I’ve always heard that vacation with little kids really isn’t a vacation at all. Normally you’re just watching your kids in a different location in a different house with a different atmosphere. I am here to say, that’s all crap; or at least it was when we went to Colorado! We had an ABSOLUTE blast! I’ll start from the beginning (and include some of my favorite places and activities we did while in Breckenridge).
We packed up mid-morning on Friday, August 7 and headed west. Ty, Nora, Baker and I in one car, and Mila, Mema Laurie and Papa Richard in the other. (I HIGHLY suggest bringing along reinforcements when vacationing – I was so glad my inlaws could go with us!) Luckily Garden City was on our way to Breckenridge, so we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings and ate a quick lunch. The drive past Garden City as quite beautiful, actually. Everything is literally as flat as a pancake, but we got to see farmland and countryside that neither Ty or myself had ever seen. When we crossed into Colorado, the scenery slowly started to change.
Car troubles slowed us up a bit near La Junta. Richard and Laurie’s car kept stalling on them. We kept on trucking on to Pueblo (which is a gorgeous part of Colorado) and got to a Ford dealership before it closed, thankfully. They found out that the Ecoboost in their car was trying run on the least amount of fuel possible…but it apparently wasn’t quite enough fuel. Thankfully, we didn’t have any more issues once they got it checked out.
It took us about two hours from Pueblo to get to our cabin, so we arrived around 8pm on Friday night. We rented an AirBnB in the little town called Blue River. It’s 3 miles south of Breckenridge and had a wonderful front yard where the girls ran around constantly, collecting rocks and “treasures” with their papa and an awesome front porch where we grilled, ate sunflower seeds and relaxed.
No place I’d rather be than with these three crazies! 
My boys! 
Love these two.
Saturday morning the kiddos were up fairly early, but we took it kind of slow so we could acclimate to the altitude and have the kids settle in. I won’t lie, the altitude in Breckenridge is pretty intense if you’re not hydrated. I took one Liquid IV a day and gave myself and the girls Dramamine every day, just to combat any sort of altitude sickness we might encounter.
Late morning on Saturday, Ty and I loaded up the kids and drove around for a while, just to check out the sites. That evening we went into Breckenridge with Richard (Laurie wasn’t feeling well) and ate supper at the Blue Stag Saloon. It was DELICIOUS. They have an appetizer called “Drunken Queso”…O. M. G! My mouth is watering thinking about it. We ordered a pizza and fries to share and everything was delicious. Also, for some reason, I decided I was going to try all the margaritas while on vacation, and I’ll tell you – ones at Blue Stag didn’t disappoint.
After a restful night’s sleep on Saturday, we woke up Sunday morning and headed out to explore again. Thankfully Laurie was feeling better so she came with us. We ventured back into Breckenridge for lunch and went to Flip Side Burgers. Another 10/10 recommendation from me. Their food was AMAZING. (If you can’t tell, I’m going to center a lot of my Breckenridge recommendations around food). We ordered onions rings and cheese curds for appetizers and I loved them both. The onion rings were colossal but they were so good. For an entree, I ordered the Smokey Burger, which was topped with jalapenos, brisket, BBQ sauce and smoked gouda. To. Die. For. If I remember correctly Ty ordered chicken tenders and said they were legit as well. As for food, Flip Side was FOR SURE 15/10. I did order a margarita but it was so strong I couldn’t hardly drink it all.
After Flip Side we walked down Main Street, got some ice cream and enjoyed the sunshine. With everything being affected by Covid, the town of Breckenridge actually blocked off the entire Main Street so people were able to eat outside in the street. I loved it because we didn’t have to worry about traffic, and the weather was so beautiful we ate outside any chance we had. West of Main Street there is a large open lawn area where we could social distance, and let the kids runs around. Nora and Mila both had a blast running around and burning off some energy.
Most days we tried to eat lunch in town and supper at the cabin so the kiddos didn’t get too worn out and weren’t too tired being in public. We took along the board game Let’s Go Fishing and it occupied Nora and Mila for numerous evenings. Papa normally took part in that activity as well. After the kids went to bed, Ty, his parents and I vegged out and watched TV. It was so nice to just be…and not work on anything.
On Monday, August 10 we slowly got around and got ourselves ready for the day. That was one thing I absolutely loved about this entire vacation – we didn’t have a plan. Laurie or I would look stuff up the night before and we’d do whatever we wanted to, really. There were no appointments or plans…and it was wonderful.
We headed to Silverthorne, which is north of Breckenridge, right on the interstate. You head north out of Breckenridge and go through a town called Frisco before you get to Silverthorne. Frisco has one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. It is right along the interstate; it is beautiful and it has all sorts of little islands out in the middle of it. There were people paddle boarding and boating. When the kids get older, we’re going to have to go back and spend some time at the lake.
In true mom fashion, when we got to Silverthorne, Laurie and I had to go into Target and browse around for a while. I am 83 miles from the nearest Target out here, so when there’s a Target near, I must visit it. After we walked around Target and I grabbed a Starbucks, we decided to eat an Italian restaurant called Sauce on the Blue. Another 10/10 recommendation. First of all, I think the margarita I got there was the highlight of the trip. It was a spicy margarita and I could have probably drank 5 of them. Ty, the kids and I ordered a family sized order of fettuccine alfredo and split it. The garlic bread, pasta and margaritas were delicious. I will definitely eat there again when we go back!
Exploring the Blue River is even more fun with a Popsicle! 
That spicy margarita though… 
Because I’m that mom who takes all the family pictures.
We explored a little more of Silverthorne when we finished up eating, then we loaded up and headed to Georgetown, Colorado to the candy store. Georgetown is east of Silverthorne about 25 miles, and I will tell you, I did not enjoy the drive there. First of all…I-70 in Colorado is NOTHING like it is in western Kansas. The curves and inclines about made me sick, and there is a long ass tunnel (like 1.6 miles long) that my claustrophobic self did not enjoy. But, we got to Georgetown, which is a cute little town nestled at the base of the mountains, and explored some more (and I did not get sick).
We went to the candy store, a jerky store, a few jewelry stores and gift shops, and got ice cream as a treat. Georgetown is cute, but again…the Colorado landscape might not be the best for me and my anxiety at times. It is literally BELOW the interstate and I slowly started to get claustrophobic while we were there. (I keep telling Ty I just need to get a shirt that says, “But first, let me be dramatic”).
We left Georgetown, headed back to the cabin and relaxed there for the evening. More Let’s Go Fishing was played and the kids actually went to bed (most nights) fairly easily. It helped that they were very tired from exploring all day, and there was a big, comfy bed for them to sleep in.
Tuesday morning we rode the Breckenridge gondolas, or “dominoes” as Mila called them. I was worried the girls would be nervous or scared but they loved every minute of it. We got to the top of the mountain and hung out for a bit. Unfortunately, due to Covid, a lot of the fun stuff at the top of the mountain were closed or unavailable. Normally they have a bunch of kids’ activities and bounce houses but not this time. The alpine slide was going, but Ty and I both thought that it would probably be too much for either of the girls so we skipped that.
After we rode the gondolas down the mountain, we ate lunch. I honestly cannot remember where we ate…so I guess it’s not worthy of a recommendation. Back at the cabin that afternoon, the babies took naps and the adults just hung out. Richard went out for a walk and came (running) back to the house. Our cabin was right by a creek and he was walking through the trees and saw a moose! So naturally we all walked over to where he saw the moose, and sure enough, a cow moose was standing there eating grass by the creek. She was completely un-phased by us.
We decided to take the babies into Breckenridge that night for supper. Mi Casa Mexican restaurant was recommended to us from the AirBnB owner and it was pretty good. I will say, not the best food we had on our trip, but it was decent. I ordered the chicken chimichanga (my go-to at Mexican restaurants) and an avocado pineapple margarita. The margarita was amazing. The chimichanga was good, but not mind blowing like some of the other food I’d had on this trip. After we ate we walked Main Street again; the weather got chilly enough for a hoodie and I loved it.
Wednesday was kind of a lazy day for us. Richard and Laurie went into town and ate at Ollie’s. They said it was good, but Ty and I never ate there so I can’t tell you what to get! The kids, Ty and I vegged out for most the day. They needed naps (Ty included) and I actually think I got a nap that day too.
Wednesday evening was date night for Ty and me. We dressed up and went into town again. There were a few places recommended to us to eat, and we opted for Whiskey Star BBQ right on Main Street. Ty loves BBQ and I could eat brisket every day, so it was the perfect place for us to go eat. He got ribs and couldn’t even eat them all; they were so good. The margarita at Whiskey Star was good too; just your run of the mill margarita, but still delish. After we ate, we walked around Main Street for a while, did a little shopping, and a lot of laughing. It was so nice; we try to do date night once a month because it’s important to us.
At the end of our evening we stopped at the famous crepe stand in Breckenridge, Crepes a la Cart. If you visit Breckenridge, you HAVE to visit this stand. So. Freaking. Good. It’s worth the wait in line, even if the line is halfway down the street. We each ordered a crepe, because if anyone knows me, you know I love food and I’m not about to share with anyone, even Ty. He ordered the S’mores crepe and I ordered a Cinnamon+Sugar crepe. Mine was TO DIE FOR. Ty said his was good, but it almost had too many marshmallows inside of it. Regardless, they were so good and I wish we would have stopped more than once. I highly, HIGHLY recommend stopping at the crepe cart. Here is there menu: don’t drool too much.
After we ate our crepes, I made Ty snap some pictures of me for Instagram (he’s such an awesome Insta-hubby) and then drove to the top of the mountain to see the amazing view. It really was an awesome evening.
Those margaritas were pretty dang good. 
Love date nights with this guy! 
Gimme all the Breckenridge sunsets!
We got back to the cabin after date night and the babies and Papa & Mema were playing; Nora begged us to ride the gondolas again the next morning, which shocked me but we agreed we’d do it because it was a fun activity for the kids and completely FREE! So, we woke up Thursday morning and rode the “dominoes” (gondolas) again. After that ride (and immense amounts of excitement from the girls) we went down by the Blue River for a while and hung out. We skipped rocks, threw rocks in the stream, played with sticks and soaked up the sunshine. It was really the perfect morning.
I must admit, a trip to Colorado in the summer was all Ty’s idea! 
Baker took everything in, everywhere we went! 
My sweet little tribe! 
An absolutely beautiful river to sit by and lose track of time!
After hanging out at the river, we went back to the Blue Stag Saloon for lunch, since Laurie didn’t get to eat there with us the first time. We ordered the fancy deviled eggs and everybody loved them. I had one more margarita at the Blue Stag (although my absolute favorite margarita on the trip was still the spicy one from Sauce on the Blue) and we ate all the yummy food. By Thursday afternoon, we were all pretty tired and ready to head home the following day.
We left early Friday morning and started the trek home. We went interstate through Denver, Goodland and Hays. It really was an amazing vacation. If you’re ever planning a trip to Colorado, I highly recommend Breckenridge. It was perfect, even with little kids. The temperature didn’t get above 79° and there was no humidity. (Plus I’ve been yearning for fall and I got to wear a sweatshirt so my week was made).
I already told Ty we need to start planning our vacation next summer…and we should probably just go back to Breckenridge 🙂
Hope you have a fantastic rest of your week!
Kayla Josefiak 