Friday, July 25, 2008

Daddy, Mommy and I are in Colorado, this is yet another state and adventure for "LMS." To get here I went on my first plane ride! Trekker had told me about them from trips with Mommy, but he missed some important details. First, the airport is a fascinating place! There are lots of people moving bags from spot to spot, just like I do with my toys when I carry them from the toy basket to another place in the house. Then, we all stand in lines, then people pick up your bags then give them back to you with a tag (that I want to pull on) so we can take them to another person who puts the bags into a machine. I wondered why we gave away our bags but Daddy and Mommy did not seem worried so I let it go. Then we got into another line and put all of our bags, shoes, jackets and even my stoller on a moving belt that took them into another machine. This time our stuff came out the other end of the machine, though. We walked through a tunnel, said hello to a nice man and picked up our items that had gone to the other side of the tunnel faster than we had. Mommy and Daddy put on their shoes (again) and we walked down many hallways and on an elevator to a big area with lots of chairs. It kinda looked like my doctor's office but I was not worried because I did not see any doctors or nurses. I just wanted to get down and crawl around! Did I mention that our day started much earlier than normal and Mommy and Daddy were up late the night before getting ready for the trip? For those of you who know Mommy know that she was ready for a nap by the time we got to this airport place. My activity level was much higher than hers that's for sure but a girl has to stay on the move! Everyone smiled and talked to me at the airport, which of course I enjoyed. Mommy found a quite corner for me to nurse, which was good because I had been up since 6:15 am, it was 8:30 and I was hungry!

Right when we finished we got up and went on the plane. I still wasn't really sure what we were doing but there were lots of people all around me and I got to sit, jump, lunge and pound on Daddy and Mommy. In front of me there was a nice lady with her daughter who smiled and talked to me. Behind me were people who were grandparents like I have, who even have a granddaughter born on my same birthday. They played peek-a-boo and talked to me too. Even the people across from me and the boy (who was probably the age of my cousin James) smiled and made faces for me. Trekker never talked about how friendly everyone is on a plane! And how close they all are, making it easy to talk and play with everyone all at the same time. Mommy tried to show me the window when we "took off" into the air, but it didn't seem that interesting to me. There was so much going on inside, who needed to look outside? For those of you who are keeping in mind that we got up early and I had not slept yet know what was coming next. I started telling Mommy, Daddy and all of my new friends that I needed to sleep. This usually sounds to others like fussing and crying and includes me rubbing my eyes and squirming around because I can't get comfortable. Those of you who know Mommy also know that she still does this too. Mommy finally helped me get to sleep by rocking me and shushing in my ear. Mommy and Daddy switched places and I slept on Daddy for about an hour. Then I was ready to play and talk and jump and pound again! Everyone around me was ready again too. Mommy kept rubbing her eyes but did not fuss. I was proud of her because I don't think she slept when I did. I heard her telling Daddy that there were some "plane talkers" who did not stop talking the entire flight. Mommy needs relative quiet when she is going to sleep, so these people were not a good match for her that morning. I don't think Mommy would consider me a plane talker, I'm too cute and I don't actually talk yet. Mommy and Daddy were worried that my ears would hurt during the "descent" and "landing" (getting back to the ground for those of you like my friend Jack who are not familiar with these terms). I was too busy talking and playing and jumping and pounding to notice anything with my ears. I had just finished my medicine before we left and had been to the doctor to confirm that my ear infection was gone anyway. But sometimes the pressure of these activities (getting up in the air and back to the ground) makes ears hurt. I was glad it did not hurt me. Right before we got off the plane the nice young girl in front of me (who also went to the school Mommy went to called Centerville) let me hold her stuffed tiger. Actually, I pointed to it and grunted (the closest thing I get to talking these days) and she was nice enough to give it to me. It was as big as me and I loved it! She said it was from Build-a-Bear, a place I want to go to make my very own tiger stuffed animal that is as big as me! I don't know why they call it "build-a-bear" when it was actually a tiger, but I can ask when we get there someday.

To my surprise, after we walked through more hallways, on a subway-like train, on ano another elevator, our bags beat us to this place called Colorado before us! How did they know where to go? Another mystery I will need to solve in my lifetime. I will also have to look more closely at those machines we give our bags to the next time we are at the airport. I wonder if this works at other locations (like school) too. Maybe my friend Jack will know. I will ask him when I get back. Back to my story. We got on another bus and then into a car that did not look like either of ours. But the keys were in it and no one said anything so we drove away. Daddy drove and Mommy looked at the map, giving Daddy directions so we could get to our hotel. Our suite is really cool! I have my own bedroom, right next to Daddy and Mommy's. We have a little kitchen, a table to eat and an area to play. There is a pool we can see people in when we walk into the hotel too. Mommy brought my swim suit and even though I did not like the pool in my backyard, maybe we will try this one out.

We had lunch at a place called "Jason's Deli." I don't know who Jason is but he makes a great turkey sandwich. This place was a short walk from our hotel, which was really nice to be able to walk versus ride in the car. After lunch we walked to Wal-Mart which is also right by the hotel. We bought lots of food and had quite an adventure getting it back to the hotel! Luckily we had my stroller to help. After that, Mommy and I took a nap. Daddy went to check out the area and came back with a "key learning" (good P&G word for me, huh). The Coors Light beer we bought (we had to Buy Coors because it is made here) was "3.2" meaning not very strong. Actually, the Wikipedia definition is Low-point beer. is any beer (or in some cases any alcoholic beverage) containing at most 3.2% alcohol by weight (or 4% alcohol by volume). The term "Low-point beer" is unique to the United States, where some states limit sales of alcoholic beverages in certain places to it; however, similar products are available in countries such as Sweden and Finland that tax or otherwise regulate beer according to alcohol content. The states of Colorado (where we were),Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah allow general establishments such as supermarket chains and convenience stores to sell only low-point beer. Keep this in mind if you visit here or Kansas or Minnesota, Oklahoma or Utah (other states I will visit sometime). That's okay, though, Mommy returned it later, we will not compromise! Don't worry, "us" means Mommy and Daddy, I am not allowed to drink anything but milk and water and sometimes juice.
For dinner we drove to Boulder, only 10-15 minutes away from our hotel. The University of Colorado is there, helping to create a fun, relaxed atmosphere in the city. We went for pizza at our friend Megan's cousin's place called "Nick & Willie's." It's on the main street (Pearl street) and after we ate we walked up and down the area looking at the stores and the people. We saw people singing, playing guitar, playing big sticks that sounded weird and two boys playing dualing keyboards with drum sticks. We found a liquor store (this is where you can buy real beer and wine too). We almost had to leave Daddy because he was so happy there. On the way back to the car we even got ice cream. Grandma and Grandpa would have been proud. And no, Daddy didn't have any. Mommy and I are the ice cream junkies.

I slept well in my bed away from home that night. It might help that the bed is partway into the closet to keep the light and the noise down for me. It was a long but good day!