Our Vacation

We take an annual vacation to Colorado to the mountains every year with the kids.  We really debated whether to go this year as we did not know if Josie would be adjusted well enough to go.  We really don't want the boys to have any resentment toward herand were worried that if we cancel the trip this year they might think it was her fault.  She has done so well that we decided to go ahead and go.  She has never been in a car seat for any length of time so we were a bit worried about that and knew we would need to make extra stops for her.  Well Chad took a train as a child out to CA and he has really wanted to take our kids.  He has so many wonderful memories from that experience.  The week before spring break I had an unexpected death of a friend so and Josie and I were out of town for a couple extra days before Chad came. During this time Chad finalized all the details of the trip and he decided we were taking the train.  He really though the boys would love it and it solved the problem of Josie not liking her car seat.  She could walk around on the train.  The boys were so very excited but I was apprehensive in the least.  The train boarded about 40 miles away at 2:00 a.m.  With 4 small kids that are very used to being on a schedule this spells disaster.  I was trying to do the best I could to put on a happy face and just go with Chad's plans.  Well we boarded the train and got the kids all to bed.  I was hoping they would all sleep late to make up for the interruption during the night.  Well come to find out there are speakers in the rooms and the conductor starts announcing at 6:00 a.m.  He continues to announce about every 5 minutes all morning long so the kids were all woke up very early.  After they all woke up I turned the light on and found out there is a volume control and ours happened to be on high.  Not something one looks for at 2:00 a.m.  Then came the meal time.  Eating without any place for a highchair with a 1 year old and a 3 year old was eventful in the least and it is community seating so I felt sorry for the poor sole that was seated next to us.  Of course there were all the little bowls of butter, creamer, jelly etc.. (perfect for squishing) on every table, not to mention the paper table cloth that got ripped to shreds every time we ate and flowers on the table.  A mother of 4's dining night mare.  We made it to our train stop where we had to switch trains.  This stop happened to be at nap time so after not much sleep at night the kids all missed naps as well.  By now this Mama needs a nap much less the kids.  We found a really nice kids museum to pass the time of our 4 hour layover.  By the way this was in IL near Chicago.  Yes, we went from KS to IL to get to CO.  There was not a direct route to CO so this was our only way.  So finally we boarded and get to CO on Sunday.  In all this was a 32 hour journey.  When we get there we immediately start checking for a rental car to drive home later in the week only to learn that all the rental places only do local rental.  We go on to have a great vacation despite a few bumps. Monday the plan was for Chad, friend Pali, and all 3 boys to go skiing.  Well Eric was up all night vomiting and was sick with the flu.  Poor kid.  He was very disappointed when his brothers left to go skiing.  He was sick till about noon that day so he, Josie and I hung out at the cabin.  We played some board games and caught up on some movies.  Chad, Tyler, Wesley and Pali had a great day and Chad decided he loved skiing.  This was his first time on the slopes.  Thankfully Eric began to feel much better after a big nap so he could ski Tue. That afternoon we went down to the barn that is on the ranch property where we were staying.  Wesley and Josie loved the animals. Then on Monday night Chad was up all night with the flu.  We had to change our plans and he and Pali stayed at the cabin with Josie and I took all 3 boys skiing.  We didn't want Chad taking care of Josie and giving her the flu so Pali took care of her and Chad stayed in a bedroom.  It was the first time I had ever left her for any length of time, and with anyone except Chad.  Pali hadn't skied for 10 years and I really didn't want to give her the job of taking all 3 boys.  We put Wesley in ski school and Tyler, Eric and I skied.  We had a great day.  Wesley enjoyed ski school for the most part.  He is used to being a cowboy or a knight so a skier is a bit different for him.  The following day we had a dog sled ride booked.  We had planned for Chad to keep Josie and Pali and I to take the boys.  Chad was still pretty sick so I called to see if Josie could ride and they said sure.  She loved the dogs and loved the ride when it was moving.  She didn't really like when we had to sit still but what 17 month old does??  That day we just hung out the rest of the day.  We all went souvenir shopping and then Pali and I took the kids to a movie at the mini theatre at the lodge where we were staying.  When we got back to the cabin Chad was finally feeling better.  The next day we took the kids tubing.  The rental place was nice and gave us an extra tube and Wesley (or us) pulled Josie around in it while the bigger boys tubed.  Wesley didn't really like tubing last year and he didn't want to go this year.  Chad and I took turns hanging out with our 2 little ones and tubing with the big boys.  They all had a great time.  Chad helped Wesley make a little fort and he was on a mission to collect power food (snow) to get the bad guys.  Josie liked being taken for little rides in her tube and just being outside.  Tyler and Eric loved going down the mountain in their tubes.  We then went back to the cabin and put everyone down for naps.  They all slept so long that we had to wake them to get ready for the train.  We were packed and ready with coats on when Pali (the genius) checked to make sure the train is on time.  Nope it was 2 1/2 hours delayed.  Lovely, we could have let the kids sleep.  We went over to the lodge's game room where the kids can run around and play games.  We bowled, played pool and air hockey and passed the time.  Josie walked around and checked everything out.  We then went to the lodge’s restaurant and were eating when Pali checked the status on the train again.  They bumped up the time by a 1/2 hour so we now only have 20 minutes to make it.  We hurry up and get to the unmanned station and wait, and wait, and wait... About the time the train finally got there Eric vomited all over himself.  We did a quick clean up and then the train got there.  Since it is an unmanned station we had no idea where our car is until the train got there.  Then we have about 5 minutes to load 4 kids and all the luggage (winter time ski stuff for 7 = a lot of luggage for 3 adults to handle) We found out that our car is the very last one on the train which means hauling all our junk about 10+ cars back.  Then a conductor said we can deposit it all on a car about in the middle of the train so we can hurry up and board.  Then another conductor decided that was a bad plan and made Chad unload it all and move it to our car.  By this time I took all our kids and got them in the warm train and Chad and Pali dealt with the luggage.  Now the adults are exhausted and the journey home has just begun.  A couple hours after we left we stopped in Denver for a bit and the stop seemed to drag on and on.  Come to find out the bigger engine went out and they were working on it.  We sat for 2+ hours.  We realized prior to this that we could very easily miss our 4 hour connection and the train only goes thru the small town with no motel every 24 hours.  We could easily picture ourselves sleeping on benches in a train depot so we throw in the towel and call some friends that brought us a vehicle to a town that is only 3 1/2 hours from our house.  These wonderful friends drove in the wee hours of the night to come to our rescue.  Needless to say the boys loved the train but Josie and I are going to stick to the ones at the zoo from now on.  Really all the kids were troopers and were really very good but 4 kids on a train in 2 small sleeper rooms for that long is just too long.  If it would have been an 8 hour train ride I would have loved it.  We did have some great times and have some great memories.  Chad and I both got to have a wonderful day skiing with our boys.  We got to introduce Josie to some more animals, which she loved, we had lots of snuggles, smiles and laughs around the fire in the fireplace Tyler built for us every evening.  Pali was a wonderful help and we thank her very much.  In all it was a great time but we will stick to our Expedition to get there from now on.