Manitou Cliff Dwellings

My dad did his homework before he visited and he had lots of site-seeing trips in mind for his stay. Last Monday we loaded the kids and took off to Colorado Springs. The first stop was the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. It was amazing. They are 700 year old apartment like dwellings carved out of the rocks. I didn't get to read much of the history, as I was chasing kids around, but just the sight of the dwellings is breathtaking. The kids loved it because they were small enough to climb in the doors and windows of all the tiny little rooms. My little monkey Reagan liked climbing the ladders, Addison loved the Indian dancers (most of you won't be surprised to know that she even went up and danced with them), and Austin loved the gift shop. Pappy let them all pick a special souvenir.

Before we left we even got to have a brief visit with friends from The Woodlands. Ann and Nathan were in town and tried to meet us. Unfortunately our schedules didn't work out well, but at least we got to get big hugs from them and see their faces for a few minutes. Nathan found us first and Addison recognized him immediately. I wonder what her little mind thought when he turned up there?

After the cliff dwellings, we pressed on and headed to the Cave of the Winds, to tour through a cave inside a mountain. I had no idea how my girls would do since it was naptime, but everything turned out well. They panned for gold first. Austin and Addison discovered lots of Fool's Gold and lots of rock treasures and Reagan splashed around in the water. They did great on the tour as well, even though there was lots of walking and stair climbing! The kids were more than a little concerned about bats, but we saw none. I got my workout that day, since Reagan fell asleep shortly after we walked in and I carried my sleeping baby for the 1 hour tour.