Colorado!

So last week we took the kids to Colorado. We were only there for a few days, but we had a blast. We left Dallas on Thursday afternoon and drove to Amarillo. We stopped a few times to let the kiddos stetch their legs and to eat, but for the most part, we made good time. We got to Amarillo at around 8:00 or so, I think. We found a hotel, and I took the kids upstairs to the room while Rick unloaded the truck. The amount of stuff you need when you travel with kids is already insane, but when you have to take snow gear too, well, there's just a LOT of stuff. So anyway, I took the kids up to the room, and when we walked in the door, Jillian's little face lit up, and as she looked around, she said, "oh, coooooool." It was a pretty cool room.

We got up pretty early the next day so we could drive to Breckenridge, by way of the Gorge Bridge thing. It wasn't really on the way, but it wasn't far, and Rick really wanted to drive over it. But we got there, and you could only walk across. I always have fears of things like that, I could just see one of the kids getting curious and falling overboard. That's what's going through my mind as we were getting them out and into the stroller to make our way across the bridge. It's like 10,000 feet above the gorge, or something. (I may be exaggerating there, but I think it really is that high!). Anyway, fortunately for me, the tickets just to walk across were like $25 each, and we had to pay for the kids. So we decided it wasn't worth it.

In the car, Jake amused himself quite well. He was in the middle, facing backwards, so he didn't even get to look out the window. But he slept, and ate, and just kind of twiddled his thumbs, I guess. He had a few toys, but he's just content kind of sitting there and thinking, I guess. I relied on Jillian to tell me when he was sleeping, since she had a better view of him. One time, I asked her, "is Jake sleeping?" She said, "no, he's not sleeping. He's awake. He's WAKING, mommy." Jillian spent her time looking out the window trying to spot cows, and watching her Dora movies. The "movies' were really just three regular length TV shows all on one DVD. I swear she probably watched those three episodes (at least one of which I know she's seen at home on TV) AT LEAST 10 times each. At least. I think it rotted her brain enough each time that she didn't realize that she was watching the same ones over and over. But she didn't cry or whine, so everyone was happy.

Once we got to Breckenridge and reached the hotel, we did the same drill. I took the kids up while Rick did the hard work unloading the truck. It was pretty late in the afternoon, so we just went and got food and brought it back to the hotel. Then it was lights out for the kiddos. Oh, and at some point that evening, Jillian told us that "getting to see the baby cows" was the best part of her trip thus far. It's the little things, apparently.

On Saturday, we spent the day looking for snow and a good place to go sledding. We went to Vail, but decided not to try our luck there. We also went into Breckenridge, but it turned out that the best place to sled was right in Frisco (which is just outside of Breckenridge, where our hotel was). By that time though, it had started to snow pretty good, and the wind was blowing like crazy, so it was really cold. We got the kids bundled up in their snow pants, jackets, boots, hats, and mittens, and walked over to the hill. Very shortly after that, Jake started screaming and wouldn't stop. Turns out that Jake is not such a fan of the cold. The place where we were was just a big open field, with nothing to block the wind, so we decided to look for something a little more secluded. Finally we found a city playground, with tons of stuff for kids to play on. Covered in snow. It was really pretty. Seriously, it was a FUN playground. We re-dressed Jillian in her gear and let her run wild. Jake stayed in the truck, with the heater on, and decided to nap. The truck was parked close, so we took turns staying with him. Jillian had a blast. She especially liked going down the slides - the combo of snow on them and the snow pants made for some fast sliding! She thought it was great! When we left there, we decided to go back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Our plan was to go into Breckenridge, but by the time we got there, both kids were sleeping in their carseats. We turned around and got some Subway.

During the night that night, I woke up several times with some severe chest pain. I assumed it had to do with the altitude, so I kept trying to go back to sleep. When we got up, I did some internet research and learned that chest pain was a sign of severe altitude sickness. I didn't have any of the signs of mild altitude sickness though. We decided to drive down to Denver, where the elevation is about half what it is in Breckenridge. We had breakfast in Denver, and by the time we were done eating, the pain in my chest was gone. After some discussion, we decided to return to Breckenridge to see if the pain came back, and if so, I'd seek treatment there, so that Rick could at least take the kids back to the hotel, rather than being stuck with them in Denver. As it turns out though, the pain never came back once we returned to Breckenridge.

We spent the rest of Sunday sledding and building a snowman, which didn't really turn out that great. There was snow, but most of what was on the ground had iced over and wasn't really great for sticking together. The layer on top was decent, but there just wasn't a ton of it. So we did the best we could. Notice how he kind of lacks a neck. Jillian thought he was pretty great though.

Sunday evening, we walked around downtown Breckenridge, which is quite nice. We had dinner and went back to the hotel. The window in our room looked onto the indoor pool, and Jillian discovered it on Sunday night. I think she spent about an hour or so just looking at the "kids" in the water.

On the way home, we took a different route, in order to stay on some highways. I had purchased some new movies for Jillian to give her a break from the Dora movies. She had Diego, a new Dora, and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She split her time between Dora and Diego, and watched them over and over and over again all the way home. Probably for about 10 hours. Yes, brain cells were rotting. Oh, and I should add that Rick drove the entire way - there and back. Don't call him a hero though, its more that he is stubborn as all get out. He thinks I'm a bad driver. Whatever.

At dinner on Monday night, we ate at a cute little restaurant with a mechanical horse. Jillian rode it at least three times. Our little cowgirl. Oh, and she had her brand new sippy cup, which she was quite proud of, but when the waitress brough refills for Rick and I, we heard Jillian say, "where's mine, lady?" Fortunately, she had already started walking away, so I don't think the waitress heard her.

We spent Tuesday at home, trying to rest and get back to normal. We unpacked, cleaned the house a bit, and got ready for work on Wednesday. Jillian talked about the snow a lot, and was upset when I did laundry and put her snowsuit away. Maybe we'll get some snow here in Dallas this month, and she can wear it again. Jake, however, was just happy to be home in the warm weather.