September 2022: Part II - Pikes Peak, North Pole Theme Park, and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

 

In 2019 Oscar ran the Pikes Peak Marathon. Since we moved here he'd been wanting to return to the peak sometime by car when he wasn't too deliriously tired to appreciate it. We had a nice Saturday on September 24th, so up the mountain we went.

Here we are posing with Bigfoot inside the gift shop.

It was much colder at the peak (mid 30's) than it was in the valley (high 70's). We brought warm clothes to change into, but I made the mistake of just bringing warm pajamas instead of a coat, gloves, and hat. I struggled with cold hands and ears, especially because it'd been many months since I'd been in temperatures that cold. I'd accidentally left my phone in the car when we went inside to use the bathroom, and Allison wanted to wander around the gift shop before we went back outside, so she and I ended up separated from Oscar and Tyler until I could get back to the car to get my phone, then go back into the visitor's center to find some cell service. Oscar couldn't reach me, so he and Tyler walked around seeing the views while Allison and I walked around seeing the views. We must have been in the gift shop while they were walking around and vice versa because we never saw each other outside. We finally reunited once I had my phone again and we were both back inside grabbing a bite to eat at the cafeteria.

North Pole Colorado Santa's Workshop is at the base of the mountain, so we took the kids there on the way back down. The kids and I bought all day ride passes while Oscar supervised. Here we are on the Tilt-a-Whirl

and the Peppermint Slide.

I wasn't up for the Mini Himalaya without dramamine, and the kids prefer to have a seat to themselves anyway. I've been on similar rides like it, but this was unique because it went both clockwise and counterclockwise. I love those kids' smiles!

Here are the kids on the antique cars and Allison on the Motorcycles.  Tyler was too big for the motorcycles (48 inches and under) and will soon be too big for several of the other rides here. The vast majority of them are meant for small children.

We'd purchased an individual ride ticket for Oscar to go on the sky ride because we assumed it would take us all to the other side of the park together. We hadn't realized until we were on it that it actually turns itself around without dropping you off. In the picture on the left I'm pointing to them surprised to seem them suddenly on the other side across from us. 

Oscar had forgotten to bring a summer hat, and he really needs one for his bald head, so he borrowed mine from the car. 

Here we are on the Carousel and the kids on the Christmas tree ride. I was surprised I got to ride Rudolph. None of the kids picked him!

Allison thought hanging onto the cowboy hat while she rode the Rodeo Ryder was the best thing ever! She even got some of the other kids doing it too. 

We got to meet Santa and Mrs Claus on our way over to the other side of the park.

We wanted to ride Santa's Sleigh Ride, which was the only ride in the park with a long line (about 30 minutes). I got to do it with both kids since each had to have an adult. We would have bought an individual ride pass for Oscar to do it with one of them, but they only sell them for the Train, Sky Ride, and Ferris Wheel. 

We did this dive bomber, a few more rides, and then watched a little magic show before heading home.

Meanwhile when the kids were in school I put a lot of time into my piano playing and won the method and technique challenge with piano marvel. I really wanted to get that little golden ticket on top of my golden star piano trophies!

One day Allison was being super cute, and I said to Oscar "one day she won't be this adorable anymore." She responded to me "mommy, when I grow up I'll probably look like you but with blonde hair." Oscar got these pictures of me laughing at her sweet response. 

Here are Tyler and Allison's school pictures! Allison's was a retake since her first one wasn't great (she's not smiling at all, and she looks bored). When her tooth fell out a couple days before retakes, I told her to show off her missing tooth as much as possible. She gave a great smile this time, though she forgot to take her jacket off. Oh well! At least it's a cute jacket.

Our local Community Center was setting up for their annual Harvest festival when I went over with Allison to do my Zumba class. This was meant as a Photo op, so I took advantage of it being completely empty and got cute photos of her there.

The kids had the last Friday of September off school, so we took our first trip to our local Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We rode the Skyride up to the top to see the beautiful views. There was a little bit of rain that hadn't been in the forecast, but otherwise it was really nice.

There's a little rock wall and a bathroom when you get to the top, but otherwise there isn't much to do, so we enjoyed the sights then took the lift down.

We hadn't intended to feed the giraffes that day, but someone offered us some extra lettuce from their feed. Allison gave hers away quickly while Tyler took his time with multiple giraffes. 

There was a sweet little (warthog?) baby playing with its mom and giving her a bit of a hard time. I said "I get it, mama. I get it."

They have cute little meerkats, and there's always at least one on its hind legs acting as sentry. I like the multilevel habitat they have for them so they can have plenty of tunnels.

From there we climbed up the stairs and saw lions, zebras, and monkeys that look like skunks.

Putting a zoo on the side of a mountain has its perks. When we sat down at a bench to eat our lunch there were elephants on our left and beautiful views on our right. 

The rhino and a few more elephants were in the barn. The kids had fun playing in the airplane and seeing the stone Rhino "mark its territory" on unsuspecting zoo guests. 

Here are the kids in the wallaby area. You're allowed to pet them if they're within reach of your hands, but you can't leave the path.

We saw three Alligators and there was an Alligator play area the kids really enjoyed. Tyler liked sitting in the mouth pretending it was trying to eat him.

From there we saw the tree kangaroo then the kids spent quite a bit of time watching the snakes and lizards. They especially liked the glass lizard that looks like a snake.

The rain was coming down quite a bit by then as you can see from our hair, and we nearly left the park. But we were close to the grizzly bears and the bear viewing area was covered. We got great views since both bears were hanging out close to the glass, and the rain cleared up by the time we left.

These were our lovely views from the walkway back from the bears. I was surprised to see a bald eagle in this open habitat, but then I read that she was injured before coming to the zoo. She can't fly and would die in the wild, so this isn't an enclosure she can escape from. 

Tyler played in the wolf den, then we saw some small mammals and reptiles, the moose, and the tiger.

Here are the kids on the carousel while I enjoyed the beautiful views before we walked down to see the penguins.

The kids posed with the hippo statue and rhino bench then we started for home. We thought we'd reached the end of the zoo but learned on a later trip that there were still actual hippos, lemurs, and primates in the area beyond the penguins. 

Meanwhile Oscar set to work leveling the floor of our basement. Finished basement pics to come in future posts.