The Wild, Wild West

Well, we have returned from our adventures in the Rocky Mountains. What a wonderful trip it was! Our little girl clearly shares her mom's love of traveling and adventure seeking. She was such a trooper!

My family has a place in the middle of NOWHERE, and I just love the time I get to spend there. Believe it or not, this was Craig's first trip to the ranch, and of course, it was Addison's first trip as well.

We met my brother, his girlfriend and her 2 children in Charlotte on Thursday afternoon. Our adventure began with a 2 HOUR thunderstorm delay on the RUNWAY in Charlotte. The longer we waited to take off, the more nervous I got. I had no idea what Addison had in store for us on the flight, but as it turns out, she did not make a peep for 5 1/2 hours!

We spent the first night in Denver (it was 2:30 am EST) when we finally arrived. On Friday, we headed for the ranch, which is 5 hours west of Denver. We stopped in Vail for lunch on top of the mountain. Addison enjoyed her first ride up the mountain in the gondola. Hopefully, she won't be afraid of heights because I plan to have her riding the chairlift and skiing down the bunny slopes in just a few years.

After lunch, we continued our journey to the ranch. Needless to say, we were all exhausted when we finally arrived. Addison had her first major meltdown, but I didn't mind because she was so good on the flight and the drive to the ranch. After dinner, we all turned in for a good night's rest.

Since we had no cell phone or internet service while at the ranch, we enjoyed many outdoor activities. We rode four wheelers (yes, that is Addison riding the four wheeler in the Bjorn); we rode horses; Craig fished in the pond; we shot BB and potato guns; my mom and Craig did a little gardening; we had a wonderful 4th of July family picnic; we ate entirely too much and we spent many hours rocking on the front porch looking at the beautiful view.

(Addison says, "These are MY brownies!")

My mom drug out my old stroller for Addison-- I imagine this thing was the 1970s version of a BOB stroller. She also found one of my old walkers, and much to my dismay, she put my child in this contraption. My brother said it looked like a metal spider that was ready to collapse and eat my child at any second! Luckily, there were no injuries. Talk about a blast from the past!

We took Addison on her very first tour of Aspen and all the town has to offer. This is one of my favorite places to visit when we go West. In the summer, I love to stroll through town, and in the winter, I love to ski at Snowmass. Hopefully, Addison will learn to love Aspen as much her mama does.

As always, our vacation was over way to0 soon. I loved every minute of my time in Colorado, and I was so glad to introduce Craig & Addison to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Hopefully, our future will include many more trips to the Wild, Wild West.