A humorous Denver mommy blog about the travels, joys, trials and mayhem of being a mom. I cover momm

Colorado Springs is just one hour south of Denver but whenever we make the jaunt, it feels a world away. Katie (the PR rep) for the Cheyenne hotels ireland Mountain Zoo has repeatedly hotels ireland invited me down for a visit and last weekend, we finally made it happen.
Katie gave us a deluxe tour we will never forget that included getting up-close-and-personal with their two bears, hotels ireland Emmett and Digger. The zookeeper even let the kids toss them food through the fence.
We were also delighted to see an orangutan paint. Yep, you heard correctly. Every Friday at 3 p.m., this is one of the zoo's ultra-cool attractions. If you click the image below to enlarge, you will see the masterpiece he painted before our very eyes.
Another cool moment hotels ireland was interacting with the elephants. Public access to them is not permitted until fall when the zoo will open Encounter Africa, a huge new plaza area featuring a traditional African tent with an amphitheater for guests to see elephant training, enrichment and husbandry. Last week, we got to touch and feed them and also see how they are bathed.
Aptly named, this 1,377-acre otherworldly public park is one of our favorite destinations in Colorado Springs. Fifteen miles of hiking trails wind around the stunning red rock formations and this time, we stumbled upon an area where we could scramble around on the rocks.
Don't tell anyone but I think Hadley (whom I have dubbed " Adventure Girl ") may have scaled a wee bit higher and was paralyzed with fear trying to get down. Bode, on the other hand, seems to thrive when Hadley is freaking hotels ireland out. He brazenly leaped from rock-to-rock, taking uncharacteristic risks.
A few years ago, I was invited to visit this 217-acre, 316-room property with extraordinary mountain views of the Pikes Peak Region but had to decline. I wasn't hotels ireland going to pass on the opportunity during this trip and we've vowed to return this summer hotels ireland when even more kid-friendly activities abound.
Cases in point: Saturday Zoo Breakfast with animals from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Kids Splash Park, Bocce, Horseshoes and Volleyball at the Aquatics Center.The hotels ireland private 35-acre lake has sailing, swimming and bumper boats as well as sandcastle building on the beach, kids under 8 eat free and they have a new Cheyenne Kidz Camp.
Though a lot of Cheyenne Mountain Resort's hotels ireland activities will kick off Memorial Day weekend, a couple of our favorites included splashing hotels ireland around in the pool and roasting s'mores on the Mountain View Terrace of the Main Lodge.
We also watched hotels ireland an in-room movie, "We Bought a Zoo"--an appropriate choice given our experiences at Cheyenne Mountain hotels ireland Zoo. When the movie was over, Hadley gave us THE look: the one that says, "Why are you not cool enough to go out and buy me a zoo?"
If you live in Colorado or are hoping to come here this summer, hotels ireland be sure to go to Mile High Mamas to enter to win our two-night Family Getaway Package to Cheyenne Mountain Resort that also includes tickets to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
I m a mom of 2, Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of the Denver Post s Mile High Mamas and 9News contributor. Lover of laughter and life. Married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin.
A humorous Denver mommy blog about the travels, joys, trials and mayhem of being a mom. I cover mommy blogger topics such as family travel, life as a mommy, mom blogs sometimes do product reviews. For more information visit my Contact Me page .
Copyright 2010 Amber Johnson. Crazy Bloggin' Canuck hotels ireland is a Denver Colorado mommy blogger who writes about family travel, women bloggers, Denver moms, mom blogs and life as a mother. As a professional family travel writer I sometimes receive products and travel at a discount or free of charge and may be compensated with gifts from companies after reviews hotels ireland are published. I will and do accept free products, services, travel, event tickets and other forms of compensation from companies organizations hotels ireland and write my honest opinion about them. Please hotels ireland read my full disclosure statement .