Even though that night was lots of fun, it was not so much fun waking up the next morning at 3:30 so Naomi and I could catch a 7:00 flight to Colorado. I learned a lot about flying with a two-year-old after that day: 1) Don't take a 7:00am flight, 2)Check as many bags as possible, 3) Make sure your toddler is fully awake before taking them potty, 4) Don't ever, ever, ever carry 4 bags, a Naomi, and a car-seat down an escalator, and 5) Make sure there is time to get some food before getting on the flight. Overall, it was an extremely interesting experience. It's too bad that I was too flustered to get a picture of Naomi at her first airplane experience. Oh well.
When we got to Colorado, things just kept getting more interesting. Naomi almost fell down an escalator, I almost got lost in the airport, and I got severe motion sickness to the point of "loosing it" in a Walgreen's parking lot on the way to my friend's house. But after that, the trip got better and better. Naomi got to play at a park every day we were there. Ft. Collins is absolutely beautiful. On clear days, you can see the snow-capped mountains beyond the foothills (which the city is built right up against). It was great to see my best friend from college that I hadn't seen in 4 years! Naomi got spoiled on "Dora" while we were at their house, but hey, it was vacation. Here are some pictures from Colie and Timmy's house.
On Wednesday of that week, we went back to Denver to visit Debbie (Amrein) Beschorner and her husband John. We had a wonderful time there as well. The first day we were there, I discovered that John and Debbie did not have AC, which, on most days is fine out there. Unfortunately, the first day we were there it got up to 97 degrees outside and 96 degrees inside. Luckily, that didn't happen again :)
We were lucky enough to go on a drive through the mountains past all the ski resorts/towns. What a beautiful part of the world. Even Office Max's look pretty out there! We drove to a spot right on the Colorado river where a 1.2 mile trail takes you to a beautiful lake (pond) 1000 ft. above where you start. When we got there, we found out that dogs were not aloud, which really stunk because we had brought their puppy. So, John stayed behind with the puppy while Debbie and I went up the mountain with Naomi. We took turns carrying Naomi up the mountain in a backpack carrier. Here are some pictures from our hike up.
Hanging Lake, as it was called, was so beautiful. I think it is one of my favorite destinations that I've found so far while hiking in the Rockies. The water was insanely blue. Here are a few pictures and a video I took while we were up there.
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better getaway. It was relaxing and I got to spend time with people I really love.
As for Naomi, she has reached a new stage of the "Terrible Two's" as they call it. I guess I always thought that the nickname meant tantrums, but I have discovered there are more aspects to the terribleness of the year 2. Naomi touches everything she sees. If it's there, she grabs it, turns it on, eats it, or whatever else she can do with it. Just yesterday, she was cleaning up a mess on her tray and without any hesitation at all, she dunked her paper towel into her milk. You would probably have to see it, but the quickness she did it with....and not even thinking about it.
She is also figuring out ways to get out of things: 1) Telling me she has a headache and has to lay down (for 5 secs) 2) Telling me she needs a drink when it's time for bed (she just had one), 3) Running and giving me a hug (so I forget) 4) Arguing with me. The last one really gets me. Her arguing usually goes something like this: "I can't do that, because I don't do that, I can't do that. You can't do that, because I can't do that, because I can't do that." I mean, come on! How did she learn how to reason like this at a the age of two?? But....most of the time, she is really fun and extremely hysterical. Here is a video of her speaking her own language with Papa. Oh, the wonderfulness of having an imagination!!
