Home and Tired

Warning: Lots of pictures in this post

Things we loved from vacation:

1. Luggage carts
2. Elevators
3. Shuttles to and from the airport
4. The train at the airport
5. Getting attention (from anyone!)
6. A new night time book
7. The Beach
8. Being shirtless or just plain naked
9. Exploring the neighbors' yards (and seeing a raccoon)
   
10. Bubbles
11. Hiding from Pops
12. Toys!!!
13. Sharks at the aquarium
14. Wrestling giant sea creatures
15. The garden gnome's hiney
16. "La la la la Elmo song"
17. Meeting a pirate
18. Dumping buckets of water onto ourselves and then running back for more
19. Learning that we're going to have a cousin/niece or nephew

Things we did not love from vacation:

1. Saying bye-bye
   
2. Sitting still (on the airplane, at dinner)
3. Sleeping in a bed with Mommy and Daddy
4. Having to hold someone's hand by the pool

We Made It!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it through our day of traveling and arrived here in sunny Florida whole and happy!


The hotel stay was not great, they ran out of cribs (they have a total of 3 and don't share that information until you've already paid and are in your room, just slightly peeved about that). Whenever Ethan is in our bed its either playtime or waking up time so he had a very hard time understanding that it was night night time. We got maybe 5 hours of sleep. Fortunately for us, this means Ethan was very tired and he was also in a great mood. He fell asleep on the plane before we had even left the ground in Denver and woke up with only about a half hour left of the flight. The hardest part for him was waiting to get off the plane once it was on the ground. We had a three hour layover in Georgia, which may sound bad to most of you but we decided it would be nice to be able to let him run around between flights. The Atlanta airport was crazy!! People everywhere, so it was hard to let him walk on his own. He likes to take his time and at an airport that busy it could be disastrous. We found a quiet corner and played for an hour. There was an abandoned golf cart that he liked to get on and drive. The second flight was not as good as the first, he was very tired but couldn't fall asleep. we had a young girl sitting behind us and he spent most of the time flirting with her.

Grandma was waiting for us when we got past the security check point and we spent the rest of the day playing with lots of new toys. I have plenty of pictures to share when we get home. That night he slept very well and has been doing good with naps so far too.

The Anxieties of Traveling

We leave this afternoon to start our vacation. The plan is: we will head up to Denver tomorrow afternoon, stay the night in a hotel close to the airport, then fly to Florida in the morning. We will then spend a glorious (hopefully) week doing nothing but playing and swimming and sleeping and going to the beach. To get to that glorious week we have to counter all the stress, anxiety and fear of the unknown that comes with traveling with a 16 month old that has not done much traveling in his short life.
I have been a nervous wreak! I am making lists like a mad woman hoping we have enough activity to keep him busy for a 3 hour plane ride. Plus making sure we have enough comforts from home not to get home sick will not over packing. Poor Ethan, he is definitely feeling Mommy's stress. The past few days have been filled with whining and crying and tantrums. Not to mention that he's teething. The only thing that really keeps it at bay is being outside.
So, just to add to the already stressful event, we are under an extreme warning advisory! It snowed all morning and the roads were getting slick when I left work to get Ethan from my mom's. Thankfully it stopped snowing around 2 and everything on the roads melted, let's just hope that was it for the storm. We have had more snow this month than we did all winter!

Tooth # 7

I caught a glimpse of the beginnings of Ethan's seventh tooth today!

Easter Sunday in Colorado

We were so excited yesterday, it seemed that it would be the first year after 2 years that we wouldn't have to postpone our Easter egg hunt until Mother's Day due to weather! But, alas, we woke up this morning to snow, snow and more snow. It looked a lot more like Christmas morning than Easter.

The Easter bunny still made a visit and brought a basket full of goodies

Mmmm, better than candy, Gerber snacks!

What!? The Easter bunny comes to Grandma and Papa's house too!!

The Easter bunny left an Ethan sized outdoor chair so he can watch the birds with Grandma

Playing "hide in the pillows" with Auntie after a non existent afternoon nap

After all the Easter bunny fun, we headed up to Monument to have Easter dinner with Chuck, Diane and Marge (an extension of our immediate family).

"Uh, am I going to get in trouble if I pull those flowers over?" Exploring the upstairs of Diane's house

Getting ready to leave, check out his new hat!

About 5 minutes after we left for home

The snow/rain on our drive home (happy spring indeed)

MIke's Birthday Party

Last Sunday, a few days before his actual birthday, we went with the family (plus Chuck and Diane) to Zio's to celebrate the big 28! We got there a little early (a first for us since Ethan) and played by the creek. OK, I watched, having minor panic attacks, while Mike and Ethan played.

There were 2 large tubes that went across the creek, Mike had to go out onto them

Then, he and Ethan went down to see the water, a couple arrived at the restaurant and thought I was looking at wild animals, I told him "close enough"

Heading back up

"We made it!"

This is back at my parents house before cake, other than that I have no idea what's going on here

Mike's poor cake. Last year we humiliated him with a Barbi cake, this year we forgot candles

Relaxing

Make a wish!

The morning of his actual birthday