Whew...busy busy!

Archer and I have just been busy busy lately. As a result, I have neglected our blog! After we got back from our trip to GA, we had three days at home before my wonderful amazing cousin Lori Leigh came for a visit. She got here on Tuesday, June 7th. Pretty much from the moment she landed in Colorado, it was go go go. I was determined to show her all the amazing things in Colorado Springs and make sure that she had a great time. We did manage to cram in a lot of things, most of which I had never done before. The first thing we did was take a small hike at Palmer Park. This park is amazing because it has so many wonderful panoramic views of Colorado Springs. Here are LL and Archer enjoying the scenery:

The next day we went to the Garden of the Gods. I think I have blogged about this before, but it was amazing and breath taking as usual. We also got to see a rescue of two foolish guys that decided to climb up one of the rocks. Not only did we see them get rescued, we also saw them get arrested. They really should have paid attention to the signs! Lori Leigh has all of the pictures from that trip...not sure why I didn't take any??

Our next day trip was to the Cliff Dwellings. It is a Native American dwelling that was carved directly out of a cliff. It was amazing to see it. We walked through the entire house and I cannot imagine living there with as many people as they said lived there at any given time. It also seemed like it would be freezing in the winter time, as both LL and I got a little chilled while we were in the dwelling. Archer very much enjoyed this as he was able to climb through lots of things and get filthy dirty in the process.

We also went and toured the Miramont Castle. I didn't get all of the history behind it, as I was trying to keep Archer from touching things that he shouldn't. It was neat to see this HUGE house and all of the historical artifacts it houses.

I then took Lori Leigh on my own personal tour of the United States Air Force Academy. Now, I don't know THAT much about the Academy but used all of the knowledge I have gained from tours I have been taken on by Academy grads. I think I did it justice and she of course got to see the most amazing chapel ever. I highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in town.

The final thing that I just had to show Lori Leigh while she was in town was the top of Pikes Peak. We rode the Cog Railroad up to the top, which was something I had never done. It is a three hour round trip ride. This made me a little nervous with Archer, but he proved to be a trooper as always. We made it to the top and had just enough time to eat a doughnut, have some hot chocolate and take a few pictures. I have been to the top several times...but it never gets old. Crazily enough, it is still cold up there and there is still a little bit of snow on the top.

So, needless to say I very much appreciated Lori Leigh's visit. It went by way to quickly and I already miss her tons! Hopefully she will come back for another visit one day as I have lots of other things I would love to go see and do with her while we are living here in Colorado. A little known fact...Lori Leigh has traveled to all of our houses except Texas. The only reason she didn't make it to Texas is because we told her it was not worth the trip...poor Corpus Christi. The only people that have been to all of the houses? Nick's mom, dad and sister. She is an exceptional cousin and I love her to pieces!