Friday, August 1, 2008

Our last morning we went to Boulder again (not Mount Sanitas!) to a trail called Royal Arches. We had a great morning hike to the end of the trail at the, yep, you guessed it, Royal Arch. It was a beautiful day and a fun hike. The Royal Arch was pretty amazing too. We ate lunch at the same park and watched the same kids play and run and laugh. After that we went back to the hotel to pack up everything to go home.

We had to check out by 2 pm and our flight was at 7 pm and we were not sure what to do in between. We decided, though, that driving around was not a good idea so we just headed to the airport. This is a tricky decision with a one-year old, we learned the hard way. I fell asleep on the 30-minute drive to the airport and was not ready to wake up when we arrived. Of course, we were at the car rental return and we could not drive away again for me to sleep. So, we went into the airport, were all checked in and through security by 3:15. We ate "dinner" and from then it was a blur of walking from one end of the terminal to the other, me crawling all around and Mommy and Daddy following me. I loved to hear my squeals echo in the terminal so practiced my voice as much as possible. Because I had not slept I was pretty tired, but who can sleep with so much activity going on? Mommy danced with me (practicing the Waltz routine that she and Daddy learned for their wedding), Daddy walked with me, Mommy crawled with me and Daddy sat with me.

By the time we got on the plane we were all a bit tired. There was an 8 month old boy across from us named Conrad. He too was tired but not ready to sleep. He fussed and jumped and lunged on his dad and mom the entire flight. I finally fell asleep (after much crying and eye rubbing and fussing and singing by Mommy and Daddy and the nice lady in front of us). The plane was a little delayed because of heat and weight. It was not clear to us how this all related but it seemed very serious to the flight attendants as they were moving people and bags around the plane to get us balanced. I did sleep for much of the flight and again did not notice any issues with my ears. I was sad when I woke up, though, because it was very late and I did not want to be awake. So, I cried and Mommy, Daddy and the nice lady in front of us sang again.

The bags magically arrived on that belt again, but it took some time since they were probably sleepy too and were not moving as fast as they were on the way to Denver. I nodded off again in the car on the way home. I was sure glad to be in my own car seat with Dolly too. Daddy got us home safely, Mommy changed me and put me straight to bed at 1:15 am.

As Mommy and Daddy almost always do, they completely unpacked their bags, sorted the mail and put everything away that night.

Although we originally called this our "Denver Vacation," we actually never went into the city of Denver, so we should name it something better. Maybe we should call it "Family fun in the mountains and the pool." Or maybe call it "Many firsts; Colorado, Rocky Mountains, Cheyenne, Rodeo, Swimming, and the "super cold" Coors tour" or maybe "To the mountains and then to the pool." Whatever we call it, I am glad we did it. Everyone should be as blessed as we are to be able to take a trip like this one.