Glenwood Springs, Colorado

10 YEARS!!!

That's right! This year marks our TEN YEAR anniversary! I can't believe it! Nate and I have been married for an entire decade!!
(Our anniversary isn't until November, but we decided to celebrate a little early while the weather is nice, kids are out of school, and we don't have to worry about the holidays!)

To celebrate we took our first get-away from the kiddos and went to Glenwood Springs & Aspen Colorado.
IT WAS AWESOME!

Nate and I haven't been away from the kids (except for while I'm in the hospital having a baby!) But this was a real vacation, just the two of us!
IT WAS AMAZING!

The drive to Glenwood Springs is only 4 hours. It was so nice to talk and not be interrupted by little back-seat drivers! It was wonderful to hold his hand and just enjoy the peace and quite!
IT WAS INCREDIBLE!

Our first stop in Glenwood Springs was the Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park! One thing Nate didn't realize about me even after 10 years of marriage was my thrill-seeking, action/adventure, can't-get-enough of rides, love ALL rides that are fast, scary, and adrenaline rush!!
This place was perfect!

We rode up on a tram to the top of the mountain. The park was built around a Cavern, we could have taken the tour of the cave, but decided not to! We were there for the rides and boy was it fun!

This is the view out the tram window. It was a wonderful ride and a beautiful view of Glenwood Springs.

I felt like a kid again! It was so weird not having Ty, Mara, & Caleb there! Boy did I miss them! But man was it fun just having time with just Nate!

Our first ride was the Alpine Slide. It reminded me a little of the one at Park City that I did as a kid, but this was even better! Can you tell how excited I am?!

When you reach the end of the ride you sit back and relax while it tows you back up the mountain.

WOW! What a ride! It was completely fantastic! You have to push the bar down to go and pull back to break! I pushed that bar down as far down as I could and only braked when the ride was over! I couldn't believe how fast you can fly on that thing!! I thought I was going to fly right off the track!

Nate had a great time on the Alpine slide! It was so fun being with Nate and laughing and just having a good time together! Oh the life of being on vacation! Wish all days were vacation days!

The scenery along the park was spectacular! What a great place! I can't wait to take the kids back here when they are older!

Another fun ride was the Soaring Eagle Zip Ride! Nate and I feared the worst on this one! We thought it was going to just launch you right out but it actually was more of a gradual ride. We loved feeling the wind on our face and seeing the views as we soared 625 feet down the mountain.

This was the view from the zip ride. Not bad?! It was spectacular!

The other ride we loved (I LOVED, Nate tolerated a couple times!) was the Giant Canyon Swing! What we thought was going to be a gradual little swing up and down was actually the most terrifying ride I have been on in a long time!
Here it goes UP...

UP...

and away!!! Talk about a RUSH! It launches you 1300 feet above the Colorado river and you are speeding at 55 miles an hour! Holy Cow! It was so awesome!

This is the view looking down! SCARY! You feel like you are going to just fly right out and fall to your death!

So my sad story of the day was I really really wanted to go Bungee Jumping! They had it there at the park, but it was not included in the day pass. I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay extra. But after thinking all day about it I decided I was going to go for it! Crazy I know! So I made up my mind to go bungee jumping and walked over to the tower when my hopes and dreams were crushed: they were closing! There was still 2 good hours left of the park being open! I don't know why they had to close early! So disappointed!
Well, I decided to go on the swing one more time before we left. Nate said if he went on it again he would probably have a heart-attack! But he wanted to take my picture of me going on it!

So we get over there and there are 3 kids and me on the ride! Sweet! Thumbs up dude! Here we go!
I LOVE THIS RIDE!
When it was over, the boys left and no one else came! So I went on it again!

And again!

And again!

I went on the same ride 5 or 6 times in a row! The ride-attendant named Sam just kept pushing the button for me! I'd say "Again Sam!" And he'd push the button and I would go again! After the second time I got to the point of being able to put my hands in the air and not hold on! Even scarier!!

Talk about a rush! One of our favorite lines from 'Tangled' is "This is the BEST DAY EVER!" I couldn't help but scream that as I was soaring on the swing!!
It helped make up a little bit for not being able to go bungee jumping! I guess I'll just have to go another time!

Some of the other rides and activities that we did were laser tag, we climbed a rock wall, watched a 4D motion movie, raced through a maze, and rode on a wild west wagon ride!
FUN TIMES!

We had the most romantic and exquisite dinner at a little place called Peppo Nino in Glenwood Springs. We weren't sure where we were going to eat that night, and we were walking along the streets of Glenwood Springs when we passed this cute little outside Italian Diner! Perfect for 2! They had delicious food and the best part was the guy playing the guitar! Nate really digged his music!

We stayed the night in this charming little cottage in the woods! We found it online at vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner-- great website if you are looking for a place to stay.) It was a nice little studio apartment with great scenery, it had a little creek running along the side!

And the kids? Well, they had the best time ever with Grandma Mimi! Thank you again Mom for coming down and watching the kiddos so we could get away! I called one night to talk to Ty and he didn't want to talk to me! Caleb said a few words, but they were so happy while we were gone! I think they had just as much fun as we did going to parks every day, riding their bikes, having picnics! I'm pretty convinced we will have to do this again!!