Finally Home!

I broke my one-time-rule and blogged about a vacation while still actually on it. But we are finally back home from Rocky Mountain National Park and getting settled back in! I will post more about the trip, our car ride, and other fun stuff when I get a chance!

How to Build a Teepee

When we arrived in Estes Park, Becca & Tommy had lots of fun ideas for things the kids could do. The cabin where we stayed was right next to theirs (Did I mention that the Rocky Mountain National Park is in their backyard? Literally!) We had a wonderful view of Longs Peak, and you just walk out the door and into the trails of the park! So anyway, Becca had the idea of building a teepee on the patio for the kids to play in all week. They have been having a great time playing in it. And we all had fun creating it too!Do you want to build a teepee too? Here's how.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Again, we got to visit our friends Becca & Tommy in Estes Park, CO. Remember when we visited in 2010 and 2009? This place is so amazing! Have you ever been to Rocky Mountain National Park? If not, you should definitely go!
Cool Stuff to do in Estes Park, CO
Eat at The Rock
Visit the Stanley - Have you seen "The Shining"?
Hike & Explore - We did the Cub Lake - Pool loop, Gem Lake, Sprague Lake...
Become a Junior Ranger - The visitor center has a free Junior Ranger book, which is full of fun activities, like finding animal tracks, scavenger hunts, etc.. Sprague Lake was a perfect easy, flat trail for little ones to explore.
More to come!

Ring Bearer & Flower Girl

Cuteness! E & KB did so well as ring bearer and flower girl in Becca & Tommy Caldwell's wedding. It was adorable!!!the wedding party in beautiful estes park, coloradoi love this picture of ethan and his dad. it's rare to catch such a special moment on camera!on top of being such gorgeous scenery, the weather was fantastic! 70's every day...and then we return home to weather high in the 90's. yuck!Apparently, if myself or my husband is in a wedding, I will be 6 months pregnant and wearing this dress.

Estes Park, Colorado

We are getting settled back in after a wonderful trip to Estes Park, CO. We got to do lots of hiking, climbing (well, Lance did) & hanging out with our friend Tommy.
Lance got to climb The Diamond, pictured above our heads & also below!
Picture of The Diamond from here.

Back from Austria & Germany

We had a wonderful time traveling in Giessen, Cologne & Frankfurt Germany and Vienna, Austria. Here are a few more highlights from our trip! Here we are in Vienna, at the Opera.And what else do we find in Vienna, but one of their dozens of climbing gyms! And surprise, surprise, we see our friend Tommy on the poster outside.So Lance got to do some climbing...Here is Lance outside Cologne's cathedral. Boy was it cold!!
And me at Schonbrunn's fountain...(Minus the water.)
And here are our wonderful friends, Markus, Julia, Emma & Davy.

Guten Tag!

Guten Tag, Y'all! We've been visiting our good friends in Germany this week. Here we are at Schonbrunn in Vienna, Austria. How about that German meal of Wiener Schnitzel and Potatoes? More pictures to come later! Hope this week has been good for you!

Traveling Update

We've decided not to take our toddler overseas, but we're leaving him at home and going ourselves! Anyway, thanks for all the advice.

I wanted to share some advice that I thought was great, thanks to Jennifer T's referral to the Fodor's website. Here it is: Take a ton of small, new toys. Keep them in packaging that can be opened w/o scissors on the plane. Wrap them all like presents, and bring them out in increments. We've done the new, cheap toy trick, but I hadn't thought to wrap them all up like presents! That buys some extra time, and every minute counts with a toddler on a plane! Anyway, I wanted to pass it along to you folks.

Back from Cali!

We had a great time in California. I missed checking in w/y'all, so I must catch up soon! But I wanted to post a few pics & it's off to bed for me. Sorry these are a big huge mess. But here's the recap - My Birthday, Climbing, Hiking, Sickness & Vomiting, Dressing our Baby in PJs due to unexpected cool weather and 4 plane rides with a baby = Glad to sleep in my bed tonight!

Half Dome

Yesterday, We got a very early start (waking at 4 am) and hiked to the top of Half Dome (pictured left, not below), in Yosemite, California! Pretty cool, right? I hiked about 5,000 in elevation gain and about 16 miles or so of hiking. Sure, Lance climbed it, which is cooler, but it was an awesome hike as well. My quads are a little sore right now...

Traveling with Baby

laying out the clothes for a day of travel. e. hanging out with mason & hayes while we visited chris & layneehanging out with beth & tommy. more later!

Mexico

Where do I start? I’m now getting settled in from our vacation to Mexico, and I can’t wait to catch up on all of my BBF’s blogs. But first, here are a few highlights of our trip to Barcelo in Playa del Carmen.

Our trip to this all-inclusive resort was filled with great food and tons of sun. Since Lance is recovering from his 2nd surgery, we layed low off the water sports. But we did enjoy running on the beach, water aerobics, beachside yoga (okay, those were me), ocean big-wheels, good reads, holding lizards & exotic birds, and a trip to Coba. We had SUCH a great time.

As for traveling without our best little buddy? SO worth it. My sis-in-law kept E, and posted pictures on her (private) blog. That was SOOO nice to check in every couple of days & get updates. Yesterday E had the biggest smile on his face when we saw him. It made us super happy!!!

Anyway, it’s nice to be home. It’s also nice to be missed. No matter how great a vacation is, there’s no place like home.

strolling through playathose are our "ocean big-wheels," along w/some other ocean toys.here's us in the ocean for water aerobics - look close, you'll find mea home in coba that we visitedafter a dinner date, with our hotel in the background

Hola!

That's right, Laurie. We're fresh off the plane from Mexico. And we had the world's greatest reunion with our little baby boy!!! More to come later...