Family Vacation

Well, we are back from our little family vacation. We left Thursday to head to Grand Junction, CO. We had to start our day by going to Courtney’s new school and getting all the paperwork done. After we got that accomplished we ran home, packed up as fast as possible and hit the road.

Had we taken the interstates (I-25 to I-70) it would have been a 5 hour drive. But driving the interstate is just so boring when you have beautiful mountains to drive through. So, we headed out hyw 24 and then over Independence Pass through Aspen and then to Glenwood Springs, where we then caught I-70. Yes, it took us a lot longer, like 7+ hours, plus we stopped for lunch and dinner, but it was pretty!

We purchased a car DVD player for Courtney for the drive. It kept her pretty entertained on the drive since she doesn’t really care about looking out the window at the pretty scenery. But she also is not interesting in napping in the car either. On the way out she slept about 10 minutes. That made for a long afternoon and she was just about completely melted down by the time we finally put her down for the night.

The next morning we had a relaxing morning. After breakfast, we took Courtney down to the hotel pool to swim. She loves swimming and asks to go all the time. So, she was excited to be in the pool. Although, after about 30 minutes, she is done and she tells us! This time she started asking for her towel.

After lunch and a nap, we headed off to the Peach Festival. Our whole point for going! The main festival was at their river bend park. Turns out overall it’s pretty small. It’s a typical festival, but you get a free peach when you pay your $3 at the gate. They have food vendors and different vendors selling all kinds of different wares. We did end up buying ourselves two nice pottery bowls for serving dishes. We seem to lack in the nice serving dish department, so we picked out two nice ones for ourselves!

We ate some food, Courtney and I tried to share a roasted corn on the cob, but as soon as it had cooled enough to hold, she took over. And I apparently was not going to get anymore. They also had pony rides, so of course we indulged the kid. She really loves it! She got done riding and she kept saying “ride dat one, ride dat one” as we passed the other ponies to exit the ring.

The next morning we went back over to Palisade for the parade. It was probably the shortest parade I have ever seen, but hey, it was a parade and the kid loved it. It had a few horses, ponies and alpacas. She also had one of the best seats in the house (daddy's shoulders).

After that we went over to one of the orchards that offers free wagon ride tours. This is probably the biggest orchard in Palisade, called Clark Orchard. Courtney was pretty excited about riding on a wagon, and it was pulled by mules. She kept asking for them to “go faster”.

So, we got a nice little tour and after we walked around their farm stand. They also had a pen nearby with 3 little pigs (sorry, couldn’t resist). They were the friendliest pigs I have ever met. Of course, I haven’t met many pigs, but these guys would come running when they saw visitors coming. They were oinking and grunting up a storm. Courtney was oinking right back at them, it was pretty darn cute. She really got a kick out of the pigs.

That evening, after her nap, we headed over to the Colorado National Monument. (http://www.nps.gov/colm/) It’s a nice drive through rock formations and canyons. We even saw a little lizard. Courtney liked that too.

The next day was our last day. We stopped again at Clark’s to pick up our peaches. We got 2 boxes of them. The boxes are 24-26 pounds each. But, we have a friend who promised a peach pie, and cobbler, or second pie. Plus we brought lots back to share with friends.

We had stayed in Grand Junction, as Palisade is a very tiny town with few places to stay. Our hotel was just 10 miles away, so not bad. And we had to pass by Palisade on the way home, which is why we waited until our way out of town to pick up the peaches.

We had beautiful weather the whole time. Saturday morning it was a little cooler, but not bad. No rain and really nice temperatures. Apparently while we were enjoying the nice weather the mountains between us and home were not. They got SNOW! So, when we were coming down I-70 and passing the ski resorts the tops of the mountains had snow!

This time on the way back we went through Breckenridge and people were dressed like it was winter. It was funny to us to see the change! It apparently rained at home most of the time we were gone.

Sounds like we had a great time, right? We did for the most part, but Courtney had a cold and it was at its worst on Saturday. Her nose was running like a faucet. Then at 4am Sunday morning she woke up with an ear infection. Plus whenever Courtney was sleeping, Hubby was working. And when she wasn’t sleeping, he was always on his blackberry. So it wasn’t exactly the quiet relaxing family vacation I had hoped for.

She was supposed to start her new daycare today, but because of her ear, I needed to get her to the pediatrician’s instead. Looks like the tube in her left ear is half dislodged and therefore not working. So, we get to go to the ENT on Thursday to have it looked at. This is her 3^rd ear infection in 3 months. I wouldn’t be shocked if we are looking at surgery again. Yippee…. So, she is on antibiotics again.

She also gets to look forward to another swallow study this Wednesday. I am curious to see if there is any change, but I am not holding my breath. I have a feeling there hasn’t been.

My next class starts tomorrow, accounting. I am a little nervous about this one. From what I hear, it’s a bear of a class. And I get to take 2 of them. I shall see!

Our house kind of looks like a bomb exploded inside. When you are gone for 5 days, come back for 2 and then leave again, it happens. So, I have been trying to get things back in order. I guess I should go and work on that. Hope everyone is well!