the mcgovern's: Steamboat Springs, CO

Family vacation spot #1 was to Steamboat Springs, CO. (via Denver :)) for the Falcon Nationals. Yes, car crap but when its in a place like Colorado that allows for a stopoff with Grandma Colorado, who can resist. Alicyn headed out a day early with Grandma and Pop and got to spend some extra time with Grandma Colorado. My parents visited a friend and headed to Steamboat before us. Alicyn and Grandma C spent the first night at Boon Docks which is like Dave & Busters with tons of games. She won the most of her tickets from a mummy game that pushes the coins off. She really wanted a lava lamp but you know those take like 3000 tickets which is pretty much impossible to get unless you spend a million dollars. But Grandma C had a secret weapon, Erika had saved up 1000's of tickets. Grandma C called and got permission from Erika for Alicyn to be able to use them, SCORE! Lava lamp! (Erika is 17 now and driving so she could care less about her Boon Docks Tickets). Rich, Jaxon and I planned to fly out Tuesday night to meet them but on a whim decided to see if there was an earlier flight since Rich was off, so we headed out on the early bird flight at 6am! (Jaxon's first flight requires its own blog so I am skipping over those details for now). We could feel the cool air as soon as we stepped off the plane. Ahhhhh! The rental car experience was int resting, Jaxon didn't quite understand why we were getting in a random Dodge Charger but he went with it. Note to self: Chargers suck, not comfortable, hard to see out of and just generally sucky. We got to Grandma C to join Alicyn just in time for breakfast.

Rich and I went on a day trip to Denver (see other posts), and then on Thursday we headed to Steamboat Springs. Its about a 3 hour drive from Denver, through the mountains. The scenery is breathtaking and so was Rich's driving on those curvy mountain roads. I was a nervous Nelly most of the drive. What? I can't help it! The weather in Denver has been weird with rain and pretty big storms so add that to my nervousness. The kids didn't sleep a wink, which means they talked and argued the whole time. Ahh sibling love, and yes I know its only just begun. We stayed at the host hotel for the Falcon Convention which was the Steamboat Grand Lodge. Its a ski resort, so you could see the slopes (all plush and green) from our room. Not many Falcons were there but we got our registration packet, and headed to the pool. Friday there was a "cruise", we didn't have a Falcon but we cruised with them anyway. Alicyn didn't quite understand why we would want to all drive in a line to Clark CO but she went with it. I think I heard, why are we doing this? 10 times or so. The line of Falcons was at least 20 deep so it was cool to see them all in a line and again the view was awesome. The convention plans events so this was one, Rich also watched an electronic ignition be installed, and some carburetor work (oh the joy, I skipped that one), and won a good amount of parts for his car. He took tons of pictures of Falcons and engines and wheels and all that car crap stuff. Note: Car crap is a family name for all things car that my mom loving named it many years ago, and its kinda stuck. Its not that I don't like cars, its just the known term in our family. My dad would pretty much do "car crap" every weekend if he could. Sometimes it causes an argument or two, especially when it means missing a family event.

Da boys. And in the back, their toys on the cruise

Alicyn will smile and pose anytime, anywhere. So pretty!

Ok so maybe its not the best shot of them together, but it was the best I had to choose from.

Love this one!

All Jaxon wanted to do was walk on the rock walls. That's the smallest Falcon Club shirt they had for JT, and he insisted he wear it.

oh yes, full of poses. I learned that the red pole on the table is so that they can find the table when its covered in snow.

flower girl, these flowers look like HUGE bluebonnets.

high in the sky

The next day we went on the Gondolas. The kids really enjoyed this, it was kinda scary for me. I know I am a wuss but I have never been on a gondola that goes a million miles up a mountain. Rich & my dad made fun of me, Jaxon made me super nervous, I felt the need to hold on to him like he could get out or something.

My mom and her grand kids at the very top of the mountain after the gondolas. Notice JT doing everything possible not to stand still. He was all over the place!