Colorado Trip

I've heard many people say that vacation with an infant is not a vacation since you still have to take care of the baby, but once again I am happy to say that was not true for us. This past weekend we drove to the Denver area to visit Micah's sister's family and Micah's parents (who drove up from southern Colorado for the weekend) and I can happily report that I did not wash a single bottle piece all weekend which was a welcome relief to my dry, cracked fingers. Plus, Micah and I went out for a drink Friday night by ourselves and Saturday night with Micah's sister and her husband, and on Saturday afternoon the two of us went to an outlet mall alone since his parents were very willing to babysit. All of these things plus general help with the baby duties definitely made me feel like I was on vacation!

Traveling with infants, on the other hand, proved to be more difficult this time since Alexis, Jack, and Faith are much more mobile than they were in December when we did the six hour drive to Ouray, CO. The drive to Micah's sister's house should take 6.5 hours, but with our babes it took us 8.5 hours on the way there and 9.5 on the way back. So when I say it felt like a vacation I am only referring to Friday and Saturday since we didn't travel on those days, but the drive was worth it to see family and have a bit of a break.

We left Thursday around 1:00 and drove 3.5 hours to Trinidad, CO. We planned our drive around the afternoon nap in hopes that all three would sleep extra long (usually they sleep for about two hours in the afternoon), but only Faith slept well. Jack was awake but content and Alexis was having a bit of a rough time during the last hour.

Our stop in Trinidad was actually a lot of fun as we found a grassy spot in the shade to feed bottles and play on a blanket. We then walked a few blocks to a restaurant where we had ordered takeout from and then walked back to our spot for a picnic (we had pizza and the babes had their purees). We were in Trinidad slightly less than two hours and then we hit the road for the last three hour stretch. The second half of the drive proved to be more challenging as the girls could not really get comfortable and sleep so Micah and I both did a lot of singing and I recited a couple of their favorite books a few times to keep the babes content for as long as possible. Although they did fall asleep eventually, every bump in the road seemed to wake Lexi up which she was not happy about. Around 9:30 we made it to our destination.

Stretching out after a 3.5 hour drive to Trinidad (l to r: F, A, J)

Picnic dinner (l to r: F, A)

Although we mostly just hung out at Micah's sister's house with the babes due to nap times and logistics, it was a lot of fun watching them interact with their older cousins (4.5, 2.5, and 16 months). The babes also had a lot of fun playing with their cousin's toys, hanging out with their aunt and uncle, and of course hanging out with Grammy and Grandpa.

Alexis exploring

Faith and Jack exploring

Cole pushed Alexis all the way to the frozen yogurt shop and back!

Cash showing Jack how the car works

Grammy with Faith and Archer

Jack and Alexis playing in the backyard

Jack loved this car!

Faith and Alexis with Micah

Jack, Alexis, and Faith with their Aunt Becca on her birthday

L to R: Cole, Jack, Cash, Faith, Archer, Lexi

It was hard to get them to sit still and smile for a pic. Cash was the most difficult to get to sit still at 16 months so I guess it will be hard to get good pics of our trio soon!

Faith and Lexi with their Uncle James

The one thing I was most worried about going into our trip was how the babes would sleep not only in a different place but also in one room since we currently have them separated during naps and at night. I was thrilled that all three slept great, besides Faith waking up between 3:00 and 5:00 for an extra bottle which is the norm these days so we were ready for that.

Since we did not want to get home super late on Sunday, we decided to leave around 9:00 a.m. for our drive home. As it was the daytime and normally our babes drink bottles, eat solids, and spend quite a bit of time playing on the floor during the day, we knew we would need to stop more frequently on our way home. We ended up stopping three times (twice for bottles and once for solids), and sadly there was quite a bit of crying between the second stop and home, especially from Lexi. But the important part is that we made it safely and overall it was a great trip.

In Pueblo, CO, our first stop (l to r: F, J, A)

In Raton, NM, our second stop (l to r: J, F, A (behind))

J, F, A

J, F, A

In Las Vegas, NM, our third stop (F, A, J)

Happy to be home! L to R: Faith, Alexis, Jack

Now we are getting ready for our trip to Michigan in 11 days! We are hopeful that plane travel will be easier since we will be able to entertain Alexis, Jack, and Faith much more easily since we won't be driving and Micah's mom will be along which will give us a 1:1 adult to baby ratio.