National Lampoon's Colorado Vacation

Vacations in our family tend to be a bit dicey.  I have on occasion, referred to my husband as Clark.  As in Clark Grizwald from National Lampoon's Vacation.  Something always happens when we travel.  I have gotten to the point that now I just hope whatever 'it' is, it doesn't result in someone losing life or limb.  We just returned from a vacation in Boulder, Colorado.  An annual trip for my entire family.  There are 13 of us who make this long trek.  We visit my uncle, celebrate my daughter's birthday and escape the crazy Kansas heat and humidity.  Nearly half of the group is six and under.  We rarely have a dull moment.  Someone is bound to be throwing a fit, sitting in timeout, tormenting someone, screaming, not feeling good, on and on.  But somehow, we always return home on speaking terms, at least so far.  This year Craig and I decided to take his company car.  He gets a certain amount taken out of his paycheck each month so we can drive it unlimited.  We thought with gas prices being so high, it just made sense.  But were we really willing to sacrifice a few extra dollars (ok, more like several hundred) for sanity?  I didn't really have a say in the matter.  We were taking his car.  He drives a Chevy Impala.  Not the roomiest vehicle for three little people crammed in the back seat.  Not to mention the trunk space.  Due to the fact that we had to take Presley's swing, we were limited on what we were allowed to pack.  Two outfits per person, travel size containers only and only enough snacks to get us there (a bit risky in my opinion since snacks are often wonderful bribes).  I felt a bit like we were flying since we had such tight restrictions.  Fortunately, my husband did not inspect our bags since I snuck a few extra clothes on board.  On the way there, we battled a faulty DVD player (a HUGE lifeline), snacks that weren't good enough and a screaming baby.  We stopped every two hours.  One of the stops included a 'hike' around an abandoned gas station looking for hippos, mice and a treasure chest.  But finally after an eight hour trip that turned into a 12, we made it.  We hiked down Dream Canyon with all the kids.  It was not an easy hike.  My sister got lost with Brooks and Maggie (the two year olds).  However, she knew help would soon find her since Brooks was screaming bloody murder.  She was right.  On another hike Piper and my nephew Jack chased each other around with deer poop.  They were detoxed the second we got 'home'.  We rode horses through beautiful aspens and meadows.  Presley got to ride too.  She rode in the Baby Bijorn with the trail guide.  The guide said she was the first baby that's never fallen asleep (shocker!).  She held the reigns the entire time and cried when the guide had to pry them out of her hands.  On Piper's birthday, half of the frosting slid off her cake since we didn't refrigerate it.  However, watching nearly every episode of Ace of Cakes clearly paid off for my husband since he was able to fix it (Geof rules!).  Then just before we sang happy birthday to Piper, Jack accidentally hammered the cake with his little wooden gun.  Piper was upset that the cake didn't have Tinker Bell on it and made us promise her next cake would have Tinker Bell's picture on it, but it could not spell Tinker Bell, she said.  Only her picture.  My goodness, the demands of a four year old.  We had a few leftover cupcakes from the party (thank goodness since the cake clearly wasn't cutting it!).  Early the next morning, Brooks somehow climbed out of his pack and play without waking Piper (she was in the bed next to him), snuck downstairs without waking us, climbed up to the table and proceeded to eat a bite out of every single cupcake.  He came upstairs with a huge grin.  Proudly showing us the chocolate ring around his mouth and his gooey fingers.  We bought these cupcakes for $3 a piece at a trendy 'cupcakery' in Boulder.  One of them had chocolate frosting with bacon sprinkled on it.  So I rationalized it was somewhat of an acceptable breakfast for him.  The journey home was less eventful.  Less screaming, fewer problems with the DVD player, better snacks, not as many stops.  Our trip was certainly filled with little dramas here and there but all in all it was a fabulous get away.  Even for the Grizwald's.