I took the day off of work to finish up with the packing. I met a friend for a run first thing in the morning ... after all, I was going on vacation and knew I probably wouldn't have much time to run. After a shower and a weigh in, I treated myself to lunch at Chili's. I used to feel bad for people who ate all alone. But I walked in proudly with book in hand and sat down all alone (and I didn't feel bad for myself). I was able to eat a hot meal and read and the only interruption I had was the waitress asking if I needed anything else.
After lunch, I headed home to get everything loaded up in the van and wait on Hubby to get home. As soon as he got home from work, we headed to the daycare to pick up the boys and drove to the airport. Bug was eager to get there and EJ didn't have a clue what was going on. For weeks we'd been talking about going on an airplane but at his age, you can never be sure what they're comprehending.
We walked into the airport with all of our luggage and proceeded to check our bags. Everything went very smoothly and we were running ahead of schedule. Then came security ... take your shoes off, make sure everything makes it onto the little conveyor belt, take your laptop out of the bag, no - the little one can't carry his blanket through security - it must go on the belt. Security was very frustrating.
After the chaos of security, we were all hungry and ate at Bojangles's. Man, things are extremely pricey at the airport. What would normally cost us $10 was nearly doubled. EJ pushed the stroller around the airport until it was time to board the plane. Hubby strapped EJ in his carseat and carried him onto the plane. We all got situated and waited for take-off. It looked like EJ was going to do okay. We'd purposely scheduled an 8:00 flight thinking that he would sleep. At 7:00 I gave him some Benedryl and figured that by the time we took off, he'd be long gone into dreamland.
As soon as we took off, EJ flipped out ... I mean, he literally had a melt down - screaming, shaking, the whole bit. I took him out of his carseat and ended up holding him for the entire flight. And if you're wondering if he slept, the answer is ... yes, he fell asleep 15 minutes before we landed. Figures, right?
We landed in Denver and tried to find our way to baggage. We ended up having to ride a subway to the baggage claim!!! That airport was HUGE! After gathering our bags and getting our rental car, we started the hour and a half drive to the house we were staying in. Of course, the boys slept until we got to the house and they were wired ... it was midnight Denver time (2:00 East Coast time) and I didn't get them in the bed until 1:30 in the morning. I was exhausted!!
Nonetheless, here are a few pictures of the first day of vacation. There are a few from the night before we left. (Just click the "x" in the upper right corner of the slideshow - if there is one).
Day 2 (Thursday, July 24)
My kids woke up way earlier than I wanted them to. Remember that we didn't get in the bed until 1:30 and the boys woke up at 7:30 ... not enough sleep for me.
I got my first view of the gorgeous Colorado mountains as soon as I walked into the living room. I've never seen anything more majestic. As soon as my sister-in-law woke up, we put on our running clothes and hit the road. It didn't take long to learn that it's hard to run where the air is thin and the hills are huge. Our run didn't last too long!!
When we got back to the house, everybody was up and eating and basically getting ready for the day. We went out to the deck and saw that we had a little visitor on the driveway ... a mule deer. She hung out for a few minutes and then made a run for it.
My in-laws and I took Bug to find a park where we hoped to have a picnic later in the week. On the way there, we noticed thousands of acres that were scorched from an apparent wild fire ... very sad. We did find a little park that had a little river running through it. Unfortunately, we never made it back for the picnic.
Later in the day, we went to Evergreen, CO and suited up for paddle boat rides. The hubby, EJ and I got in one ... Bug and my sis-in-law got in another. My FIL and MIL decided to canoe instead. Our ride was cut a little short because of storms and we had the hardest time paddling back in because we were moving against the current. Needless to say, we were pretty tired after we made it back to the dock.
We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the house to pick up a few things. I decided I was going to fix dinner for everybody that night. When we got to the house, lo and behold we had another visitor ... a coyote. My FIL says that it was a dog/coyote mix. The operative word there is "coyote"!!! Bug wanted to pet it and I just kept telling him to get in the house. Sometimes I wonder why he has to be such a pet lover.
Day 3 (Friday, July 25)
Today we went to Golden, CO and toured the Coors Brewery. EJ decided that he was going to melt down mid-tour. All he wanted to do was push the stroller but there were too many people and I really didn't want him mowing people down. The brewery was neat but I don't like the smell!!!
Since we were already in Golden, we decided to go up to Buffalo Bills and walk through the museum. It was neat to see the old western artifacts from that era. They had a "dress up" area with vests, boots, chaps and hats. They also had a ceramic horse and cow and the kids could practice roping.
We ate dinner at Chili's and when the waitress came around getting the drink orders, Bug ordered sweet tea. Well, you would've thought he'd asked her to chop her arm off with the look she gave him. She kindly told him that they don't have sweet tea but she could bring him unsweet. Um, no thanks. He settled for Sprite.
That night we went to hubby's aunt and uncle's house for movie and picture night. They had a ton of old pictures and movies. A lot ot the pictures and movies were from the last family reunion in 1991. Wow ... styles have changed a lot since then ... thank goodness!!! EJ slept the whole time we were there. By then, he was exhausted from the time change and lack of naps.
Day 4 (July 26)
Today we visited a neat little attraction called Dinosaur Ridge. We saw dinosaur footprints embedded in the side of the mountain. We even saw dinosaur bones!!! Bug and Grandpa loved Dinosaur Ridge and both of them started sulking when we finished up because they wanted to go into the gift shop.
After we left Dinosaur Ridge, the hubby and I took EJ back to the house for a nap and Austin went with Grandma & Grandpa to Red Rock's Amphitheatre. EJ must've been tired because he slept for 3 hours!!!
When everybody got back to the house and rested, we left to go to the reunion dinner. The food was absolutely delicious!! We had homemade BBQ, potatoes, pea salad, chips, veggies ... YUM YUM. Of course, you can't have a big get together like that and not have dessert. Bring on the cake!! We were miserably stuffed and it was all so good.
EJ found a little booster seat that he carried around with him everywhere. If anybody tried to take it away from him, he screamed. For some reason, he was very territorial over this thing.
On the way back to the house, Bug fell asleep in the back seat playing his Nintendo DS. It was funny. Both of the boys were worn out.
Day 5 (July 27) - The Day of Reliving my Father-in-Law's Youth
We all woke up early today because we wanted to get an early start. EJ didn't sleep well because of having a stuffy nose so it wasn't too hard to get moving. After everybody was showered and dressed, we loaded up in our 2 cars and headed to Boulder, CO. FIL wanted to see the University of Colorado at Boulder ... we're still not sure why. But we drove the hour to Boulder and found the school. It was beautiful as we drove around it. But we never got out. Again, I'm not sure what the point was but I can honestly say I've seen the University of Colorado at Boulder. I can rest easy... Initially we were planning on finding a shopping area and finding a cute little place to eat. Well, we ended up eating at ... ARBY'S!!!
Since that ended up being a bust, we went to El Dorado State Park. To get there, we had to drive through this gypsy looking town. I can't even begin to describe it. I wish that I would've taken some pictures but I didn't. When we got to the park, the attendant told us that all the parking at the top was full and that it was a mile hike from the bottom. Well, you can't exactly take a stroller on a hike up a mountain so we passed on that.
This day was just not going well. The boys were getting cranky because we'd been in the car for so long and they hadn't been able to stretch their legs. Remember, we were reliving the youth of my FIL so we headed to Berthoud Pass ... another hour and half! When we finally got there, it was breath taking - literally. We were 11,000 feet in the air and it was extremely difficult to get a good breath. But it was beautiful! We saw snow capped mountains ... in JULY! It was much cooler up there than it was at the base of the mountain. On the way down, we stopped at a little stream and that water had to be 35 degrees. It was frigid.
As luck would have it, we got stuck in traffic on the way back. Surprisingly, the boys were doing well. Hubby, on the other hand, wasn't. He was irritated and tired from driving. When we finally got home, EJ and hubby laid down for a nap. That evening we headed out to the aunt and uncle's house for "Sundaes on Sunday".
I guess every vacation has to have one day that is a total wash. Today was that day!!!
Day 6 (July 28)
Today, I'm sick of being around everybody. Hubby and I are at each other's throats and the kids are whiny. I know this is a result of schedules being completely discombobulated for almost a week but it doesn't make it any better. Bug finally got to go fishing ... he'd been begging all week ... and the hubby and I took EJ to Red Rock's Amphiteathre. That place is really gorgeous!! And it's all natural ... EJ ran up and down the seats and had a blast. There were runners there that started at the bottom and ran the bleachers all the way to the top. I guess it's good training.
We all got back to the house and Bug went outside to play. Well, of course he found a spider. But this wasn't any spider ... it was a Black Widow. Yeah!!!
The whole gang come out to the house for a wonderful dinner of left over BBQ and ATV rides. It was an early night because we had to get ready to leave.
Day 7 (July 29) - Going Home!!
We are going home today. We spent the better part of the morning cleaning out the refrigerator and just doing general clean up. We had to be out of the house no later than 11:00 and our flight didn't leave until 3:15. So, we drove to the airport and went through all the security obstacles and then found a place to eat lunch. To keep the boys occupied, we gave them straws and Cheerios and they made "Cheerio Kabobs".
We boarded the flight and EJ immediately started getting ancy. Hubby & I were afraid something like that was going to happen. Luckily, the whole family (MIL, FIL, etc...) were on the flight with us and helped with EJ. Right after take off, EJ fell asleep and slept for the entire flight.
We gathered our bags and headed out to get our van. Our first official "Family Vacation" was successful!!! We had a good time and we all survived. I would love to go back to Colorado in a few years and do some hiking. We'll see!!
No comments:
Post a Comment