I flew with the kiddos and all of our gear a few days before Erik. The thing with flying solo with kids is that there is NO downtime. You're always ON, constantly doing something, feeding someone, finding snacks, turning on movies, adjusting headphones, distracting, entertaining, explaining how every part of the plane works, showing how the seat belt works 50x, and reminding why we cannot touch the neighbor in the seat next to us (yes, Tyler thought that was funny for awhile....).
Anyway, the boys really were good the whole flight. I was exhausted but that was expected.
The gear to fly 2 toddlers (and 1 mommy): 2 car seats, a cot, 1 small kid suitcase, 1 large suitcase, 1 backpack and 1 stroller. Phew!
It's really hard getting through security when your son refuses to take his mask off....
We're on a plane! So Tyler was under 2 on the way there and sat on my lap...he's like a little heat ball and I was sweating the whole way there! But hey, it saved a couple hundred bucks so well worth it.
Tyler kept saying "airplane" and "what's that" over and over
It was all fun and games until we actually took off.....then the plane got really loud, the air pressure changed, and Tyler was not a fan. He clung to me like a spider monkey for a solid hour. He had this freaked out look on his face and kept biting on his fingers.
That's not a smile...that's a look of pure fear and BIG eyes! "MOM, WHAT ARE WE INSIDE OF!?"
As the flight progressed, Tyler cheered up especially after he saw big brother having fun.
Good thing they have tiny buts and we turned 2 seats into 3 (ha, I'll show you Southwest!)
We arrived! NIAAAA!!!!
We made it to Colorado and the boys were immediately spoiled with gifts! This sums up Tyler's ball obsession!
New Legos!
The sweetest sleeping face EVER! He was pooped considering he went to bed at 11 p.m. Mountain/1 a.m. Eastern Time after traveling!
On our first day, we visited with my good friend Amy and her son Sam. Amy & I have been friends for almost 8 years and it's fun watching our little men grow together!
Evan with his silly face......
Evan & Sam - July 2012
Evan, Sam & Tyler August 2015
On day two, we visited with my friend Marcie, Sheila and Sarah. So fun seeing all of our kiddos together!
Miss Marcie bought some boy toys for our visit! :)
Tyler & Ellie, sweethearts!
Visiting with my friend Katie who I've known almost 20 years now! She lives in Colorado with her family now so I see her between CO & MI (where she's from). Her family built a beautiful home and pool and we enjoyed some swim time!
When you're in Colorado, fitness happens OUTDOORS! Love what they did with this place in Castle Rock, building this 500 step incline with a trail to to the bottom. We went here twice during our visit. The first time, I carried Tyler to the top (holy smokes, quite a workout!). The second time, Evan did this TWICE with us!
Tyler headed up and Evan about 20 steps up from him
We made it!!
Colorado does parks right! This is from the top of the steps. You can see several play structures and also the zip line tower which went over all of Castle Rock.
Helping his brother down the trail :)
Playtime after our workout
My friend Sarah. She's also from MI but lives in CO now.
Nia & Guh have a great park in their neighborhood which we visited almost every day (sometimes at 6:00 a.m. when Tyler was WIDE AWAKE and wanted to play while everyone slept....).
Nia, I love how you care for my kiddos, THANK YOU for being part of our family!
Such a fun playground with cool things to climb on / in
Erik made it to Colorado on Wednesday of our trip. We went to dinner the next night to celebrate Tyler's birthday and to thank Nia & Guh for taking our crazy family in for 8 days!
HAHA, love this pic
During the 8 years we lived in Colorado, we never visited Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, 6,200-6,500 ft. in elevation). WOW, what an AMAZING place!!
I bought a selfie stick for our trip.....people may make fun of those, but they are really awesome and fun for pics!
I bought a selfie stick for our trip.....people may make fun of those, but they are really awesome and fun for pics!
Some info on Garden of the Gods rock formations: The outstanding geologic features of the park are the ancient sedimentary beds of deep-red, pink and white sandstones, conglomerates and limestone that were deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted into "fins" by the immense mountain building forces caused by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains & Pikes Peak.
Lots of rock climbers out on this beautiful day
The boys loved running around the rocks, climbing and getting dirty!
Kissing Camels rock
Had to get a kissing pic in front of Kissing Camels!
Selfie with my little men
Group selfie
And of course one with silly faces!
Ah, the mountains....I miss these views we used to get daily!
A mountain loving family :)
"Mom look! I'm mountain climbing!"
Nia & Tyler exploring (or more like Nia keeping Tyler from falling off a cliff!)
Very cool that we were allowed to climb on everything and really explore
My boys love exploring!
Love his adventurous spirit
Our dear friends Dave & Tammy. We've known them 10 years now! Dave and Erik worked together and Dave is one of Erik's mentor's from Lockheed. They have been close friends for a long time and it was great catching up with them. This occasion called for the selfie stick!
Erik & I enjoyed a night out attending Sheila & Paul's wedding at the Colorado Golf Club. Such a beautiful venue and wedding. Lots of fun celebrating my dear friend with great food, drinks and catching up with friends at the wedding.
Wedding selfie with my Red Robin buddies, past & present!
Dana & Amy, my office support team!
Loved the golf course views and the wedding party colors
Sarah & I both enjoying a night away from the kiddos! Sarah started as my intern at Red Robin and I've enjoyed working with her and now having her as a friend as her career has moved on.
The selfie stick was a hit at the wedding
More of my RR buddies
Selfies with the bride!
Sheila and Nicole (Matron of Honor), both great friends. Fun seeing them when I can!
Love the men photo-bombing our selfie!
Steven, great friend & co-worker who supports me a lot from Denver
Of course the selfie stick made it to the dance floor!
Our trip to Colorado was obviously filled with a lot of visits with friends, adventure and FUN! The best thing about the trip though was celebrating his 2nd birthday. Two years has just flown by and I've loved every happy, tiring minute of it. :)
"Balloons!"
Cake from my absolute FAVORITE place EVER - Nothing Bundt Cakes. A chocolate chip bundt cake with cream cheese frosting. SOOO good!
Celebrated Tyler's birthday with our long-time friends from Michigan, in Colorado. Doug & Liz (MSU friends....they also were at the lake house this summer with us) live in Ft. Collins and drove down to the Denver area for the day to visit with us.
Happy 2nd birthday sweet Baby T! I'll post more about your birthday and other fun stuff in another post. :)
Presents!
Tyler LOVES Curious George and now has his own stuffed George. Love his excitement in this picture. Pure joy, pure perfect. :)
Such a good boy, reading his card
Thanks Nia!
Our group keeps growing with more kiddos! Love it! :)
Story time on our last night in CO :(
Love his face here - pure excitement!
Our trip to Colorado was full of memories we'll always remember. We're so blessed to have such great friends in Colorado and despite the miles between all of us, I'm so happy we can still stay so close. It was special to take the boys to where Erik and I started our life together - and where Evan was born! I know we'll be back to visit again! Evan still talks about rock climbing and airplanes (Tyler too! He says "airport!" every time he sees a plane. :)
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