…or why I’m gonna have to mop my floor more often.
I’m all for her playing with her shadows.
But licking and blowing raspberries on the floor?
I have to mop once to make it okay, and once to get rid of the baby spit.
Maybe we should invest in Bona cleaner…
Sunday before we left the mountains, we wanted to hang around for a little while (because I lost my cell phone and was hoping that the lady who had called Luke’s phone, but wasn’t answering when we called her MIGHT actually pick up the phone BEFORE we left town, which never happened…), but with the extensive amount of white stuff on the ground, we couldn’t just go for a hike, find a park, or walk through town. And we had to check out of the condo before the shops were open, so we were limited on our activities. We decided to drive up the road a little and go to Vail. I used to get to go to Vail for work about once a year, but Luke hasn’t been up there in eons, I’m sure. We decided to walk down mainstreet (it was only raining up there, no snow), but we drove around forever to find a parking garage. And we’re glad we went that far!
We ended up finding the coolest park for Piper to play on. It would have been really fun for a little bit older kids, but they had quite a few things that were baby-friendly, too. Could you ask for prettier scenery?
They had swings, of course…
…and funny seats to sit upon. THIS thing was fun! It was a little round disc attached to four ropes. Piper sat on it, and really had to work her balance and core muscles. She also had to concentrate. Hard!
I thought these were significantly funnier than did Piper. I’m not really sure of the physics behind them, but I’m pretty sure it revolved (ha…) when the balance was offset. Piper was not too sure of her new friend, and held on for dear life…
What trip to the park would be complete without playing on giant, not-at-all-creepy granite birds?
She liked this one best- it deserved kisses. Ew.
I was really excited to find an alpine and rock garden just up the path a little further.
I was less excited when it started raining. And we were a good mile, if not more, away from the car. So our photo op was cut way too short. Just made us commit to going back up sometime this summer!
With the Pixar flick coming out, Piper thought that she needed to celebrate at the toy store.
Don’t ask me why we go half way across the state, and go up to a cute little town with all kinds of cute shops, and end up in a toy store. Guess that’s what happens when you have a munchkin in your midst.
Before we could leave, though, Piper needed to put on warmer clothes. And who better to accomplish that task than poor, inexperienced Uncle Justin??? Poor guy- every time he about got it, she pulled it off. And then the rest of us laughed at him. Thankfully, he’s a good sport. And likes his niece- just a little…
The store was pretty fun, though. Half of the floor space was dedicated to big toys that were there to climb on, play with, and, in general, convince you to buy. I am, apparently, not their target audience, but it was fun to let Piper play (especially since it was raining outside, and the roof provided a nice reprieve from the cloud bursts).
I mean, really, who could possible live without a giant stuffed dragon in their nursery???
I was excited to see this toy, though- I’ve wondered if Piper could play with it or not, and haven’t been willing to fork out the cash to see. I’m glad I haven’t bought it- if she has one foot on the ground, the other is up about four inches from the ground. So she can’t bounce, and she isn’t very stable, either. It was, though, fun to play on for a few minutes!
Second to the dressing fiasco, this was one of my highlights for the day. If you’d have told me a few years ago that Justin would be playing in the tutu section, I would have choked. Imagine my surprise when I came around a corner and found this. I think pink and purple may be his colors…
Oh, yeah. Piper enjoyed herself.
Thoroughly.
We were very excited for last weekend. For a long time, I was excited.
We finally got to take Piper up to the mountains. We got brave last fall and took her to Estes Park, because it’s in the mountains but the elevation is pretty low (only about 7500 feet). But I was worried the whole time about her oxygenating, and we didn’t get to stay but a couple hours.
This year, though… This year we got to go really to the mountains. I’m definitely not brave enough to go camping with her, so we took a cheater way and stayed in a condo instead.
And we had so much fun! Justin and Rachel (my brother and sister-in-law) went with us. We stayed in Keystone (for you non-Colorado folks, up in ski country, just on the other side of the Continental Divide, and down the hill from Loveland Pass, the highest mountain pass in the world that stays open during winter) just off the ski slopes. Piper approved of the view from the living room.
We had grandiose plans for our trip. Maybe taking the ski lifts up to Peak 8 in Breckenridge and play some of their summertime attractions. The boys were considering taking bikes up one of the summits and riding them down. Or maybe rafting. Or maybe riding from Vail back down to Breck. Rachel and I were going to spend some girlie time together with Piper. Outlet shopping was a must (obviously). We were going to find some parks for Piper to play in, and I wanted to drive up to Loveland Pass and let Piper experience the snow up there. Walking around Dillon Dam and looking at the boats was an obvious option for something to do. Ooo, and I would have liked to go for a hike.
We were excited to get up, too, because it’d been over 90 in Denver for a while before. HOT. And at 9000 feet, the weather is remarkably cooler. I couldn’t wait.
Apparently I wished a little too hard…
It rained. The whole time. Every day. Rain.
Until Sunday.
When it snowed. Inches. It snowed.
No doubt about it, it was gorgeous. Just cold as all get out. And put a slight damper on our plans. But we managed. Stay tuned for pictures of our incredibly wet, awfully cold, but just plain fun, weekend!
Who sleeps like this?
I’ve never seen ANYONE sleep with a perfect 90 degree angle.
And yet, it’s Piper’s favorite position.
All. The. Time.
Personally, I think she looks like one of those jointed teddy bears.
Piper’s been drinking out of the honey bear for a couple months now, and doing really great with it.
I, on the other hand, have not been doing so well.
If I have to wash that thing one.more.time, I just might scream. We had one, and one straw, and I washed it between meals, about four times a day.
And I was going crazy. Not to mention the fact that I was questioning how clean it was actually getting because the inside of the bear is textured. And inaccessible via washcloth…
I finally found some straw sippy cups that WORK! I’m SO excited (so excited, in fact, that I bought, like, eight…). They have the same sized straw as the honey bear (which is really a big deal for her because her mouth is SO little that there’s no way she could get her mouth on some of the ones that are out there), and it’s flexible like the honey bear.
Although it is a little bigger than the honey bear, but I think she adapts just fine…
