Over the last weekend in September (the 24-27th) we made a long/quick trip to Colorado for an old friend of Eric's wedding. It was a busy trip, with not much down time, and definitely very quick, but it turned out to be pretty fun. Braylee was a GREAT traveler (mostly thanks to Kristin Hammler who lent us their portable DVD player for the car) - Braylee was memorized! Between her movies/snacks/napping we made the 8+ drive with no major meltdowns - INCREDIBLE!! Here is a little breakdown of what our days consisted of, pictures included:
-Made the ridiculously long drive to Littleton, CO (just outside of Denver)
-Checked into the hotel
-Ordered Pizza Hut for dinner :)
-Went swimming with Braylee (see pictures below)
Getting ready to hit the road!
Stopped in Wyoming for a lunch/play break
Braylee was not super thrilled for this photo...
However, once we got to the pool, she was much happier :)
Playing in the water with daddy - it was FREEZING!!!
She got the biggest kick out of standing on the edge and "jumping" to daddy!
Just keep swimming...
Daddy and Daughter :)
-Woke up leisurely, well sort of...we couldn't figure out the "extra dark curtains" in the room and so Braylee was up about 7...ugh
-Eric made a breakfast run to the "SUPER Target" and got us muffins/milk
for breakfast...this was after we learned that breakfast at our hotel WAS NOT
continental (we will NOT be staying at a Marriott anytime in the near future, or
ever again, not cool!) ~ They also didn't have soda or snack machines...period.
-Braylee and I stayed behind while Eric went to rehearsal at noon - Luckily Braylee
was able to get a small nap in....then Eric picked us up on the way to lunch.
-We went to rehearsal lunch at a yummy italian place called Maggiano's Little Italy...
the food was really good and Braylee did pretty well, only got a little fussy at the end
-After rehearsal, the entire wedding party and spouses/dates went to a MLB game at
Coors Field ~ Rockies vs. Cardinals...that was really cool and Braylee did so good!
After the game we headed home and went to sleep.
The big city
Coors Field - a night of Major League Baseball
Getting ready to watch some baseball - we got special stroller access :)
-Got up early so that we could make it to the Denver Zoo by 9am opening time!!
-Spent the entire morning/afternoon at the Denver Zoo ~ It was AWESOME! I think
I may have enjoyed it more than Braylee :) (lots of pics to follow)
-The wedding was at 6pm, but Eric had to be there at 4 for pictures...Eric's friend,
Zach, and him took the shuttle to the wedding site so Braylee and I could hang back
let her get a nap in before the wedding (didn't happen). Then, Zach's wife Natalie,
met me at the hotel and we drove to the wedding. It was at a really cool little place
in Parker, CO called "The Villa Parker" (click on that to see their website) - the
wedding and reception were both there which was really nice. They also had onsite
babysitting, so Braylee went and played in there a little bit (however, it made me
pretty nervous so she only spent about 1 hour in there, if that!) We stayed pretty
late at the reception and then headed back to the hotel and straight to bed!
YAY! I am about 100% certain I was the most excited :)
Braylee and daddy posing at the start of the zoo
A hungry hippo...
A SUPER stinky rhino
Heading into monkey territory...
I do not remember what this thing was...only that it had a huge red behind, with sores on it...and it kept poking its rear end and then putting its fingers in its mouth :(
OOoooooo....time for the BIG monkeys...
These gorillas were seriously surreal...
I was certain that these gorillas were men in suits...they acted so "human-like" it was creepy!
Big lazy bears...
Mr. cheetah
We ate at this little grill in the zoo for lunch - it was pretty good
Elephants
Momma and Braylee with the bronze hippos
Zebra friend
Sleepy Warthog
Meester Bison
This little guy was RIGHT up in your business...I was just waiting for him to urinate...
This alligator was scary - his weird rotating eye
Camels
Giraffes...prob my favorite animal there besides the gorillas...these things are HUGE!!
Baby giraffe
The pacing tiger...
Ostrich...this thing looked like it was about to attack
Lions
After about4 hours at the zoo, Braylee was spent :)
Happy little family :)
Eric and Braylee with "Uncle" Jon
-Nothing exciting, just our long drive back home...it was SOOOO nice to sleep in our
own bed (except for the fact that is wasn't king size with a pillow top matress and tons
of glorious pillows!) and to get back in our routine.
This is the little tree we've had since we were first married (I bought it at Walmart for like $15 when I lived with some girlfriends in college) and we've just used it every year until this year when my parents got a new tree and gave us their old bigger one - we were so excited cause now we have our little one in our bedroom!!!
Bought this cool plaque at Real Deals last year
Christmas table setting - I was pretty pumped cause I threw together the centerpiece! :)
Our little wooden nativity
All three stockings! This is one of my favorite Christmas accessories because my Grandma Lillian made all three!! I've had mind since I was born and she gave Eric's to him the first Christmas we were married...obviously, Braylee got hers last year!! So special to have!!
Holly Berry tree and Santa's cookie plate!
