Chess Camp

A couple of weeks ago, Jackson went to Chess Camp.  He was so excited!  It was held by the counselor at his school who sponsors his Chess Club as well.  

Jackson loved Chess Camp, and he did a great job at it!  

While he was at Chess Camp all week, it gave Sarah and I time to go out on dates together.  She and I went out for coffee a few times, got our nails done, went shopping, and got tea.  It was so much fun!

Royal Gorge

On our way home on Friday, we stopped by the Royal Gorge.  It was a really fun little visit!

Poor Buddy was scared to walk across the bridge and insisted on holding Sissy's hand!

When we got to the other side, he was so excited, he kissed the ground!

But, suddenly, he got brave and wasn't scared anymore!  He walked--and ran--across all by himself!  We were all so proud of him!

After this fun stop, we drove home.  We got here a little after midnight Saturday morning.  We all took showers--which felt so nice after being in the car for about 16 hours!

We had a great time on this vacation!  Other than poor Bryan getting sick, it was such an amazing trip!  On our way home, I asked everyone what their favorite part of the vacation was, and this is what they said:  Papa Bear's favorite part was being there.  Sarah's was the drive and Garden of the Gods.  Jackson's was the Pirate Ship Park.  Mine was the drive and being with them. 

Food and Family Time

On our last full day, we slept in, then walked to get brunch.  The restaurant was amazing.  This  was Bryan's dish.  We all decided that this would be our restaurant if we moved to Vail!

Bryan got sick while we were on the trip, so he decided to head back to the condo after breakfast and rest while the kids and I walked to town.

That evening, we were all back together again.

We missed our Papa Bear!

We had crepes for dinner.  It was the best!

Then, as we always do on vacation, we ended the night with family time...which means games!  We usually play cards, but this night, we taught Jackson how to play Scrabble.  He actually did such a great job!  We had so much fun!

Family Time in Vail

On Tuesday, we spent the majority of the day just walking around Vail Village.  The entire place is so picturesque.  It looks like it's out of the beginning of the movie Beauty and the Beast.  And I may or may not have sung the song that Belle sings in the movie as we walked around.

We went to a park called Pirate Ship Park for J to play.  He said this was his favorite part of the whole trip!

I hope they're never too old to hold my hands.

For dinner, we walked to another little village called Lionshead.  It too, was beautiful and wonderful and made me want to move there.

We ate outside--because you can do that in the summer in Colorado--at a little pizza shop.  We had pizza far too many times on this trip!  Luckily, we love pizza!

Then, after dinner and gelato, we walked to another park for Jackson to play.  He was in heaven!

I don't know which picture of Jackson I love more!  This one...

...or this one!  He had the best time playing at the park!  And we loved watching him!  I love that even though he's 8, (and sometimes acts too big for his britches!), he still loves playing at the park!

She's my bestie!

I love this one that Bryan snapped on my phone...because it caught a certain cutie in the background!