The Liddells: Estes Park, CO

Wow... It has been a long time. I won't begin to try to sum up the Holidays' events in one post, but I do want to highlight a special trip we took to Colorado this Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Rob, Maya, and I packed up our car and headed out West. We met Rob's parents, loaded up a Suburban, and hit the road. Things were going so great, we decided to make the whole trip in one day. Yes, one day. WITH a 14 month old. The plan sounded great at 3:00 in the afternoon when we were all cheerful and still excited about the endeavor. However, by midnight, we had all had it. Rob, his step-dad Rob, and his mom Mary had all taken turns driving and were exhausted. I was on full-time Maya duty. Maya did as well as could be expected for a 14 month old on a 15 hour car ride, but at times it was ROUGH. And at times, I felt like the WORST mom in the world for making her suffer through such a long road trip. The worst part was that she was too young to understand WHY she had to be strapped into her car seat for so long and too old to just sleep the whole time. In fact, she hardly slept at all. And when she did, it was inevitable that someone had to make a bathroom stop or we needed to get gas. Not great timing!

We arrived in Denver late Christmas Eve/early Christmas morning about 12:30am. The hotel staff where we stayed was super accommodating and we couldn't wait to get to our rooms and get to sleep. Maya was so tired she crashed in her pack 'n play almost immediately. I was so relieved.

Christmas morning we spent relaxing in our hotel room, napping, and eventually taking a little drive around the city. The view of the mountains was amazing, but to be honest, I think we were all searching for a restaurant that might be open for us to have Christmas dinner. We ended up having Chinese food. Go figure! Mary is not a big fan of Chinese food, so she and Maya shared a microwaveable lasagna dinner. It was different, but great memories were made. We topped off the night by watching the Packers play the Bears(and WIN!) We stayed Christmas night at the hotel in Denver, but packed up the next day to head to Estes Park. Estes Park was only about an hour from our hotel in Denver, and was where we would be staying for the next 5 days. Estes Park is a small, quaint little mountain town and I absolutely LOVED it! It was full of cute little shops, restaurants, wonderful people, and beautiful scenery. Everywhere you looked was pure beauty. We spent the next few days hanging out in our cabin, checking out the town, and relaxing.

One afternoon, Rob and I took a little drive around the area. We saw lots of moose, lots of beautiful homes, and lots of great shots for pictures. The weather was great, in the 40's-50's most of the time we were there. However, it got quite windy towards the end of the week. That mountain wind is something else. I have never experienced anything like it! Maya was NOT a fan!

Although beautiful, things were not ALL perfect in Estes Park. The altitude was very different, and a little difficult to adjust to. I had a headache most of the week due to the altitude, but poor Maya was just getting over a cold and ear infection and was having a tough time. We just kept the fluids and Tylenol coming! Oh, and the windy, curvy drive UP the mountains. I was so nauseous by the time we got there and it was even worse on the way down. Probably because my crazy husband drove on the way down! Next time I will be sure to take some Dramamine!

Thursday finally arrived and was the big day we had traveled there to celebrate. Rob's brother, Jason, and his fiance, Andrea, had invited us there for their wedding. We were so excited to have the opportunity to travel to a new place, but even more excited to be able to spend a few days with them. For the first time, Maya was able to meet her Uncle Jason and Aunt Andrea. They had sent her their love through various packages, cards, and phone calls, but had yet to meet her. She loved them and I ~~think~~ know the feeling was mutual! I think she especially liked that her Uncle Jason made silly faces and sounds just like her Daddy does. I just wish we got to see them more often. We may have to make a trip to see their home in Albuquerque, NM.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. The wedding was beautiful and we were so, so honored to be a part of it. It was Maya's first time as a flower girl, well, more like an honorary flower girl since she didn't exactly do much. ;)

The drive home was much like the drive there. I had never been SOO excited to be home and my bed had never felt SOO good!

We survived our first road trip as a family and made LOTS of wonderful memories. {Next trip.... we may be booking a flight} :)

Just a few of pics documenting our trip!!

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