Aaron found a great field on a hill and the kids had a blast playing while they waited and then watching the fireworks. Adding to the excitement, the fireworks caught the field they were being launched from on fire. We watched as several areas went ablaze and firetrucks rushed to put out the fires. After a very long day, we got to bed quite late, especially considering the time difference.
The next morning, we intended to spend some time with the cousins before we took our journey down to Colorado Springs for a few days. Our family was up and ready for our next day of adventure bright and early, even if a little groggy. But the cousins were used to lazy summer mornings and sleeping in. We dragged them out of bed; we had places to see.
Always up for a free tour, especially when it is a candy factory, we headed off to Hammond's Candies. But, since Dad served his mission in Colorado, we had to first meander through his old stomping grounds along the way, as he pointed out specific houses and streets he remembered fondly (or not so fondly). The cousins, exhausted from staying up MUCH later than we had, were less than entertained. I don't think their enthusiasm increased much at the factory tour either, but our kiddos, used to factory tours by now, enjoyed it well enough. The highlight of the tour might have been getting free "oops" candy at the end of the tour, if only their candy wasn't nasty. Oh well, we would be on to bigger and better things shortly....
There's no better place to feed a carload of kids than Costco, so that's where we headed for lunch. A couple of pizzas from the cafe did the trick, then we dumped off the cousins and made our way to our hotel in Colorado Springs.
We were happy to arrive in our own space. The hotel room had a little kitchen area, living area with full-sized sleeper sofa, and separate king-sized bedroom. It also had a nice pool area and that first night the kids had so much fun playing there.
July 6, our first full day in Colorado Springs, started off with a very bad sign- Claire woke up with a tummy ache. We were headed down for breakfast and she said her tummy didn't feel good. I hoped perhaps she needed to go to the bathroom, needed something to eat, or was just a little off because of the late nights and traveling. So we headed to the breakfast room and I carried her, letting her take a look at what was on the buffet. The room was crowded and nearly as soon as we walked in she burped. I darted out of the room as quickly as I could, fearing disaster. I didn't have the room key, so all I could do was take her outside. Luckily, she didn't throw up and we eventually made it back to our room, but she was deteriorating.
We had no choice but to carry on with our plans for the day. We grabbed the ice bucket from the freezer and we headed for Pike's Peak. My poor girl dozed on and off as we drove. We stopped to take a short walk to a lake. She was up for coming along, as long as it was on Daddy's shoulders. A short distance down the trail, she announced that she needed to throw up. Bless her sweet little heart for knowing she needed to. Dad quickly got her off his shoulders and placed her beside the trail, where she proceeded to dry-heave the nothing that was in her tummy. Then we continued to the lake and watched a couple old fisherman try to catch some fish that we could see swimming beneath the crystal clear water.
We made several stops on the drive to the top of Pike's Peak, to check out the scenery, eventually making it to the top. I have vague memories of my own childhood visit to the top of Pike's Peak. For our visit, we took the train to the top and I remember it being a long and boring ride. I also remember that when we got to the top, it was very cold and my stomach hurt. On this trip, with my own kids, when we finally arrived at the top, Claire was again napping. Paul and the boys wanted to walk around, so I waited in the car with Claire. While they were gone, she woke and wanted to get out, so we set out to find the guys. It was so cold and windy. When I finally found them, Nathanael was crouched by a rock, looking absolutely terrible. I wasn't sure if he, too, was coming down with a stomach virus, or if he had been affected by the altitude. We couldn't get back down the mountain fast enough. Spirits were plummeting quickly.
Claire napped a good bit on that outing, and by the time we got back to the hotel for a break, she seemed to be improving. After hanging out in the hotel a while, we wanted to end the day on a good note, so we found a splash park to hang out at for a bit. When the kids had enough, Dad was dying to take them to one of his old favorite places, BJ's Velvet Freeze, for ice cream treats. One would think that a belly full of ice cream is probably the worst idea the very same day as a stomach virus, but we pressed on.
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