::pictures are at the very bottom of the post::
We had a blast in Denver! It was Adam and Parker's first time and it was so good to have the whole family there. Jacob was most excited about throwing snowballs, building a snowman and going to Mymo's adventure...that is what he calls My Gym. If you call it "My Gym", he says "no, it's not YOUR gym, it's MY gym!!!"
Friday: The boys did really good on the plane. Parker took 3 cat naps and Jacob watched movies, ate a tone and finally fell asleep at 10pm our time. It was a long flight, but uneventful and the boys did great. We went straight to bed once we got to the Hobby's house.
Saturday: We were so excited that Juli and Thomas had the weekend off and could play!!! We drove 1.5hrs to Winter Park. On the way, you get on this winding, mountain road that is 30min long with no exits. That was the longest part as I had to pee so badly...my pain provided great entertainment for the entire family.
Once there, we went snow tubing. That was so much fun! There is a "lift" that takes you to the top and there are different grades of hills you can go down. Jacob went down only once and that was because the only way back to the bottom was to go down the hill. He was just super excited to throw snowballs and build a snowman. I don't think I have ever seen him so excited. He had a blast playing in the snow and we had a blast going down the steep hills (we even went down riding on our belly on the tubes!).
Sunday: We went to church with the Hobbys. It was so fun to see where they go. Their church is part of the same group of churches that our church is a part of. We then went to Red Robin for lunch...it is everything the commercial and jingle promise and more. So yummy!
The guys went hiking in the Rocky Mountains and us girls took the boys home to nap and just relax. The guys had a blast. They hiked 6miles and were bummed to have to stop and come home (it was getting dark). Adam wants to have an entire day to hike next time we visit!
Monday: We took the boys to a class at My Gym. It was Adam's first time there. Jacob was super excited. He was so ready to play. I think he would be happy if we let him live at My Gym. Parker even seemed to enjoy all of the colors and excitement.
After the class, we left the boys with Aunt Juli and Uncle Thomas and we headed to Winter Park to go snowmobiling. We had so much fun! Our guide came out and said "I'm Rockin' Rob! I'm going to be your guide today, but first I'm going to go and throw back 3 or 4 chicken wings." When he came back, he had chicken wing sauce on his mouth and all over his fingers...we knew then that we were going to have a good ride!
It was just Adam and I on our tour. We were pretty excited about that. We had so much fun. It was beautiful. When we got to the top of the mountain, a storm was starting to roll in and it was really windy and cold. It was crazy to look around and see the side of the mountain on one side and a continuous sea of white snow on the other.
We went on an extra 8 miles of trails since we didn't have anyone else with us! We were on wider trails, narrow/steep trails, trails where on one side you had built up snow and on the other the mountain dropped off. We were able to go slow in parts and enjoy the scenery and then in other parts go really fast! We each had our own snowmobile.
We got to a big, open area and got to play. I followed a path Adam had made through the soft snow and I was having trouble making the turn so I slowed down...big mistake! Next thing I knew, I was tipping myself and my snowmobile over. It was a very slow roll and didn't hurt either of us. The snow was up to my knees! Another time, I had trouble turning again (it took me until about the end of the trip to get the hang of how hard you really had to crank the handle bars to turn hard) and I ran into a few tree branches. Fun stuff! We definitely will be snowmobiling again!
Tuesday: By Tuesday we were ready for a more relaxed day. After Parker's morning nap (the first real one he had gotten the entire trip!), Adam and I took the boys to the butterfly pavilion. Jacob loved seeing all of the bugs. He kept saying "cool!" I didn't care for the roaches at all and thought about throwing up!
There was a lobster tank and Adam told Jacob to watch out because the lobster was going to get him. Jacob freaked out! He wrapped his arms and legs around Adam so tightly and started crying. His reaction gave us a good laugh. Thankfully he relaxed quickly.
We went out into the butterfly part. It was really neat to have all of the butterflies flying around. One landed on my head and it tickled. After that, I really didn't want another one to land on me as it was just weird, but I tried to stay calm as to not freak Jacob out again. We all enjoyed watching and looking for all of the butterflies.
That night, we all went out to dinner. Jacob fell out of his chair backwards, but after that it was pretty uneventful!
Wednesday: The dreaded day! We were ready to get back to our normal schedule, but the thought of leaving Juli and Thomas was emotional. Juli was watching Analise, so we all headed to the Children's Museum. The kids seemed to enjoy it. The grocery store was a little crazy and the kids almost got run over. Jacob really like the firetruck and was afraid of the bubble room. It was good for him to be able to run around and play.
I have decided that there is nothing good about goodbyes. They just aren't fun at all! The kids did great, but you could tell both of them were ready to get home. I didn't cry too much saying goodbye, but when that plane took off, I couldn't keep the tears from falling.
The flight home was really rough. We had bad weather on the decent. Both Adam and I started to not feel well. Thankfully, Parker (who had pooped as soon as the plane took off and then cried when we couldn't change him right away because the turbulence was so bad) was perfectly calm. With about 10min left, Jacob started crying "I don't want to get on the plane!" and didn't really stop until we landed. We were all ready and glad to be back on steady land!
We had so much fun! We enjoyed it so much that Adam wants to vacation in the next year or two instead of the beach! We are so proud of Juli and Thomas and love visiting them in their beautiful state...just wish it was closer!!!
Jacob Stories:
"Is it snowing yet?"
::looks out window::
"No yet! It will when mommy wakes up."
It had just started snowing a little bit...
Jacob: "Is it gonna be big snow?"
Aunt Juli: "That's up to God."
Jacob: "It's up to OUR God!"
Aunt Juli was trying to give Parker a bottle while we were snowmobiling...
Jacob: "No, no, no! Parker doesn't want a bottle. My mommy will feed him when she gets home. You can't make milk for him, Aunt Juli, only mommy can."
