5 Minutes ... Climb Rocks

Happy Thursday!  It's Friday eve and the final two days before our summer family vacay + Shane's dad is coming to visit us this weekend to celebrate Father's Day + my little guy will be TWO in 10 days ... I'm jazzed about all things.

In other news, I wanted to share with ya'll the most fabulous weekend we just shared in Crested Butte, CO. One of Shane's best buddies from high school, Justin, was married this past weekend, and because I have this fun picture ... Here's a little #TBT (Throwback Thursday) for ya'll ... heyyyy baby Shane and Justin!

Hehehe. Anyways, Justin and his fiance chose Crested Butte, CO as their beautiful backdrop for the wedding ... so we decided to make a long weekend out of the shindig and have a short little family getaway!

Our little man, Bennett, is really starting to grasp what is coming and gets really excited about impending plans - so we've started giving him little teasers about what is coming this summer and it is so funny to see what he grasps onto. Starting the Sunday prior to our trip I began telling him about all he was going to get to do later that week. I mentioned we would be flying, we would eat dinner with friends, we would dance, we would have some time away from work with Daddy, we would get some yummy treats, we would climb rocks, etc. After two days of telling him alllll about our big plans, Shane and I were in the kitchen one morning and Bennett comes RUNNING downstairs talking so fast. After slowing down and repeating himself for the 15th time ... we were able to put it together.

"Tickets, Helo-cah-cah, cwimb rocks, 5 minutes." 

Bless his little heart. After EVERYTHING I told him, the little guy clung on to this: we were going to get our tickets, ride on a helicopter (which we weren't it was an airplane) and climb rocks, and it was all happening in five minutes. Ahhh, nearly two year old boy - you melt my heart.

We flew out Wednesday (amidst some crazy schedule changes) and arrived in Denver, CO around 6pm with a 5 hour drive in front of us to get to our cute little condo in Crested Butte. Anyone who lives in Colorado or has visited knows driving through the Rockies is no joke. Add an over tired toddler + getting lost on 30 miles of unpaved-pot-hole dirt road smack dab in the middle of the mountains at midnight {Cottonwood Pass} + a pregnant wife + a longgg day of travel and we should all probably give my husband a hug. God love him. We survived to tell about it ... but whew!

Thursday morning we woke up refreshed, pinched ourselves to make sure we were still alive after the treacherous drive and set out to grab some breakfast and explore the town! We ate at a yummy little spot, Last Steep Bar & Grille, and got our bearings. After lunch we strolled the cute little streets and stopped at Pooh's Corner to get B a brand new toy of course, he chose a truck (shocker).

As we were strolling, we came across these adorable little girls selling cupcakes on the side of the road and naturally preggo had to stop. We wisely chose the most delicious s'mores cupcake and all things were right in the world.

Later that afternoon we met up with Justin and his soon-to-be bride, Trinity, and caught up and let them show us around. Such a great way to spend the afternoon. We headed home and rested for a bit, put on our PJs and chilled out ... which really meant Bennett climbed the ladder to the loft of our condo fpr the 400th time while mommy and daddy took turns chasing him up and down (doesn't Shane look thrilled?! And Bennett is clearly over the moon! hehe).

After we chilled out for a bit, we headed back out to meet the next crop of people that had arrived and grabbed a few drinks and shared some stories at Bonez. We ordered the DIY guacamole and it did not disappoint.

Friday began and Bennett's dream he had been waiting 5 LONG minutes (more like 5 days) for finally arrived: TIME TO CLIMB ROCKS!  The bride and groom planned a hike on the mountain of Crested Butte and by golly we were going to participate so our little guy could CWIMB!!

It was honestly probably the highlight of our trip. The grooms' brother lives in Crested Butte, so he knows all of the local stops, great trails, etc - so he had everything lined out for us and took us on the nearly 3 mile trek to Jude Falls. We wisely went to a ski rental shop and got one of those backpacks that carry kiddos since the hike seemed too long and hard for little man. However, in true toddler fashion we quickly learned he wanted to do it himself and had no interest in being held.  He only rode in the carrier for a total of five minutes (his premonition came true! ha!) and was adamant he would walk the rest of the way.

Finally, a picture of the bride and groom :) 

After a LONG nap, we got cleaned up and headed to dinner at the Eldo Taproom + topped it off with ice cream dessert from The Third Bowl.  We explored the street(s) of Crested Butte a little more and learned how to make magical dandelions while admiring the "cweek". Then we headed over to our friends condo and had a little pizza house party catching up with old friends before calling it a night.

Saturday morning: Wedding Day arrived and the weather was PERFECT! We met up at a little coffee shop/bakery and got on a bus to make the short ride up the mountain to the ceremony site. Gorgeous!  The ceremony was short, sweet and perfect. 

We headed back down the mountain to celebrate the newlyweds and party the night away. The reception was held at an eclectic little space, The Secret Stash, and Bennett danced the night away! 

I took B home for a little while to rest and then we met up with everyone again a little later before walking around the town and topping off the evening with a chocolate choo-choo train from Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory.

The perfect ending to a great trip!  We hit the road early Sunday morning to make the trek back to Denver before flying out that evening. We stopped for lunch in the real life South Park City, Hey Cartman!

And then we explored downtown Denver and a few of the 16th Street Mall shops before riding the train (aka the Denver airport) to our gate to catch our flight. Bennett was in heaven, a train and an airplane all in one day -- his nearly two year old brain was exploding with excitement!

It was a successful trip full of memories as one of our last trips just the three of us I will FOREVER cherish!  We'll be back Colorado ... and next time as a family of four! EEK!