Ah vacation

What a whirlwind two weeks.

I had a trip to San Jose on the books and because of the (work) event didn't get home until 7pm on the Friday before flying out to Denver for our summer vacation.  It was a long two days and I was thankful that Lucy mustered a nap on the day we arrived in Denver.  For me it was a return to the early days of "nap when the baby naps."  that only lasted a day, but I like to invoke it when I need it.

Getting everything (most everything) ready before I left for SJ was prudent.  As it was Jason had to repack Lucy's suit case and distribute other items in our suitcases.  We always pack too much when going to Denver, but our excuse this time was the need for bike helmets and a variety of clothing options for our mini-excursion to Vail in the midst of our family time with Grandma, Papa and Grandmama (my mom.)

I swear that next time we do the Denver trip I'll leave half of the clothes at home.  (Don't hold me to it.)

We spent our time doing a wide variety of things, visiting family and friends, taking Lucy to the various kid locations like the pool, a kiddy amusement park, the Children's Museum and around the neighborhood to visit all the wonderful people who send cards and tokens on her milestones.

One afternoon, we traded Lucy in for a 10 year old and went to a real amusement park to ride the rides.  We promised the trusting grandma, whom he was visiting, that we wouldn't do any upside down rides.  We lied about that one, but fessed up and certainly didn't force him into it.  Frankly, I was more nervous but Jason was super excited.   He was a great kid and I know he had a blast.  Visiting grandma is great when you're ten, but getting an outing to roller coasters clearly made his day.

In the midst of our grandparent palooza, Jason and I grabbed a rental car and headed up to Vail for two nights. (Thank you Marriott frequent customer points).  The weather was questionable, but once we purchased an umbrella we didn't experience anymore rain.  Funny how that tends to work out.   Vail in the summer is about hiking, biking, walking and dining.  The first day we found a pub and made "friends" with the bartender.   He guided us to a place for dinner and we enjoyed our rainy afternoon.

We forgot the bike helmets, which ended up being a good thing as Jason had sprained his ankle on Monday and I think the planned bike excursion was going to hurt it even more.   However, I still insisted on purchasing the lift ticket to head to the top of the ski slope to take in the view.  We hiked from one gondola to the other and funny how at 10k feet that will kick your bum, even on a 'flat' walk.  gasp, gasp.

Our dinner the second night was superb!  The weather cleared up and we sat on the deck overlooking the creek.  As our dinner slowly progressed other patrons finished up and at the end of the evening it was just Jason and I in the quiet outdoors.  The inside of the restaurant was super busy and energetic but we loved the peaceful end to our evening.  Yeah Sweet Basil!

Vail has an amazing feature to make their hamlet more enjoyable.  Architectural standards... kidding.  They do have them and the whole village feels very "Swiss Chalet", but what I'm talking about is a free shuttle bus that circulates through the town to eliminate the need for a car.   It ran all day in late into the evening.  We parked the rental and didn't retrieve it until time to check out.  Well played Vail... well played.

We returned to a sweet kid Thursday before naps and were thankful for our time away, but equally happy to be back together.  Friday we played during the day and went to dinner to celebrate the Forty-Fifthing of TPgal.  

We returned home Sunday, but Monday was still a vacation day for us.  Lucy went to school and Jason and I spend time unpacking and putting our vacation stuff away.  It was a smart plan that allowed us to see a matinee before retrieving our happy but tired girl Monday afternoon.

We're back to real life.  We feel rested and are looking forward to the remainder of our summer activities.