Staycations are often the best vacations. A staycation makes it easy to plan for and it’s a quick little getaway to hang out and regroup with the family. We did our staycation at the Gaylord of the Rockies located in Aurora, which was a great location to have a little retreat with the family. Now a little tip, plan the trip but don’t tell the kids. The surprise of telling them the day is priceless.
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Our kids love the water, they definitely enjoy checking out new pools. The Gaylord of the Rockies indoor/outdoor/lazy river pools did not disappoint. The girls were definitely overwhelmed with which pool to choose and went back and forth between them all. Cody on the other hand just hung with the girls. I personally enjoyed soaking up some sun and enjoying a good book (love me a good murder mystery book). The kids loved that they could bring their own floaty to hang in the pool or use their favorite goggles to do a little floating.
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Throughout the day they have activities for the kids, our kids loved the Pirates and Princesses activities out by the lazy river (check the schedule when you arrive). These activities are good for all ages, my 15-year-old loved the competitions. It was a little fun in the middle of the day that gave our kiddos a little something different to do.
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I’m hungry, is the most used phrase from my kiddos. I am a mom that likes to do the least amount of work when we are chilling at the pool, so Arapahoe Springs Bar and Grill saved me. Just go up to the bar and order some of the kids' favorites (burger/chicken nuggets) and don’t forget the loaded fries with delicious green chili. After lunch, the adults divulged into a white Russian shake that was an amazing must-try for sure. Okay, we may have had a couple. They were absolutely delicious and worth it.
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We stayed in the water until we were kicked out, my kids loved that they spent that much time in the water. After we got kicked out, we took advantage of our S’more kits out in the field. We got to have S’mores with a beautiful sunset overlooking the mountains. This was a fun little activity before we headed off to the room to wind down.
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If I didn’t have kids, I may have stayed in bed all day. The beds are unbelievably quiet and the rooms hold a peace about them that just makes it easy to decompress. Well, I have kids so I got up before they did and enjoyed some coffee out by the fire pits while enjoying the beautiful sunrise. Then I was brought back to reality and got the kiddos up.
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The hotel offers a great scavenger hunt that the kids get to go all over the hotel to find different treasures based on clues in their booklets. All three kiddos loved this activity, we allowed them to explore on their own to have a little freedom from us. When they completed the hunt they were rewarded for their hard work.
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We had a blast and are grateful for the opportunity to have a great mini-vacation at Gaylord of the Rockies. The kids were exhausted and happy for all the swim time that they got. Mom and Dad were happy to get away and not have to go too far. Til next time. . .
