It is Sunday morning as I write this and just a few minutes ago, as you can see, Katie and I were frantically helping to get everything ready for church. Well, perhaps just maybe we weren't frantic or actually helping to do anything but our hearts were in the right place about the whole issue.As they say in Australia, yesterday was chock-a-block full. Starting about 1030hrs we made our way to Santa's Workshop at the base of Pike's Peak. I was here about 25 years ago and I think Noah and Katie had just as much fun as I did so long ago. Dana, Susan, and I had a great time also but alas, we are far older than the little ones and the hiking at altitude all over the park was admittedly a bit tiring.
It was a COLD start to the morning at the park and the rain didn't help at all. Katie, Noah, and Dana each got new shirts out of
the deal but Susan and I figured we could tough it out. This park is 100% Christmas all day every day. I love Christmas but I'm not sure what impact it might have on me to live it every day at work. One of my co-workers is a gentleman who worked at North Pole City in OKC for 17 years. He never even put up a Christmas tree at his house because he lived Christmas EVERY day at work (including Christmas music)! I talked briefly with the owner of Santa's Workshop. He grew up in Jefferson, TX and spent summers with his family in Colorado Springs. His parents built the park in 1956 and it has been in operation ever since. Summer is his steadiest business but Christmas is his busiest time of year (go figure).
There were all manners of small amusement park rides at this park. Unfortunately, most of these spin...fast. In addition to all the other things that changed about the time I hit 30, I can no longer SPIN. Slow, fast, short, or long, it's best if I don't spin. MommaBoz on the other hand is tougher than I and has no issues with this!
Lest you think I'm a real wimp, I'll let you know that I handled the Ferris Wheel with no issues whatsoever. Not bad, huh? I'll also have you know that this is the highest Ferris Wheel in the world. (yes, that's right, the highest - not tallest).
Katie did great but boy did she get pooped. She snuck in about a 30-minute nap and we were all better off for it!
Next we were off to Garden of the Gods which is just magnificent. I could spend LOTS of time here and take LOTS of pictures if afforded the opportunity. We were all pretty worn out by this time but we still took the opportunity to drive around and hike a little. Here is a panoramic view from the visitor center:
This next view is much more impressive if you view the full-size shot and get a sense of the scale by noticing the people on the sidewalk:
Spotting deer:
Just plain cool:
The kids, especially fearless Katie, kept us a NERVOUS WRECK as she scaled all over the rocks in her little imbalanced sort of way. Noah was a bit more cautious for which we were very thankful.
Just a few more:
And the end result of the day --->
Today it's Pike's Peak and the Cog Railway after church...can't wait!
4 comments:
Looks like fun. I remember being there as well when we were around Noah's age. About all I remember are the reindeer and our picture with Santa cause my brother had one of those "I'm with Stupid" shirts on.
Travis and I are headed to CO Springs in September so I love having a preview of what to expect and hopefully, you'll be able to tell me what NOT to do!!
Looks like you're having a ton of fun! We miss you around here. Noah's cucumbers are sure growing fast.
So glad to see that you have a blog now!!!! You better be commenting on my blog from here on out! It is going to be great to keep up with you guys this way. Now, we need to get Mary and Jill to start one up! Love you guys.
Juli Beth
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