Lego Land was the highlight of Disney, even though it isn’t owned by Disney. The main display took 40 workers 2 years to complete and included millions of Legos. The rides were fun, the lines weren’t bad, and the displays were super cool.
I’d recommend going there if you’re in Orlando.
We went to a Caps game and the kids had a blast. Most of the fun was the food. We were really close to the action. Parker made friends with the girl next to us.
Skylar brought her friend Emma with us trick or treating. We enjoyed a pot luck with the neighborhood next door and then ventured out into the night with the ghosts and globins (or Darth Vaders, princesses, and autobots as the case may be).
I think we failed the kids this year in some regard, because it took a lot of coaxing from mom and dad to get them to leave one house and move on to the next. Note to self – kids don’t naturally know how Halloween works. In prior years we have moved as a large group, but the turnout was so large this year (almost 30 kids), that when the bell rang to initiate the procession of trick-or-treating we found ourselves without a group.
Regardless, collecting candy from awaiting households is always fun!
The kids and I went camping for Columbus Day weekend. We had another family that was supposed to join us but had to back out because of a funeral. Nonetheless, we had a great time.
On our way in we crashed a party for Fairfax Water, so the kids got some cookies and some time in a bounce house. Random!
We checked in and then located our camping spot. Skylar and Parker helped me unload and get the site setup. Everyone foraged for wood, and we were lucky enough to find some big pieces as well as plenty of kindling.
With the tent up, car unloaded, and wood situation under control, we drank some water and headed out to explore. We found the playground close by and spent an hour playing with other kids. Campgrounds – especially on holiday weekends are a magnet for young families.
Once it got close to 5:00 PM we went back to start our fire and prepare for dinner. We ate canned baked beans, cheese infused burgers, garlic and butter corn, watermelon, and of course… smores! After dinner the sun had completely gone down, so my two little tour guides led us on a walk through the woods on a trail to the bath house.
Since the campground was at capacity there was no hot water left, and we each screamed as we took a nice cold shower to get the sweat and dirt off prior to sleeping. I was hoping that with us a week into October the weather would be nice and cool, but it in the 80s during the day, and only dropped to about 72 at night, so I slept next to the door of the tent with it cracked to let a breeze in.
I think I got about 4 hours sleep, which is way more than any other camping trip. The kids had a blast and now it’s time for a nap…
We traveled with the Sanglier’s to the Outer Banks for our 2017 beach trip. The kids had fun trying out surfing (ok, dad hang 10’d the most since it was a cold-water day), riding bikes along our community, bumper cars, putt-putt golfing, eating ice cream, and playing on the beach.
Jockey’s Ridge was awesome, although it felt smaller and I confirmed that the dunes have fallen from 140 feet to 90 feet over the last 10 years. Enjoy it while you can – mother nature may reclaim that area! On the way back we stopped in Lexington for a couple days for the 4th.
We had an Easter Egg party Saturday before Easter. Skylar and Parker still have fun chasing after eggs, and mom and dad love a good excuse to have a party. We must have had over 200 eggs!
Granpda came around noon and we had lunch and he gave Parker his birthday present. Right now everything is a gun: sticks, pipes, pens, rectangular cardboard boxes, hands, fingers, elbows, tripods, etc, etc, so we figured it was a safe bet.
Our flight to Denver departed from Dulles at 5:45am, so we were up at 4:00am and out of the house shortly thereafter. Parker and Skylar were troopers and traveling was smooth sailing.
I slept most of the way while everyone else watched movies or played on their tablets. We arrived in Denver at 8:00am, got some breakfast (crepe place at the airport was phenomenal – especially for airport food), and proceeded to Josh and Sharon’s house.
We spent the day hanging out and walking their dogs in Stapleton (a highlight for Skylar and Parker) – beautiful trails and parks right in their neighborhood. Monday morning we got up right away and hit the road. On the way to Keystone we passed Loveland and decided to make a pitstop for our first day of skiing.
Loveland has great trails, lots of terrain for kids, but no bars on the lift which freaked me out (the daddy-bar served to keep Parker, 4 years old, and Skylar safely in their seats).
We skied a 1/2 day and then departed for Keystone where we arrived in time to settle in, fix dinner, and get some sleep. The next couple days we skied Keystone and discovered some fun kid zones to ski through (forts for snowball fights, ski-through houses, and other fun structures).
Monday after skiing we relaxed for a couple hours in the outdoor pool and hot tub while it snowed. Tuesday we found the terrain parks and we watched skiers and snowboarders perform massive stunts on huge ramps and half-pipes. Skylar caught some air going over a jump 😉
Thursday we departed Keystone and skied Loveland again for a full 4 hours before returning to Denver. Parker and Skylar learned how to tuck to go super-speed. We almost decided to go back to Dorado for Friday, but it would have been a bit stressful to get up early, drive an hour to ski and then get back in time for our 6:30 flight. We found some cool shops downtown (the highlight of Susan’s trip) and picked up some new gear for next ski season.
See you next year Sharon, Josh, Hank, Cody, Collin, Bryce, and Colorado!
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We went to Wintergreen for our last East Coast ski trip of the year. I would definitely go back! The resort and village is much nicer than anything within 2 hours of D.C.
We loved the coffee and bakery shop in our lobby, there were multiple restaurants on site at the top of the mountain (with decent food), and there is a massive brewery only 3 miles away.
I found a ski tutorial video on YouTube Fri night that mentioned “Wedgies” for kids Parkers age. We bought them the next morning and after a whole season of hanging on to daddy – he was off and on his own doing great!
That made the entire ski experience awesome for everyone. The kids also loved going through the terrain parks.
