Colorado 2013- Denver

We made it to Colorado!

We had one happy girl at the Austin airport- Iyla loved watching all of the people around us:

'Where is my plane?' 

We had a one hour delay and hoped that would mean a good nap for Iyla on the plane.

We took the opportunity during the delay to practice 'fetch' with Iyla, who is really getting this crawling thing down!

When we finally boarded, Iyla passed out within moments of takeoff. Success!

She slept around 40 minutes, and was happily all smiles once she awoke:

Upon arrival to Denver and two hours past her bedtime, this little lady was a trooper staying up to meet her Denver family. It was instant love with her cousin Cohen- who couldn't stop kissing her! So cute.

Eventually Iyla very sweetly and deliberately told me how "done" she was:

Late night Boo-boo right before bed:

The next morning, Iyla greeted her new city:

Good morning Denver!

She hadn't slept very well the night before, which is par for the course when we travel. She usually takes 1-2 days to adjust to sleeping in her Pack n Play in new environments. I had purchased a special mattress for the trip, hoping it would help make the flimsy PnP more comfortable. 

I had morning duty, so I packed Iyla into the baby Beco and headed down to the hotel breakfast buffet:

I was pleased to discover these great high chairs at breakfast! Iyla and I were both fans:

The hotel eggs were molded into cube form. Kind of gross to see, but Iyla loved them and kept signing 'more!'

'Egg cubes? More, more, MORE!'

Our hotel had complimentary duck families available for kids, and since Iyla LOVES ducks, this was perfect! Check out the names.... in real life, my sweet BC is named "Lance." Ha!

'Papa, is that you?'

Little tree hugger during play time in the lobby

She kept saying "quack, quack, quack!" 

This is the first word she has repeatedly said in its correct context.

After breakfast, we set off to the absolutely gorgeous Denver Botanical Gardens with Iyla's Aunt Amy & cousin Cohen:

We made a few attempts at a family photo:

Cohen's little brother- our new nephew- will be making his debut in January:

Roo rockin' her pregnancy! She is adorable.

After the gardens, we had some down time back at the hotel. Iyla somehow figured out how to play movie previews on my phone. I have no idea where that app is or how she did it!

'Yes, I am a baby genius.'

After Iyla's afternoon nap, we packed up and strolled the downtown Denver area before meeting up with my cousin for dinner:

My long legged loves

Iyla was so overtired here but still such a trooper!

Dinner with my cousin Chris. Iyla was no longer hiding how tired she was.

Happily, Iyla slept super well that night- 6:45pm-5:30am straight. She awoke a few times wimpering, but put herself quickly back to sleep. When she awoke to nurse at 5:30am, she decided it was time to get up for the day (it was 6:30 Austin time, which is her normal wake up time). 

We had been hoping to leave for Vail at her morning nap time, around 9am. I set off for breakfast at 8:15 (BC had morning duty)- and when I returned, I saw my loves like this:

Iyla was not down with waiting to nap. 

She had some serious sleep to catch up on from the previous day!

Stay tuned for updates from the Vail leg of our journey....