Sweet Home Colorado!

It is said that you can take the girl out of Colorado, but you can never take the Colorado out of the girl. I love going back to Colorado and just sitting and drinking in the pure beauty of everything. It is sad that I didn't appreciate it more growing up, but absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess!

Olivia and I ventured to Colorado for 12 days earlier this month. I was a nervous wreck leading up to the flight, as this would be Olivia's first time flying. Phil was in a wedding the weekend that Olivia and I left, so he drove us to the Sioux Falls airport and helped get us checked in. Then he had a little daddy-daughter time and told Olivia about airplanes and airports and how excited she should be to be getting on an airplane. She and I went through the very quick and painless security (seriously, I love smaller airports) and then waited awhile to board the plane. I had strategically dressed Olivia in a most precious outfit so that when we got on the plane, I would hear people comment on the adorable baby, instead of groan that an infant was joining their flight. Thankfully, there were plenty of other children on the flight, so Olivia had company. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed 30 minutes and we didn't find out until we were all boarded. Olivia fell asleep for 50 minutes and was not a happy camper when she woke up. Being the frantic and anxious mother, I tried multiple things to calm her down. Thankfully, I had a woman sitting next to me that is a mother to a 10 year-old boy and she told me to relax and that everyone who has children understands that you simply can't control a 6 month-old baby. Olivia did calm down about 20 minutes later and ended up showing off her adorable dimples to everyone, so all in all, she did much better than I did!

My parents picked us up at the Denver airport and then we drove to meet up with Tom and his girlfriend, Brooke. I had crazily agreed to be in a triathlon relay with Tom on Saturday morning, so it was time to meet up with him and discuss the plan of attack. After dinner, it was off to bed and up with the 4:45am wake up call! I did the 1100 swim and then Tom completed the bike and the 10K run. Team Chimo was victorious in the Olympic Distance relay!

The next few days were full of catching up with friends, taking walks that kicked my butt (seriously, I forget that I live in a land of flatness and that every neighborhood in Colorado Springs has hills and that the Springs has the altitude factor), breathing in the fresh mountain air and just relaxing. The joke was that this vacation was my maternity leave, since I didn't really get a maternity leave after Olivia was born. Olivia had a blast getting to see the house that I grew up in, hanging out with her Uncle Tom, Mimi Jean and Poppi Bob as well as meeting her mommy's friends and previous co-workers. While we were in CO, we were able to walk around the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, visit the Downtown Aquarium in Denver, eat at delicious restaurants, walk around Prospect Lake, play at the Penny Arcade, visit Poppi Bob's classroom and make many trips to Mimi Jean's work to visit her.

On one of our last days there, my parents hosted a get-together at their house, so that friends could meet Olivia as well as celebrate Tom and my recent accomplishments. As most of you know, Tom is the newest employee of the National Hockey League as a referee and I completed my M.S. in Sport and Recreation in July (and had baby Olivia in February)! It was a wonderful afternoon and I am so blessed to have so many loving people in my life!

Sadly, the 12 days passed entirely too quickly and it was time for us to head back. I was having a lot of anxiety again about the trip, especially with going through the crazy security at DIA. Thankfully, I called and asked if my mom could get a gate pass and help me through security. So, she was able to come with me through security and to our gate before seeing us off. Olivia was a rock star on the flight back and did so well. I learned that I just needed to breathe and everything would be okay. Again, I was blessed to sit next to a wonderful couple that helped me with Olivia when I was getting settled, so I need to remind myself to not stress over silly things. Phil was there to pick us up from the airport and Olivia was so happy to be reunited with her daddy (and I guess I was pretty happy to see my hubby)!
Now we're back and trying to get into our own routine. Olivia just started rice cereal tonight, so now we are quickly heading into 'big girl' territory. She will always be our little girl, but tonight was one of those moments when we both thought, 'wow, she's growing up so quickly.' Olivia has her 6 month well-baby appointment on Tuesday morning, so we'll see how our little piglet is growing!