A mini-vacation to the Springs: Day 2

Our second, and last (I didn't call it a mini-vacation for nothing!), day on vacation was spent having a leisurely breakfast in our hotel again, packing up and checking out, and then taking a walk through Garden of the Gods before grabbing a quick lunch and hitting the road to come home.  We timed the drive home perfectly, as both kids slept on the way.

The weather was great for walking outside...deep blue skies and temperatures that felt perfect when you were walking in the sun (but were just a tad chilly in the shade).  We started out letting Evan walk on his own, but about halfway through he wanted a snack so we strapped him into his seat of the stroller so he could snack and decided to keep him there for the rest of the walk to make better time.   I've gotta admit, that last part of our walk was just ever so slightly uphill and after John got tired pushing the stroller he gave me a shot and it was definitely a good workout, to say the least (and no wonder John got tired)!  I realized I was pushing at least 50 lbs up that seemingly gentle slope (30 for Evan, 12 for Emma, probably about 8 or so for her car seat and who knows how many for the stroller itself)!  Anyway, I thought it was a great way to end the walk...as it made me feel like I got some good exercise.

This spot was the shadiest (and thus chilliest) of the whole place.  We stopped here, though, to watch some deer that were grazing near the base of these tall rock formations and then got a chance to snap a family photo.

Here are a few of the gorgeous scenic shots I took along our walk...I just loved how blue the skies were!

So what did Emma do the whole time we were walking around Garden of the Gods?  (If you noticed a pattern from my previous post about Day 1 of our vacation, then I'm sure you already have a good idea)  She slept the whole time of course!  In fact, she slept right through lunch too, and I had to wake her up to feed her before we hit the road.  Then she was awake for perhaps the first half of the drive home, but you'd have never known it if it weren't for the mirror that lets us see her in the rear-facing car seat because she was so quiet!  Then she fell asleep quietly too, and slept the rest of the drive home.

When we got home John realized he didn't have his wallet.  We looked all over the car and in our bags for it and then it dawned on him that he'd left it in the drawer of our nightstand in the hotel!  I called the hotel, though, and they already had it at the front desk (and had just left us a message on our home phone voicemail about it too) because the cleaning staff had found it.  They will be mailing it back to us, so all is well.  Whew!  At least John had his credit card and driver's license, which he had been carrying around in his pocket sans wallet on our trip.

As we drove from our hotel to Garden of the Gods, Evan kept talking about the loud bathrooms at The Airplane Restaurant, how swimming was fun, and if you asked him what his favorite part of vacation was he'd say the elevators (or "elegators").  He also pointed out every crane he saw (including a handful of tall red and white antenna towers that did look like cranes).  He took a great nap on the drive home after lunch, and woke up in a very good mood considering he was still in his car seat and we had to drive a little bit further to get home.  He continued to point out things that he saw out the window (including more cranes, or train tracks, or "mighty machines" aka construction tractors and vehicles) and talked with me a lot to help pass the time.  It gave me hope that, in the right mood, he can entertain himself while being strapped into his car seat, so maybe our trip to Australia won't be a total nightmare. Only time will tell on that one...for now, he certainly seemed to have enjoyed our vacation and I think he is definitely looking forward to our next one (as am I)! :)