Deployment Week 1

The kids and I have survived the first week of deployment.  Luckily the week went by fast as we kept busy with friends and neighbors.  We were all busy up until the day Varun left last week.  We had a few house projects to finish up, a large grocery stock up trip, a neighbor's retirement party, and a family fun trip to Chuck E Cheese all on his last day at home.  So after he left us at 3am to head to Cheyenne on deployment day the kids and I were exhausted and ready for a quiet day at home.  Instead, we had multiple offers from our wonderful friends and neighbors to get together for brunch, dinner, wine, and play dates over the weekend.

Every time Varun deploys or goes on a trip for work something goes wrong at the house.  When he left for a week in April our sprinkler system went crazy.  The trip before that we had a roof leak in one of our bathrooms.  I've come to expect something to go wrong when he is away.  We're a week into the deployment and so far my ipad has shattered, I had to take Jacob to Urgent Care for a 103 fever, Julia developed an awful rash on her arms and legs, and most recently Lily has also come down with a fever last night.  Things have been just a little bit crazy, but we are surviving.

Here are a few pics of Varun cuddling with the kiddos on his last night at home.

Colorado Springs

As Varun gets ready to head out on another deployment, we decided to take a break from everything at home and go on a little road trip to Colorado Springs.  We spent two nights at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in C. Springs and had a good time sightseeing and relaxing as a family.  It was nice not to worry about making dinner, cleaning the house, or yard work.  It was a much needed family getaway before Varun leaves. 

We started our trip by stopping by the US Air Force Academy.  We drove around a bit and walked around the campus in the snow flurried weather.  It was a beautiful sunny 70 degree morning in Fort Collins when we hit the road and we were greeted by clouds, wind, and snow flurries as we drove in to the academy.  We did not spend to much time there since we were not prepared for the weather change.  We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening just hanging out at our hotel.  We had a gorgeous view from our room and the resort had a few restaurants, three pools, a golf course, and so much more. 

The following day we took a drive up to Pikes Peak.  We drove up to the 14,115 foot summit and enjoyed the awesome views.  We had been to Rocky Mountain Park many times since we have lived in CO, but this is the first time Lily has been excited by the mountains.  She had so much fun on the drive and cried for more mountains as we made our way back down.  After Pikes Peak, we checked out Manitou Springs and let Lily choose a place for lunch.  Her pick was pizza, so we stopped at a small pizza restaurant for lunch before heading to Garden of the Gods.  This was our favorite stop of the day.  Garden of the Gods is a park in Colorado Springs with unusual red rock formations.  We took a small walk with the kids and watched a few guys rock climb while we were there. 

We finished our trip by heading to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo the next morning.  This zoo exceeded our expectations and we would definitely visit again.  The highlight of the zoo trip was letting Lily pet and feed the giraffes romaine lettuce.  We tried to get a picture of this, but unfortunately we could not get the camera out before one of the giraffes quickly ate the lettuce out of Lily's hand. 

We had a great time on our little weekend trip and hope to visit C. Springs again soon!

Air Force Academy Chapel

The awesome view from our balcony!

She loved watching cartoons on her hotel bed. 

Freezing cold at Pikes Peak

The view from the summit

Garden of the Gods

A balancing rock

Garden of the Gods

On our little 1 mile walk with the kids

Getting ready for their first trip to the pool

Jacob LOVED it!  Poor Jules feel asleep on the way to the pool so she missed out.

Of course Lily didn't want to get out of the water.

The giraffe that ate from Lily's hand

Finally brave enough to ride the carousel

Chickens and Hens!

Our three cuties at the zoo