Anna's CO Trip

So, my parents started a tradition several years back of taking their grandkids on a special trip for their 13th birthdays when they come round.  This year, that meant Natalie, who turned 13 this month, and Anna, who will turn 13 in the fall, were up.  They chose Colorado Springs for their destination and just did ALL THE THINGS.  It was such an exciting adventure from start to finish and we are so grateful for the generous and memorable gift for our girl. She wasn't ready to come home, although she was realllllly exhausted by the end of the 10 days. Ha!

First up, the week's agenda in summary:

• Wednesday, June 16---Fly to Colorado Springs
• Thursday, June 17------Miramount Castle Tour, Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings, Cave of the Winds Lantern Tour
• Friday, June 18----------Garden of the Gods Jeep Tour, souvenir shopping, evening Magic Show
• Saturday, June 19------Eagles Nest (185 steps up), then Seven Falls (224 steps up), Flying W Ranch Chuckwagon Dinner and Show
• Sunday, June 20--------Old Stage Riding Stables, then Seven Bridges hike (we only made it to the 4th bridge)
• Monday, June 21--------Royal Gorge Extreme Ziplining (am), Royal Gorge Rafting (pm)
• Tuesday, June 22-------Drive up Pikes Peak, shopping in Manitou Springs
• Wednesday June23----Sand Sledding at Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park (Anna tried the sand boarding)
• Thursday, June 24------Fly Home

Pics of all the fun, starting with drop off at the airport which was so weird for this momma -  to drop off my child and just drive away!  A really big trip was underway .... without me!

I loved hearing how adventurous Anna was for everything - volunteering right away at shows and experienes, sitting right up front and going first.  Just fearless!  Her favorite day was the ziplining and white water rafting day.  Surfing the dunes the was cool, but it did make her cry when the hot sand got on her. Ha! The scariest part, she said, was the flying.  I am jealous of her trip, honestly.  It just all was so so amazing.  Getting pics and texts every day back here in TN was such fun to follow along.  Noah is looking forward to his make-up trip with them in the coming year.  He thinks a cruise with some cool adventures in ports will be just the ticket for him.