Spring Break & Trip to FoCo

The kids had an awesome Spring Break Week with their buddies, and the weather was fairly nice until the end of the week.  They did a little YMCA camp with Gavin and Gwyn, and they were truly sad every afternoon when I came to pick them up.  I kept my sanity, they weren't staring at ipads all day, and it was a huge win-win!

Best Buds:




On Thursday evening, Jeff and I decided we would take Friday off and head up to one of our favorite little towns in Colorado: Fort Collins.  It had been 4 years since our last visit!  It has really grown even since we were up last.  We found a hotel called Home 2 Suites, by Hilton. Super cheap rate, so we decided to give it a whirl.  It was nice, new, and super clean.  Also--RIGHT next door to a Texas Roadhouse.  I mean--could you get any closer as this picture was taken from the hotel lobby?  I could throw a peanut and hit the front door.  Ha!

The room was sort of modern and looked like an Ikea puked everywhere.  Tons of drawers and storage though!

Nothing like the fun of staying in a hotel as a kid.


And after 9.5 years, we have mastered hotels without having to get a 2nd room. Everyone gets their own bed! So we all sleep a lot better.  Jeff and I each get queen beds, and the kids get a cot and a pull away. 

Full size fridge and microwave!

This was the view from our 4th floor hotel room.  How could we NOT go?

Goof ball.

Cheers!
Don't worry--they were just practicing for about 12-14 years from now. 

They did have two drink boxes each, though. 


Our first stop was a little brewery called the Gilded Goat.  It was pretty fun!  & we got to play a couple of rounds of Pass the Pigs.

Then off to dinner at a place that Yelp said was AWESOME.  They didn't lie.  The Colorado Room sounded fancy, so we almost skipped it.

It had these amazing little slider sandwiches and some of the BEST french fries we have ever had.
Jeff's sliders:

MINE.  Oh yum.

After all the fried food, the kids got to do some night swimming in the hotel pool.   Alex and JR BOTH swam the length (not the width) of the pool the entire way without any assistance after jumping in to 5feet. We were so happy to see that our time and money spent on swimming lessons are paying off.





Mmmmmm...nothing like a continental breakfast in the hotel lobby with your PJ's on.  They had Nutella--so guess what JR piled on his waffle?

Texas Roadhouse for lunch--so we could get the kids off our back.


Then we drove to Loveland to check out some Laser Tag.  It was SLAMMED.  But we still managed to have a good time, and JR got to do two rounds of Laser Tag...
\
And Alex got to do the Ropes Course!  She wanted nothing to do with Laser Tag.


She got stuck at one point and had a little bit of panic in her eyes, but powered through and figured it out!

She was pretty high up there.



Showing off her ticket shwag.

Nothing to see here.

After Laser Tag and ropes, we checked Grimm Bros Brewery.  It was pretty cool!


Again--more card games and card tricks. 

Where Jeff and I used to come about 13 years ago to check out the craft beers.  Now, they are ALL over the place in COS.  13 years ago, we only had just a couple which was part of the reason we would drive all the way to Fort Collins for good craft beer.  Odell has tripled in size. Our jaws were on the ground looking at how big this brewery and all the seating is now compared to 2005.


After Odell's, we went to Beau Jo's for some delicious salad and thick crust pizza dipped in honey. 

Alex was very pleased with her spaghetti and meatballs inside a pizza crust. 


JR didn't eat the pizza, but he still gave it a thumbs up.


JR also smuggled out a bunch of Texas Roadhouse peanuts in to his pockets and in our hotel room.  LOL. Guilty!

Sunday morning we stopped for brunch at Snooze on our way out of town. We are getting one here! It is delicious. This was my chai-tea (with rum).  Hey!  Mini vacation, right?

Breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun and mixed greens.  Mmmmm.

I had to take a picture of Al in front of Big Al's.  She didn't fight me. 

We visited the little toy store in Old Towne and met Bailey the Black Bunny.  He was so cute.

& a stop at the candy/soda shop was in order. 


Cute sign.

Just like a creepy unicorn in a candy store.

On our way to the car, and we found this colorful wall.

And DONE.

We had a great little family weekend getaway, and everyone was glad we went.   Molly and Moses were taken care of by Rose, and were of course very happy to see us. 
Monday morning, and Molly looks like a Monday.

The kids have two full weeks of school! I feel like that has happened in a long time with all the blizzards, teacher work days, and breaks.  We are headed to Parker to watch a play on Saturday, and that is all we have planned so far.