Fair Oaks Farm

Labor day weekend, we decided to drive up to Fair Oaks Farm to use a Groupon we bought and also to see my friend Devin and girls (who moved to Chicago a few years ago).  Sadly, I'm THAT far behind on the blog...I know.  To quote Charlie, "I'm doing my best!"

The day was beautiful, very sunny and not too hot.  We took the "official tour" in the bus (not quite as informative as I would have liked as I wrangled my 3 littles) and saw the farm.  Then we had lunch at their cafe before checking out the play area.  The kids all loved the train, and a giant "bounce house" type thing that I didn't take a picture of.  After a few minutes, we saw a green light in the cow building, so we went in to see a cow being born!  It was pretty awesome, really. 

 By the "end" of the day (I'm guessing it was 2pm) my kids were exhausted and hardly wanted to smile for pictures...so this is the best we could do as a group shot of the kids.

All in all, I found the dairy a pretty interesting place--especially the place where the cows get milked!  It's a turn-dial type wheel where the cows get in line, step on...and then the workers down lower clean and get the cows hooked up to the milkers (all while it's moving).  The cow rides the circle around, where she is detached at the other side and then walks out just before another cow loads.  Pretty amazing.

Devil's Thumb Ranch

One night we decided to take the kids to dinner at Devil's Thumb Ranch.  Seeing as we had 4 small children, we made a reservation at 5:30pm as to avoid the true "dinner crowd" (it's a pretty nice restaurant).  We lucked out, as they had happy hour until 6pm: half price appetizers and 16 ounce draft (local!) beers for $1!  Obviously, I didn't get to enjoy the beer, but Scott and Devin made up for it :)

After enjoying a delicious meal, we went out behind the restaurant to partake in (free) s'mores and enjoy the atmosphere.  The rain stayed away and we had a fantastic time!  True Colorado living.

 

 The kids ran out to check out the horses and cows in the fields...

 I just had to capture Sam's s'mores face...and Scott's beer face!

 

  Several attempts at family pictures...can you believe my belly at only 20 weeks?

 Just had to include it...parents attempts to make kids smile!

 The little ones attempting to play volleyball

 The only pic with all 4 looking at the camera!

  Feeding the cow

 

 Back for round 2 of s'mores before heading home...unusual treat at our house!

 

Fantastic evening!

Winter Park Resort

One morning we took the kids over to the Winter Park Resort just to explore.  We haven't spent much time there in the summer, as we like to hike, bike, and hang around the house.  But it was a fun morning for the kids!  They were pretty excited about the Cabriolet ride (like a small gondela that takes you from the parking lot to the resort) and all the things the resort had to offer, although we only did the free things!

Checking out the playground...

 

 Chess!

 Proof that I was actually on this vacation...

  Connect 4??

 Climbing the Coca Cola Bear

The pictures from Wordless Wednesday were also from the resort.  The kids don't know how to really play any of those games, but that didn't keep them from having fun!  The resort also offered pay-to-play things like an alpine slide, giant trampolines, bounce houses, mazes/etc, however, not worth it with our kids ages!