Garden Of The Gods...

Spring Break is here for my kiddos.  With all that we have had going on, we knew it wouldn't be feasible to leave town.  However, we did want to get out and see some of the great sites right here in our area.  


Well...I guess Spring in Colorado starts with lots of snow in March and April.  At least that is what we have been getting on and off for the last several days.  


We had at the beginning of the week 6 inches that came...and then melted very fast!  Watching the weather reports, the nicest day we were going to have was Friday.  So, we decided that would be the day we would get out in some nice weather,see some sites and have a little picnic.  


Friday morning came and we were not greeted with lot's of sunshine like we had heard...no, it was cloudy.  We still thought maybe the sun would come later and still went ahead with our plans.  


I wanted to take Izzy with us and get lots of great pictures of the kids.  I of course had to make sure every child looked great...helping with their hair, even a few trims here and there.  I envisioned Spring pictures on a sunny day.


My plan however, did not go that way...


Finally off  we all jumped into the van ready for our little adventure.  Our first stop...Garden of the Gods.  If you have not heard of this beautiful place...it is a must if you are ever visiting Colorado Springs.  It is a little world of amazing red sandstone rock formations that are at least 300 million years old that have been sculpted through the years by erosion.  It is breathtaking! 

Via~Google

On a beautiful sunny day!

As we arrived at our destination we noticed that the sky was becoming more grey and the temperature was dropping. We still tried to be optimistic and think it would pass...as the weather here changes back and forth like that. 


 Half way through our drive...the wind picked up.  We came upon a look out and thought this would be a great place to get some photos of the kids. 


 No sooner than opening the van door...everyone started to complain about how cold it was.  Great...I was not going to have willing participants to get pictures with.  Out came the jackets...so much for spring colors. 


Trying to get the kids to cooperate and all look in the same direction at the same time...a challenge.  The wind was blowing hard and now the hair I had worked so hard on to stay in place...was all over the place! 


I had freezing kids and knew if I wanted any photos...start shooting.  Needless to say...I ended up with one decent picture of them all together...I thought I would share.

From the left clockwise:

 Mister Inquisitive,  Drama Queen,  The Artist and Li'l Bug

The Comedian is only with us at Christmas time and Summer...that is why he is not here in the picture.  We miss not having him here with us all the time. 


I thought this picture was quite funny...Drama Queen always picture ready and trying to hold it all together, The Artist, now taller than his older sister acting cool, Mister Inquisitive...looking off to the distance, interested in something else. Li'l Bug...not really sure why we are standing in the cold to get a picture.  I love it! :)


I wasn't able to get the boys to cooperate with me for anymore, so back to the warm van they went.  Drama Queen was wanting some new pictures for her FB and was going to brave the cold...even with her Springy thin dress...just like a real model I was able to get some cute pictures of her.

Always miss photogenic...

Had to get the peace sign in there...

My style diva...

Love taking pictures of her...

Still sweet, even as a teenager..

she does have her moments though...

O.K. mom...my smile is going to freeze like this,

take the picture..it is cold!

This took all of about 10 minutes and that is all she could handle.  Before I shut the door I tried to get a couple more photos of the kids. 

One more picture...boys adding their rabbits in the back!

 Li'l Bugs puppy dog face...

"Mom, seriously...we are done taking pictures" look...

I didn't get any good picture's of the two boys...they were being too goofy for me to get them to sit still.  

As we drove down from the lookout area and our tour finished...snow started to fall! Not little flakes...big, huge flakes! Soon covering us and the roads...so much for our other destinations and picnic. 

We decided to go to one of our family favorite spots to eat... IHOP.  My kids love breakfast for dinner and that was what we had in mind.  It also doesn't hurt that 3 of our kids can eat free...at least The Artist has until this August when he turns 13.  It all helps! 

We ended up eating lots of pancakes while laughing so hard and having a great time enjoying our family time...it really didn't matter that we didn't get to see the other places. 

 Our day ended with renting a movie "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" and some treats for us to share.  All in all it was a great day out!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Hugs,