marmots and more in Copper

While we were eating our lunch on Copper Mountain, we could see the base of another lift. There were marmots running around the rocks and lounging on the deck of that lift. Grayson ran over and took a few pics of the funny looking guys...

 Getting ready to ride down the mountain -- no rain or lightning yet!

 walking around the village area

 Uncle Jon treated the boys to the go-karts at the base of the mountain! Jerry and Carter rode together...

 and Grayson rode with Jon!

Here are all 4 guys in their go-karts -- in the rain!

copper mountain's "lift and lunch"

We had a great day at Copper Mountain! They had a "Lift and Lunch" special for $15 a person, which was a great deal. It was a little overcast, so we quickly hopped on the lift to get to the top before it started to rain.

Carter rode up with Jon and Jenny

Grayson rode up with us!

looking back down at the village... Copper was only about a 15 min drive from our cabin in Silverthorne

and yes, we passed some snow on our way up! :)

We hiked the Hallelujah Loop which starts at a mere 11,250 feet! (I'm out of breath just remembering the hike!) It was a pretty steep ascent up to the top, where there was an overlook of Vail Pass.

we saw a deer on our way...

there were some pretty rocky areas!

Jerry and I thought our hearts might pound OUT of our chests!

we made it to the top!! yay!!

Carter loved picking wild flowers

after our hike, we stopped for a delicious lunch, fixed for us where the lift had dropped us off

I love Diet Coke, and I had randomly picked out a can that had "Mom" on it :)

Looking at our lunch spot from up on the trail -- so pretty!

feeding alvin and his buddies

On Swan Mountain Road, just between Breckenridge and Keystone, there's an amazing place that we went to THREE times! Sapphire Point was home to lots and lots of chipmunks, most of which would eat right out of your hands!

 It has a beautiful backdrop...

 we took shelled sunflower seeds and they loved them :)

 there were a few obese chipmunks there who had clearly lived at Sapphire Point for a long time ;)

We all loved the little critters! And it was only about a 15 minute drive from our cabin in Silverthorne...

our day in breckenridge

 

We had a fun day in Breckenridge with all of Jerry's family! There were 19 people all together!

We rode the gondola up to Peak 9... and on our way up we saw several deer AND a moose! :)

We purposely rode the gondola a second time to get a better view of the moose -- he was amazing!

Jerry and Carter on the gondola

the boys enjoyed feeding the HUGE trout in downtown Breck

the flowers in Colorado are just beautiful... I really wanted to take one of their huge hanging baskets home with me! ;)

we loved shopping on Main Street

 we ate lunch at Downstairs at Eric's... a yummy pizza place that several friends had recommended

 not the best pic of the kids, but you get the idea!

(Grayson, Alicia, Caroline, James, Jacey, Kyler, Brennan, Darren, Jenny, Jon, Jerry, me, Carter)

the cousins and uncles had a kickball game at Carter Park in Breckenridge -- with an amazing backdrop!

one of the boys' favorite pastimes...

From our previous times in Steamboat, one of the boys' favorite pastimes has been simply throwing rocks into the river. They absolutely love it! So, on our way out of Vail, we stopped so ALL the boys (Jerry included!) could get their fill of rock-throwing!

"one", vail village, hiking, and more!

Vail Village has some amazing flowers... gorgeous colors and they are huge!!

 Here we are -- getting ready to get on Vail's newest gondola, named "One".

 Now, at mid-Vail where we got off for lunch and hiking...

 we decided to hike across the ski mountain (at over 10,000 feet -- gasp!) to the other gondola

 by the other gondola were a few activities... the boys rode the magic carpet up and then ran down the tubing hill

 we enjoyed watching the zipline

the newest animal we've learned about on this trip is the marmot -- they look like tall, chubby chipmunks! the Marmot store in Vail had a big ol' marmot outside, and the boys wanted to pose with it :)