tumbling river ranch

When I was 8 years old, my grandparents took my family and all of my dad's side to a ranch in Colorado for an amazing week of horseback riding, campfires, amazing food, family bonding and an unforgettable vacation. 5 years later they took us back and it was somehow even more fun. Last year they had mentioned they wanted to take us all back again and we were so excited! We couldn't wait to reunite with our cousins and have our kids experience such a magical vacation.

In August we all traveled to Colorado, and I think the plane flight was a vacation in itself for Zoey and Des. Zoey had been on many flights as a baby, but she didn't remember any of them, and it was a first flight experience for Des. They both LOVED it. When we arrived in Denver we drove another 2 hours to Grant in the Rocky Mountains. It was a huge temperature change from the 100s we were used to, being in the low 50s when we arrived. The kids begged for their jackets, haha.

The first night the kids met their counselors who they spent their entire days with and a couple evenings. The kids had a blast with their counselors, and us parents were delighted that had a legit vacation not taking care of kids, haha. I'm horrible. But it wasn't mediocre babysitting! The kids went hikes, took care of animals in the "critter pen" (chickens, llamas, goats, baby cow), played in a huge fort, went fishing, went shooting (Zoey got a bullseye?!) and rode a pony, Okey Dokey. They'd often be so worn out that they fell asleep in the middle of dinner. You know it's a good time when the kids go to bed at 7:00PM each night without complaint.

As for the adults, it was wonderful getting to spend time with Ted, my siblings and my adult cousins going hiking, riding long trail rides, doing yoga, going shooting (was not into that but hey, I hit a clay pigeon which was so surprising on many levels) and just hanging out. I also had some downtime to breeze a couple books while sitting on our cabin porch listening to summer rain while Ted was on a day trip white river rafting.

I cannot be more grateful for my grandparents for providing such treasured memories in my childhood by taking us to the ranch, and then again as an adult and getting to see my children experience it.