We Heart Colorado

While we usually head south during Spring Break (the only time of year that Tim isn't bound to any snow plowing or lawn care contracts), we decided to venture west this year for a change of pace (and we figured it would be hard to relax on a beach with an active 15 month old). It was a pretty easy decision for us since if we had "another life," we'd choose to live in Colorado (plus, Mom and Dad O graciously gave us a deal on a condo through their timeshare). We LOVE it here!

Our family adventure began early Thursday morning with a drive to Chicago where our brother and sister in law, Matt and Kelly, live. Kelly graciously transported us and all of our gear to the airport. For those of you who know me, I can get a little frenzied with making sure everything is organized and planned out and running smoothly before/while leaving for trips. I tried really hard to just to "roll with the punches" while preparing to leave this week and Thursday was no exception despite the "circumstances" which challenged me otherwise:

Despite waking up super early, Teagan decidd to not sleep on the way to Chicago....I was counting on the fact that she would, knowing she most likely wouldn't sleep on the plane, making an already challenging situation more challenging (making an active 15 month old stay on our lap for over 4 hours).

We found great deals on airline tickets several months back and decided that although we enjoy road trips, 4 hours on a plane with a 15 month old was better than 24 in a car. I was very proud of my packing skills....we only had one suitcase we would have to check in (Northwest now charges for each piece of luggage checked) and Tim and I each had a carry on suitcase we were planning to take with us on the plane. I could take her diaper bag on the plane without it counting towards the carry on limit and we also had a stroller and Kelty back pack that we could check at the gate for free since it was baby gear. Whew.

Well, my "perfect plan" proved not to be so perfect after all. The piece of luggage that we checked in was apparently 2 pounds "overweight" according to Northwest's policy. It was going to cost us $90 to check it unless I took out 2 pounds worth of stuff. Apparently, a box of crackers, a couple of books, a blanket and a bottle of hairspray (which ended up in the trash since I could't take this on the plane) proved to weigh 7 pounds (whatever) and were transferred to my now disorganized carry on luggage. We were good to go or so we thought. Upon arriving at the gate to the plane, we were told that the plane was too small for our carry on luggage so they had to take it along with stroller and backpack and put in in storage underneath the plane. To say the least, I was not happy as one of these carry on's was packed with some food and new lil' activities/toys I had bought special for Teagan to occupy her on the plane ride. While the whole plane waited for us, I scrambled to transfer and stuff as much food and trinkets into the diaper bag (the only thing I could actually take with us on the plane) and with the help of my more rational thinking husband, reminded myself that all would be okay. :) After finding our seats on the small plane and trying to get comfortable while crammed with Teagan on our lap, we were informed that there was going to be a delay due to weather in Memphis (where we had a layover). Although delays can be frustrating (but understandable), we've discovered they take on a whole new level of frustration when traveling with an active, over tired, hungry child! Over an hour later, and after exhausting most of our "special activities/distractions", the plane finally took off. The hour and 1/2 flight to Memphis seemed to take four hours but we survived (barely) and landed just in time to do a diaper change, transfer some new toys to the diaper bag and take off for another 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Denver. Since Teagan was spent from the first leg of the journey (okay, us too), I prayed for an extra measure of strength for the second leg since without God's intervention, the 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Denver was not going to be pretty. Praise God for helping us through! Amazingly, Teagan did much better this leg of the journey (sticking one of her special new toys, a pack of gel cling-on flowers, to the back of the seat proved to be a highlight and a lengthy distraction for our lil' one) and after just a short melt-down, she fell asleep for the last 45 minutes of the flight. Many people on the plan (who graciously played many rounds of "peek-a-boo" with her), commented on how well she did. We are quite proud of our Teagie Bear and for her endurance during this VERY long day!

Well, we landed in Denver and the mountain view made all things better. :) We stayed the night in Denver where the Lord blessed us with a good nights rest after an exhausting day. Yesterday morning we got in our rental car and took a beautiful 6 hour drive south to Pagosa Springs where we'll be staying for the remainder of the week. Pagosa is about an hour away from Durango where I worked as a camp counselor one summer 8 years ago. We're looking forward to taking a day trip there so I can show Tim the camp and reminisce of days past. :) We're also looking forward to doing some hiking and checking out the hot springs here in town! Right now Teagan is sleeping and Tim and I are relaxing and looking forward to continuing to soak in some good family time together!

We're looking forward to a great week and hope you all have one as well!









We taught Teagan how to "pop" her ears when they got plugged from going up and down the mountains (she kept putting her fingers in her ears...poor baby didn't know what was going on). We don't know if this actually helps her, but it's been cute watching her try. :)


We woke up to several inches of snow this morning! Yikes! Supposedly it's suppose to warm up over the next few days so that's good news. :)