Two Weeks in Telluride: Part 1

We had a great two weeks in southwestern Colorado--our first extended vacation as a family of four. We rented a cabin in Mountain Village, a short gondola ride from the beautiful mountain town of Telluride. After a flight into Denver, we embarked on a very long drive--8 painful hours. About four hours west of Denver, we saw one of the forest fires that the state was battling this summer, a surreal sight.

The kids were good sports in spite of the long trip, thanks to lots of snacks and new toys. We finally made it to our place just as the sun was going down. 


We woke up to amazing mountain views the next morning, and it was all worthwhile.

We spent our first days riding the gondola up and down the mountain, exploring and adjusting to the altitude. The weather was lovely: in the 70s and 80s during the day and 50s at night. This was a big relief compared to the temps in the 90s at home. Our cabin didn't even have air conditioning.

The cabin was managed by the Peaks Hotel, across the street, so we had access to the hotel's pool, spa and workout rooms. We spent many afternoons poolside.

Other days, we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain and looked down over Telluride and Mountain Village. We never got tired of the views. Here are a few photos from about 10,500 feet.

Up next: the 4th of July and the beautiful town of Ouray.

11 Month Baby M

He can't possibly be nearly 1! A few developments this month:

• He scoots along furniture.
• He loves to walk around holding hands or pushing a walker.
• Not only does he want to go up the stairs, but he loves to go down them holding our hands.
• He's becoming more expressive and opinionated: pointing when he wants something; whining when he doesn't.
• He says "duck" and "dog," which basically sound the same. 
• He nods his head, "yes," and shakes his head, "no."
• He helps put toys away. When we say, "time to clean up," he puts toys into his toy basket.
• He loves to read books, as long as he can turn the pages. Current favorites include "Barnyard Dance," "Goodnight Moon," and "In My Tree."

Past monthly photos:

Millions of Peaches

Peaches are in season around here, and the boys can't get enough of them. Especially this guy. 

Kent handed him the whole fruit the other day, and he ate the whole thing. He was a sticky, dripping mess when he was done. But he loved it so much he cried when we took it away.

Happy 4th of July!

Veggies

I  know I shouldn't be complaining because a lot of parents can't get their kids to eat vegetables, but we have the reverse problem in our house. We have to beg Grant to eat proteins. This is a typical conversation at dinner:

 G: "More cucumber please!" 

Me: "Eat your dinner first."

G nibbles at his dinner. 

"I ate a bite! More cucumber please!"

"Just take two more bites, and then you can have more cucumber."

I recently bought a veggie tray for a block party, but the block party was rained out. So that night after dinner, when I asked Grant what he wanted for dessert, I kid you not, he said, "veggies, please, veggies." He begged me for the veggie tray for dessert. Which we gladly gave him.

Poor kid thinks veggies are for dessert. I must get more sweets in his diet.

Pretend

A heat wave has kept us inside recently, where we are building forts and playing with animals. As Grant's vocabulary grows, his pretend play has become more imaginative. His animal friends ride the train to his Lego zoo, fly to his fort and then go home to take naps. And he frequently tells them the rules: "You need to be a good listener, Elephant. You need to tell Mommy when you need to go potty, Giraffe. You can't push Miles, Zebra." His play continues at dinnertime, when he pretends that his pasta is a mammoth, his carrots are race cars. And they are often chasing each other, around and around his bowl.

It's sweet to see him get lost in his world of things that he loves.

Weekend Scenes: A Rainy Camping Trip

Ever since G read a Curious George book about camping, we've been promising him we would take him for a night in the woods. So on Saturday morning, we packed up the car, dropped off Miles with Grandma and headed about an hour away to camp near Lake Red Rock. It was a hot, humid day, but there were no clouds in the sky when we left Des Moines.

This is how much stuff we had in the car for one night of camping.

We went for a short hike before finding our campsite, but Grant, having skipped his afternoon nap, got tired quickly and wanted to be carried.

A big draw of camping for him was sleeping under the stars with animals, so he was excited to see some deer tracks in the sand.

We didn't see any deer, but he did spot a bunny.

When we got to our campsite, we set up the tent while G took a rest and picked flowers. Note the dark clouds over his shoulder...

Sure enough, just as Kent finished setting up the tent, it started to rain lightly.

But soon it was pouring. So we got into the tent to stay dry. G was tired and laid down in his sleeping bag.

Then we saw lightning. Time to get out of there. We got in the car and drove to the nearest town to kill some time and check the weather.

The forecast wasn't so good: heavy rain with a chance of hail until 8 that evening. So we decided to throw in the towel. Back to the very wet campsite to pack up again.

In the meantime, G fell asleep.

We headed back home, where we enjoyed oven s'mores and our own cozy beds instead.

{By the way, it has been a record dry spring in Iowa. We've had so little rain that our grass is brown and crunchy. We are just that lucky to pick this weekend for camping.}