Our first family trip to Colorado
Who said traveling with a baby was hard?!
We recently came back from our FIRST ever family trip to Colorado. And let me tell you…it was one of my favorite trips ever.
When we started announcing my pregnancy, one of the first negative comments we received was that we would never travel again or if we did somehow find a way, we wouldn’t enjoy it. I never let the commenters get to me and planned my trip anyway.
Even though we have been to Colorado many times, I had butterflies in my stomach leading up to the trip. I was so excited to experience the joy of travel with my sweet baby boy. This trip did not disappoint!
I purchased our plane tickets super early and was able to snag first class seats for only an additional $100. This helped our trip start off on the right foot. We had plenty of space for our bags, privacy for breast feeding, and being able to enjoy a hot meal before landing in Colorado was SO nice. My husband and I shared blueberry lemon French toast and pumpkin chia seed pudding. We also each had fresh fruit and a buttery croissant with apricot jam. Starting the trip with our bellies full was a blessing.
Going through the airport was a breeze. I strapped to me Leo using my Baby bjourn carrier. This allowed me to be hands free and use his stroller to hold backpacks and other random items. We checked the car seat at the gate, got to bring a diaper bag on board (this did NOT count towards our baggage allowance or carry on), and we put the stroller in the overhead above.
My biggest tip when traveling with a newborn is to give yourself ample amount of time and try not to live by the clock. I gave us 30+ minutes before any reservation. We would arrive early so that we had time to feed and do diaper changes (if need be).
We had a hiccup with our rental car when we got there, so this put us behind “schedule”. Leo was such a trooper.
Fondue at Alpenrose
View from Alpenrose
After we got our rental car, we were off to the idyllic town of Vail and had lunch at Alpenrose. It felt like we had just arrived in Austria.
Our next step was our ultimate destination, Breckenridge, or if you want to sound like a local call it “Breck”.
We stayed at the Grand Colorado Peak 8 resort. This place is the epitome of family luxury. They have a variety of amenities that helped make this a relaxing first vacation with a newborn.
View from the dining room area at Peak 8
Bathroom at Peak 8
The resort provided a pack-n-play (one less thing we needed to bring from home) and they have a free shuttle bus service to all the local restaurants/shops (who wants to stress over parking when you have a baby crying in the background?).
For bigger kids, they have a game room, kids pool, evening s’mores, an escape room, movie theater, and so much more. For the adults, they have a plethora of relaxing, heated pools and hot tubs, a fully equipped gym, a spa, and (our personal favorite) an adult only grotto complete with a cold plunge pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, lounge chairs, and ice cold eucalyptus towels. My husband and I took turns enjoy the grotto and it was h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y.
I chose a master suite for our room, and it cost us around $800 for three nights. We receive a huge discount for sitting through a 1.5-hour time share presentation.
Our room was perfect. We had a full kitchen, dining room, separate living room with a gas fireplace, washer/dryer, king sized bed, separate walk-in shower and soaking tub, double sink, a totally separate half bathroom, a covered patio, and gorgeous sunrise views (traveling with a baby and adjusting to the time difference, we didn’t miss a sunrise haha).
Waking up early was so nice because we were able to beat all the crowds and enjoy an almost empty Breck with free parking (7am-10am). We enjoyed coffee, pastries, walked around the different shops, and just simply enjoyed the fresh mountain air. Everywhere we went was baby friendly and I breastfed in many of the places we stopped at.
If you are feeling adventurous, Breck has a ton of different trails, a little river area to walk around, and in the winter, you of course have skiing, snowmobiling, tubing, and all of the other fun winter activities.
We loved Breck before having a baby. And now, it is even more special! I can’t wait for future family stays at Peak 8 and to explore Breck more as our baby grows up.