old-ability to maneuver said stairs independent of any supervision.  Momma had different plans, y'all, because this was my perspective:

And as only a mother can make up (in the Completely Irrational Zone of her Mom Brain, located between the pons and medula oblongata), I imagined Ellery plummeting down three of the seven falls into the shallow pool below.  So I clung tightly.  So tightly, in fact, that my left bicep/tricep/every-other-arm-muscle was SORE for a good part of the next week.  (my mother, step-mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and anyone else who worries about my capabilities as a mother are probably glad to hear that I'm not always as fearless as I like to seem :)  Girlfriend was NOT getting down, no matter how much she squiggled and squirmed (which was a good bit, let me assure you).

After that, we did a much more subdued activity:  Trout Feeding.

SueSue helps Elle throw food to the fish.

 

It was so much fun when they actually jumped out of the water to eat the food.  Which happened, like, three times.  Lazy Trout.

I suppose now we should start thinking about next year's Colorado Springs trip?  In 2012, it's PawPaw & Riri's turn! :)