Day 3 Family Travel Guide To Colorado Springs

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Special thanks to Colorado Springs CVB for sponsoring this trip. 

See all of our Colorado Springs articles here.

We have been bouncing from cooler weather to warm weather and back and forth again. It has made for a really fun end to 2016. One of the highlights was our visit to Colorado Springs and I’m back sharing day 3!

We started the day with another awesome breakfast at Garden of the Gods Collection. We loved this resort so much that we have been sharing it with fellow travel lovers we have met along the way, even in Cancun. The resort has such an amazing view of the Garden of the Gods park that it needs to be on everyone’s travel list. 

After breakfast, we drove to the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to this visit because I imagined it was going to be more like a museum than an experience. I was totally wrong!

This was one of the most inspiring places we have ever been. You walk through the door and everyone has so much enthusiasm for the athletes and America that you can’t help but feel it yourself. We already are very patriotic, but this was beyond anything we have every experienced and felt before. You feel like you are a small part of history itself when you walk through these doors.

This facility is large with a welcome center that has a movie that explains the history and importance of the center to start with. We really enjoyed this part of the tour and learned a lot about who the center serves and how. Invited athletes that are top in their sport and chosen to live here are offered everything they need to be the best Olympic Competitors they can be. It provides an environment for them to excel unlike anything else out there. From housing to meals, and the best medical care, the athletes need only worry about perfecting their sport.

The girls all took turns having their photo taken exactly where the Olympic Athletes do!

We walked where the Olympians walked and saw where they swim too. Every step of the way there were words of encouragement and touches of Olympic magic! You will notice red, white, and blue everywhere!

At the end of our tour, we went into the circle theater where you can see snippets of some of the most memorable Olympic moments. You can’t leave here without tears in your eyes. Emmy was practically crying but she assured us all they were happy tears. I’ve never seen her so emotional. She and Ash started training even harder as they both want to be Olympic Athletes after our visit. 

The Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center is hands down something you have to see when you visit the area.

After all that fun, we were hungry and we headed towards downtown Colorado Springs for a snack! Crepes for the win!

Fueled up and ready for more fun, we went ice skating in Colorado Springs’ only outdoor ice skating rink! 

I was freezing and Emmy borrowed my gloves so I borrowed hers. Not the best way to stay warm, but this little fire sure helped!

This girl lives for ice skating.

While she made loop after loop in the rink, I talked to a fellow mom and Colorado Springs resident. The thing about this area is that everyone is so friendly and there is a real sense of community. You don’t feel like a tourist here. You feel like you have lived here forever. She shared with me that they love living here because it is so family-friendly. I agreed with her so much. We had three days to explore the whole area and we couldn’t do it. There is just soo much to do as a family so we have decided we need to come back. We are thinking an early summer visit would be fun so that we can see the area in a completely different light and season! I bet it is beautiful in early fall too!

Right next to the park was this beautiful tree too which was perfect for family pictures. I love how the whole city gets excited for the holidays with twinkling lights throughout! 

Back at Garden of the Gods Collection, we were welcomed with a cozy dinner fireside. The whole day was amazing and we felt so much love for the area and our host hotel. 

I had the vegan avocado ceviche and it was something I can’t stop thinking about. I may need to try to recreate this at home. It was so delicious. Garden of the Gods Collection caters to families looking for exceptional experiences and highly personalized services. I can’t wait to share a post all about this beautiful resort!

This was the view as we drove to the resort at night. These lights!!!

After dinner, we made our way back to our suites and this treat of all treats was waiting for us!

The amazing chef at the resort created hand made gold medal chocolates for us. This was one of the most creative surprises we have ever received and shows how far this resort goes to get to know their guests and create an experience beyond a home base while vacationing. 

You can imagine how exhausted we were after this day, and we still had another day of fun planned for the next day, so we all happily fell asleep in the luxury beds with a view of Garden of the Gods while dreaming of what the next day would hold. It turned out to be a huge bucket list accomplishment that almost didn’t happen. I’ll be back soon to share more! 

See all of our Colorado Springs articles here.

What is the most exciting thing you have ever done on vacation?