Colorado

We took our first family vacation this summer. Vacation here is defined as something longer than a weekend trip and did not involve seeing any family members or friends. Daddy wanted to try this last year but I didn't think changing time zones and altitude would be such a great idea for a 2-1/2 year old. I didn't think it was the greatest idea this year either, but I reluctantly agreed.

As anticipated, Amelia did not adjust to the time zone change. She was up at 4:30 am and completely wired by 10:30 am from being so off of her routine, diet, etc. Her eating was sporadic but not completely worrisome. She did wind up with diarrhea on the plane ride home which was not fun for her or me. I felt really bad for her because she couldn't help it and the bathroom was occupied.

Also as anticipated, she wasn't that interested in some of the things we were interested in doing. One of our main destinations was Garden of the Gods. She was completely uninterested in walking around, so Daddy sat with her on a bench and let her play while I walked around snapping pictures. She did like the visitor center at Garden of the Gods - they had a buffalo that she could sit on in the lobby area, an elevator!, and best of all we could buy her a pencil in the gift shop so she could imitate the art students she saw in the park drawing mountains. She could not wait to get a chance to draw once she figured out what they were doing. She was completely fascinated by them and how they were just sitting on the ground in various spots throughout the park with big pads of blank paper to fill with scenery.


Our first destination was Pike's Peak Cog Railway. The little town it is in, Manitou Springs, is a neat little touristy town and the ride up the mountain was gorgeous. We sat across from three Japanese tourists who seemed to like Amelia.


Amelia did enjoy time in the hotel pool almost every day and we also took her a couple of times to a park we found in Manitou Springs where she had a ball.


In Denver, there was a Children's Museum practically across the street from our hotel and I decided to take her there Saturday while Daddy went to the railroad museum in Golden. Amelia really enjoyed herself at the museum playing with their fabric garden - harvesting and then planting large carrots and rutabagas. She would put them in one of the beautiful handwoven baskets and then "re-plant" them. The museum also had a craft room for coloring and painting. A favorite of hers was a room with an underground habitat and a handful of costumes. She had the opportunity to dress as an ant and loved it. She's been talking about being an ant for weeks now, so that day she became one. The picture is blurry but the pure joy is unmistakable. She made friends with a little boy dressed as a rat and they had fun chasing each other around.

She also rode the little train they had out front. She insisted on the pink car - maybe because it was the first one in the line. She seems to like things in order. Whenever she's given an option for something, she almost always picks the first thing offered.

After the museum, Daddy came to pick us up and we all rode the streetcar on tracks that ran along the river in front of the museum. Behind the tracks there was an amusement park and Amelia kept asking how old she had to be to ride the big roller coaster. She is definitely a daredevil in the making!

That night we went to Drums Along the Rockies and Amelia was so excited about going to a drum corps show. She really enjoyed herself and I bought her a Blue Devils t-shirt (since they're my favorite) and we also bought her an Amelia-sized colorguard flag from the Colts (one of the corps where Daddy used to volunteer). I think she's a natural, although we do hope she'll be a brass player like us.

We are glad to be home and will probably stay in our own time zone for the next couple of years.

[pictures dated 7/8-7/11/09]