Delightful Denver

It has been a while since I've been able to blog, and I'm sorry about that. Eli and I got back Thursday night after being gone for over a week. We spent the bulk of that time in Denver meeting Eli's cousin, Asher and visiting with Aunt Theresa, Uncle Ricky, and Aunt Susanna. We had a truly delightful time while in Denver though we missed Daddy lots and he missed us.

And I will go ahead and warn you now...this is a long post with a lot of pictures. Sit back and enjoy!

The adventure started as Eli and I drove to Dunedin to stay with Grandma and Grandpap since we got a non-stop flight to Denver out of Tampa on Frontier. SOOO worth it...but more on that later. We were in Dunedin for less than 24 hours, but we still managed to swim. TWICE!

Eli had a blow out, so we let him skinny dip after that. Cute cheeks, right?

Yes, indeed! Flying direct with a toddler is awesome...as long as he can handle the longer time in the seat. And we had a wonderful experience with Frontier...TV sets at every seat. Our ticket price included the TV (though Eli actually watched more of his DVDs than the programs on the TV.)

What a great way to pass the time. And I successfully navigated the airports with our suitcase, carry-ons, car seat, and Eli in the stroller. I had PLENTY of bruises to show for it too. After many painful approaches, I figured out the best way to carry the massively awkward car seat as to not inflict any more bruises.

As for Denver....we had a great time. Asher is precious!

And Theresa and Ricky are doing wonderfully. They are natural parents; so beautiful to watch and witness my sissy and her hubby in these new roles.

Eli loves babies, so he took to Asher immediately.

We had to remind Eli many times to be gentle. I think Eli thought Asher was his baby doll. Unfortunately, you can't pick real babies up by their necks and carry them around, or play with his paci, or stick it in his mouth randomly, or play with his eyes, or bounce him vigorously like you can a baby doll. One of the best stories happened while we were cooking dinner one night....I guess we weren't paying enough attention to Asher or Eli. I turn around to find:

Eli went into the freezer and decided that Asher would like some ice cream. How thoughtful, right? Needless to say, we all got a kick out of it and laughed for quite some time. Asher didn't seem to mind one bit, but I would think it was a little cold.

We were the last of the string of family visitors out there since Asher was born, and our timing was perfect. Theresa was feeling a little more adventurous with the little dude being one month old. She was ready to get out and about, so we went to a park,

hiked Chautauqua in Boulder,

and checked out the Prehistoric Gardens Exhibit at the Botanic Gardens.

While there, we also got to celebrate Theresa's 30th birthday and Ricky's first Father's Day.

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____________________________________________Eli helped make Father's Day brownies
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We sorely missed celebrating these days with Lindsey and Daddy too.

Happy 30th Birthday, Aunt Z and Happy Father's Day, Daddy!
....and Grandpas too!

Eli was a little out of sorts in Denver...especially towards the end. He did really well considering the time change, the lack of toys, the attention being given to Asher, and helping around the house, etc, etc, etc. Because of this, we tried to find ways to get out of the house a bit on our own in our final days there...to give Aunt T and Asher a bit of a break from us.

We visited a college friend of mine and her children

and hiked in Roxborough Park with Aunt Susanna.

Sadly, our time in delightful Denver came to an end. We were happy to be heading home to Daddy, and luckily the Denver crew is headed to Tallahassee/St. George in less than a month. That is about the only thing that kept me from bawling my eyes out as we hugged our goodbyes.

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It was a pleasure to meet you, Asher! Can't wait to see you, your mom & dad, & Aunt Zanna soon! We love you all!

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