Lake Haiyaha

My favorite hikes are the kind that are strenous with high elevations, forcing you to stop and catch your breath along the way, that reward with an amazing summit. I just couldn't do those this year with Elliot and his ear infection bothering him up too high. Nor could I leave my nursing baby too long. So we did this one which is only 2.2 miles long. For a short hike, it didn't disappoint. We made it up in less than an hour and then took our time at the top and made frequent stops for pics on the way down. It is a beautiful hike with great views the whole way. The lake is surrounded by tons of huge rugged boulders (called Chaos Canyon) that are fun to climb on. There were plenty of people at the top, but not so many we couldn't find plenty of perfect rocks for a private picnic either.

The views along the way....

Nymph Lake is just a short hike away from the Bear Lake trailhead
Long's Peak (highest peak in RMNP behind us)

Paul was at the top of that mountain the next day!

The scenery as we were walking along the trail

This is called the Grandma Tree. It's centuries old and in the middle of Chaos Canyon.

Lake Haiyaha behind me

Sam on our chosen picnic spot

The view from our picnic spot

Fun City

You can't come to Estes Park with kids and not spend some time at Fun City. Last year, the slide was the biggest hit. He still loved the slide, but Bumper Cars became Noah's new favorite. Paul, Sam and I still prefer the slide ourselves.

It was shortly after this that Noah made me remove my protective arm
Paul & Noah bumping me.

Wee!

What timing

Elliot has a double ear infection :( Poor little dude has been sleeping awful since we got here. I blamed the altitude, change in routine, etc. But, yesterday he had a fever and wasn't himself at all. Today I took him into Urgent Care and confirmed it. Poor little dude. Hopefully those antibiotics kick in fast so he can enjoy the rest of vacation.

Almost There

Today was our 5-year anniversary. Ideally, we would have hiked back to the place we were married - Chasm Lake - but it is quite a bit longer, higher and more exposed above treeline, and we would be carrying Elliot with us this year.

Instead, we decided to hike Estes Cone, a 6.2-mile hike to 11,000 feet overlooking Estes Park, and with great views of the surrounding mountains.

Estes Cone


We planned to get to the trailhead by 5:30 AM to get up and down early, but one consequence of our marriage (kids) means never getting to leave the house on time. We finally got started at 6:00 AM, and realized we forgot Elliot's gloves - a necessity in the 40-ish degree weather. So he borrowed Mandy's fleece gloves. We stopped a couple of times to feed Elliot, and were concerned about how warm he was. We improvised an infant "snuggie" out of Mandy's fleece (don't worry, we still had plenty of clothes for her).

At the trailhead

Pausing for breath. Note the stylish gloves.

The trail towards the top

Elliot slept a lot of the hike in but as the trail ascended, the air got thinner and the temperatures got colder, and as he was being bounced around by my trying to navigate the boulders that the trail had become, he decided he had had enough of the backpack.

We were almost to the top, and decided to turn around. A disappointment after being so close, but we didn't want him to hate the backpack forever and were still worried about whether he was warm enough. He quickly fell back asleep as we decended.

Sporting the infant snuggie - he's got his legs in the fleece arms, which are tied in knots, and the rest of it wrapped around his body.

Longs Peak in the background.

Coming back down. Yes, that is the "trail".

Taking a break from the backpack

Warmer and happier

Family self-portrait: A feat that will likely never be repeated - it was my first try, with a telephoto on the camera, with all three of us in the frame and all of us actually looking at the camera.

Why does the hike down always seem twice as long as the hike up? We eventually got back to the car, and Elliot was relieved to be out of the pack after more than four hours.

We spent most of the rest of the day just relaxing at home. Noah woke up right after we left, so he was in a fine, sleep-deprived mood when we came back. He took a much-needed nap as I drove Anita and Sam to Bear Lake for some hiking. He and I went for pizza after he woke up, while Mandy took care of Elliot and a little bug he seemed to have caught.

Our anniversary dinner was grilled hot dogs and Mac 'n Cheese. Good times.

Getting His Hike On

One of the things we quickly learned about Noah and hiking, is that at his age, it's not "all about the journey". Screw that, let's get to the destination. While taking it easy the first day out here and trying to get acclimated, we chose a pretty easy hike that we thought Noah would enjoy too.

We quickly found that he's not really in the mood to go on a long walk "just because". To nobody's surprise, as we discovered the day before, he likes exploring and climbing much more than just walking.

Excited to get to the start. We had a short walk up the dusty park road before the trailhead.


Finding the perfect place for lunch

Snacks are what make hiking worthwhile

Burning through the GORP with Aunt Sam

His first major ascent. He did really well climbing up a steep rock face. He vehemently declined all offers of assistance: "No, NOT need help! I do it!"

Trying to push a rock downhill

That's me, wondering if we should have brought a helmet...

Mount Noah

Almost to the summit

Obstacle course - he loved climbing over things in his path

More boulder hopping

"Bye trees!!!"

Taking a breather

Family Vacation in the Rockies

Well, we are finally here in Estes Park, Colorado for our family vacation. It has been a long day for some of us. The trip out was a two-stage affair this year, brought about because of Noah's random comment about wanting to ride in an airplane at the exact time Southwest was having a very short fare sale on flights to Denver. Because of all the hiking/baby gear we have, Paul still needed to take a vehicle full of crap out, and the plan was for him to drive out to Denver on Friday night, and pick us up at the airport on Saturday morning at 7:45 AM. So, for a very small investment, we were able to avoid at least five hours on the road – mostly in additional pit stops – much whining and losing our sanity. We’re saving all that for the trip back.

Unfortunately Southwest’s window was too small for Anita and Sam to take advantage, and they ended up having to do the drive across Kansas with Paul. There is nothing fun about that drive, and doing it at night after a long week at work makes it even more unfun. With all the rain we’ve had this year, though, it was at least prettier than usual.

Sunset in Kansas

Although both boys eventually did a great job on the plane, it was a stressful morning. I didn’t plan ahead by printing off boarding passes, and our printer was broken, so I spent the night before trying to find someone to print them off for me. Our flight was at 7:00 AM, so I woke Elliot at 5:35 and planned to leave by 5:45 with the babysitter’s help – her getting Noah ready and driving us to the airport.

Well, the babysitter was late, kids always take longer than you think and by the time we stopped and picked up the boarding passes and got on the road, I had to speed to the airport in Paul’s jeep, praying for no cops.

There was a long line at security to get in the gate...so I played the mom-with-2-small-kids-all-frantic card and cut to the front. Then as we were waiting in line to have our luggage scanned I hear the final boarding call. I asked the lady at security to have them wait for us and she was so rude "Maam! I don't work for the airlines! You'll have to talk to them!" Well can I get through to tell them? Oh no, not until my luggage was scanned. So I asked the guy in front of me if I could cut. He let me -haha! He looked annoyed though. We got through and had 8 minutes until 7am. The lady acted like I was crazy for being worried about catching the flight telling me I had "plenty of time - it doesn't take off until 7am". Well what was with that final boarding call crap, lady? Sheesh! So we get on and the only 2 seats next to each other are the very back row. Oh well. No window seat for Noah either.

E quickly fell asleep while nursing on takeoff. He would have slept the whole time, but I was moving too much helping Noah with crayons, coloring books, dinosaurs, etc. Still, he was such a good little traveler for his first airplane ride - just like his big brother was. Noah was good too, just a little antsy as any 2 year old is. He stayed in his seatbelt the whole time and although he was very ready to be done, he LOVED the landing and asked to make the plane land again and go fast. I was tired and a little stressed, but let me tell you WAY better than driving across Kansas with 2 kids ages 2 and under. WAY better! I met my mom in the airport, and Paul drove us back to their hotel to let Noah burn off some energy before the drive to Estes.

The plan for this day was simply to get acclimated and properly hydrated for hiking the next week. We spent most of our day in Boulder at Chautauqua Park. We played at the playground, relaxed on a blanket in the awesome weather and kicked the ball around. Noah learned that “I like hiking with Daddy” as he explored some of the trails just off the playground with Paul. In many places, there were only toddler-sized openings in the brush, and following him required getting down on hands and knees. Noah was being very nice, holding back the branches and saying “Go on through daddy, I hold these sticks.”

Having fun riding the horse

Aunt Sam and Elliot
Thinking about a nap
Almost there...

And out...
All that play, and getting up two hours earlier than normal, made Noah a very tired boy. After a short trip to REI, we let him snooze in the car for a nap, while Mandy, Anita, and Elliot had lunch on Pearl St. We finally headed to Estes late afternoon. By that time, Elliot was getting pretty tired of driving too.

Now we are in our cabin on Prospect Mountain, which we love, with great views of the valley and the mountains. The neighbor across the street came by and told us a bear was on our front porch last night at 7pm!!! We are on the same mountain where Paul & I (and Noah, although he doesn’t remember it) saw a bear 2 years ago here. I have mixed emotions - I want to see one, but am nervous about it with the kids.

Peaks to the south of us (Twin Sisters).

Helping to unpack the car
Elliot is asleep. Noah just got out of the bath, and we are making him some dinner. Mom and Sam are at Safeway stocking up on some groceries. And we are watching an evening storm roll across the mountains.

I feel so bad for Noah. He is homesick. Probably just really tired. He has asked several times today for his trains, which I didn't pack. If it wasn't Saturday I'd ask Dena to overnight them. Wally is at Dena's right now. Shout out to Dena for watching Wallers!

Noah woke up in the middle of the night, made his way upstairs and was sobbing. Our monitors don’t work here for some reason – probably because the cabin is literally built around the rocks (there is a rock jutting up through the living room floor) – so we didn’t hear him get out of bed. Poor guy was probably disoriented and scared waking up in a strange room in a strange house. We put his mattress on the floor so he wouldn’t get hurt when he rolled off. Paul slept on the floor next to him the rest of the night and had to put him back on his bed whenever he would roll off. We’ll have to figure out plan B tomorrow.

The living room rock
Elliot had a hard time sleeping too. He normally sleeps 8-9 hrs in a row before waking up to nurse. He woke up 6 times overnight. The longest stretch he gave us was 3 hrs. I was very tired and couldn't sleep myself. I can feel the altitude for sure. So I'm not sure if he's having the same issue trying to get acclimated or if his pack & play isn't comfy. It does make me very thankful that he is such a good sleeper. Last night was a reminder of how hard of a time we had sleeping with Noah as a baby. Hope tonight goes better for us all.

No intense or strenuous hikes today. Going to get acclimated, show Noah a great time at Fun City and let him explore around Bear Lake or something like that and just have fun. Hopefully he won't be homesick anymore.

Sweet little swinging sleeper

Unlike his big brother, Elliot likes going to bed. Early. Sometimes, it can be a pain because although he's good at being on the go and sleeping wherever during the daytime, he does prefer his crib. And at night, he really prefers his crib. So doing family things at night can be hard. The good part is I can put him to sleep, leave him with the babysitter and be out of the house by 7:30pm for a date.

I usually try to rush him home on our evening walks before bedtime. If he starts to get sleepy I try to keep him awake or it kind of screws up his bedtime routine. But, tonight I decided not to be so rigid. He had a big day. Today was his first professional photoshoot. Not the kind he gets paid for. The kind we break the bank with. We have been holding out for his eyes to get fixed. He was a trooper. I expected a big afternoon nap afterwards, but for some reason, he didn't nap well. So I let him pass out while I was swinging him. I could tell he was about to because right before he falls asleep he hums loudly. It is so cute. I think sometime I'll try to get Paul to take a video of it to post so you can hear what I'm talking about. He hums and then very shortly thereafter he is O-U-T.

And this was him yesterday snoozing at the pool amidst much craziness.

Cutest little closed mouth grin and rosy cheeks after he woke up.

Sharing

Sharing is a tough concept to teach a 2 year old. It's somehow almost always his turn. Lately when it comes to snacks he is pretty unsharing too. I had to laugh at his latest thing. We were at the pool eating cheez-its and he told me I couldn't have any or I'd get a tummy-ache. This tactic wasn't working with Paul though, so e moved to another bench to avoid trying to share a snack with his dad. His face is so serious and his brows all furrowed it's hard to stick to the lesson and not just laugh. When we went out to eat and I took a drink of his cherry limeade against his protest he sighed and pulled the cup way back to examine how much was missing. It was hysterical!

Yesterday I had a HUGE container of blueberries out and he wanted some too. He was telling me it was his, not mine and pulling the container and actually broke it! I have learned if we each have a serving in a bag he does better rather than share from a container/baggie. Preschool is going to be FUN for him in a few weeks ;)

Anyway, all that to say, he's not usually volunatarily sharing food/drinks these days. Yesterday he was being so sweet at the playground after our Saturday walk/bike-ride to go the Farmer's Market. Paul left to go get me a bottle of water at CVS and Noah wondered where he went. I told him he went to get me a bottle of water because I was really thirsty. And his voice went up in pitch in such a sweet tone "Oh mommy thirsty? Want a drink of water from my cup, mommy?" It was so sweet!