Summer Trip #1

Brian, Ethan, and I are lucky enough to get to take two separate trips this summer. Last year, it was Santa Fe and Nags Head, this year, Boulder CO and Nags Head! Our trip to Boulder was fairly short, but we were able to pack in quite a bit while we were there.
This was actually Ethan's third flying experience, but he was at a great age for me to prep him a little bit for the flight. We talked about going to the mountains, who we were going with, and how we were getting there. Lots of books about airplanes, so Mr. E was ready this time. I fantasized about all of my preloading turning Ethan into a super flyer for the several hours long flight...but he was not as angelic as I had hoped. (But not as horrible as I feared, either, so that's good!)

Besides renewing my love of Boulder, the best part of this trip was that my whole family got to join us. Since I couldn't afford three separate trips this summer, and wanted to see my sister, Brian and I invited her to join us in Colorado. She in turn invited my folks, and it turned into this great family trip. Hotels for all of us would have been seriously expensive, so I found us a house on VRBO.com that was really beautiful. NOT toddler friendly - too much nice stuff and sharp glass tables, but a great place for all of us with plenty of room. Having everyone there was especially nice because Brian was toting his grad students around the whole first day we were there. So my mom and I took a little hike up a very modest hill right by our house:
Now if you have never been, I need to explain something about Boulder. Everyone there is healthy, tanned, and climbing something. Mom, Ethan, and I were passed repeatedly in our short hike by tons of runners skipping up the hills. When we ran into some high school students who were maintaining the trails and asked them where different paths led, they explained the layout but were careful to mention that one of them was "for real hikers". Harumph.

We also made some time to visit Chautauqua, this great area with trails, a park, tennis courts, and an amazing restaurant. On this particular day (we had no idea) there was this children's concert at a nearby building. After the concert, all of the animals came out to play with the kids - fish, turtles, lions, and a monkey who got a big hug from Ethan.

Another highlight (more than once) of our trip was Pearl Street Mall. Fantastic outdoor mall - great stores (I bought two of the most comfortable pairs of shoes I've ever owned there - and yes, I know that loving comfortable shoes means I'm getting old), good eating, and fountains for the little kids. Ethan was slow to warm up to the water, but we forced him into it. You can see that he adjusts. :)

The only negative of this trip was Ethan's sleeping habits. Worse. Than. Ever. Every night we were there, I laid down with him every night until he fell asleep, because he just wouldn't sleep - no napping (until we were in the car, then he was out in 5 minutes - reminded me of the newborn days!), less sleep than ever at night - we were kind of exhausted by the end of the trip! (Brian and I were - not Ethan, apparently.) So our task on the way home became: Wear This Kid Out Anyway Possible. The Dallas airport was kind of awesome to have this during our layover:
But you can see that he is not daunted by the exercise:
We'll go back next year. Definitely. But I'm going to get lots of sleep before we go!