Rocky Mountain High- Vail

Our Vail leg of the trip hasn't been quite as expected, nor is the high we are experiencing that of John Denver fame.

When we arrived Sunday, Iyla went down for a TWO hour afternoon nap (that is pretty unheard of for her). When she awoke, her cheeks were bright red & she was extremely hot to the touch. Our poor little lady has been running anywhere from a 102-103 degree fever ever since. Baby ibuprofen is helping to reduce her temps, but she is not a happy camper- and hence, none of us are super happy campers. Bless her little heart- she is still playing & giving us smiles, but is definitely not feeling well and is much fussier & tired than usual. She also hasn't wanted ANY solid foods- but thankfully is still nursing regularly.

Smiles upon arrival and before the fever set in

Sweet girl hanging in there at dinner Sunday night (and how cute are baby jeans?!)

Poor sick bird, having had enough at dinner. One of us would walk her around while the other ate.

Today I am going to try to get her into the local clinic, so we can at least rule out something easy to treat like an ear infection. Here's hoping the experience isn't another repeat of our Infamous Easter visit- where poor Iyla was poked and prodded only to conclude she was teething.

On a side note, I'd like to give HUGE kudos to The Sebastian Hotel in Vail. We aren't actually staying here- we are next door in my cousin's studio apartment- but we are basically 'living' at the hotel, taking all of our meals here and using their amazing kids' playroom (conveniently connected to one of the restaurants- so we eat in the playroom!). Sunday night their concierge even sent out a runner to get us medicine for Iyla. Amazing. If you are ever in the Vail area it is absolutely THE place to stay!

The incredible playroom. This is actually a kitchen I've had my eye on for Iyla!

Cartoons, toys, & delicious food

We have been taking lots of walks with Iyla to get plenty of fresh air. Here are some photos from the Vail leg of our Colorado adventures:

Today we head about 15 minutes further up into the mountains to stay in a mountain lodge resort for the night- The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. Here's hoping our sweet little lady kicks this illness SOON!

This one just makes me laugh. Baby vest FAIL!

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....