Well, I'm not a huge fan of over sharing info on the interwebs, but I am one excited momma-to-be!!! :) I'm not going to lie though, it's been a rough few months, so far, full of : morning sickness lasting well past that fabled first trimester stopping point, a strong hatred for prenatal vitamins, lots of top knot hair styles (thank God that is a trend right now), and various other unpleasant side effects. Any mother will tell you it's all worth it in the end (even though you feel like smacking them when you're going through it), and they're right, but until you are about halfway through a pregnancy it doesn't feel that way. You know you're growing a child, and you're happy that it will result in a cute baby in 9 months, but for me the excitement didn't kick in as much until we found out the gender. My husband and I seriously didn't care if we were having a boy or girl, but finding out one way or another makes everything very real. You can put a name to the growing bundle, and start making more customized plans. We recently found out we'll be the proud new parents of a precious baby girl!! :) I've gone a little nuts on Pinterest, all our registries, and have already ordered nursery bedding and purchased a bunch of cute little outfits and such, lol. It's so much fun! We picked out a name, too, which was really hard to do for a girl, but for some anonymity I'll just refer to her as "A." Rest assured that it is not on a top 10 list, or the name of a fruit, veggie, flower, or color. We think she'll be happy with our choice, and friends/family seem to approve.
Anyway, getting to the travel part of the post....
I know a lot of parents who seem to think that becoming a parent means you are held hostage for a while, so to speak, because traveling with an infant or little one seems like too much hassle. I can't tell you how many people have told me that we should get all our traveling in before the baby gets here. I definitely understand where they are coming from, because I'm sure it makes traveling much more complicated, but it doesn't mean it's impossible. Even though the baby isn't here yet (so I'm perhaps being a little overly optimistic or naive), I have a belief that most things are what you make them. If we make a good plan for traveling with A, then I don't think it'll be that challenging. I also don't plan on any overseas ventures with her for a while, but you never know! Being military, we could end up with Germany or something as our next duty station, so it's not out of the question! My own mother and father traveled literally halfway around the world with a tween, toddler, and infant when we moved from Japan to Puerto Rico. One seems daunting, but 3... props to my mom, she's one tough lady! That being said, it seems smart to stick to stateside travel for awhile, and in our case it's pretty inevitable, since we'll be due to move not long after she's born.
I still have a lot of places to check off the travel list (stateside and internationally), so I thought I'd post a list of them for the new year, and new baby:
-Asheville, NC
-FL Keys
-Chicago, IL
-Colorado Springs, CO
-Big Sur, CA
-Mystic, CT
-Vermont
-New Hampshire
-Rhode Island
-Portland, OR
-Canada (Quebec, Montreal, Vancouver, Prince Edward Island)
-Scotland
-Ireland
- more of England
-France
-Coppenhagan, Denmark
-Germany
-Amsterdam, Netherlands
Really, there are far too many to list, but, with any luck, maybe I'll be able to cross a few off my list this year, and give my daughter a few pins she can put on her map. I look forward to the challenge and excitement (even if someone has to remind me I said this later when I'm complaining about having to change a poop filled diaper in the beige cloth interior of our car, or an airplane bathroom).
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The Mile High City (and surrounding areas)
Since living in Kansas, my husband and I have taken two trips out to Colorado. We definitely wish we had a chance to get out that way more often, but both times we've managed to make the most of it. This past trip was over the Christmas break (2011, since I'm just getting around to posting this is in 2013, lol), and we found ourselves at various locations, such as: Denver, Boulder, Frisco, Dillon, Copper Mountain, Vail, Beaver Creek, and Keystone. I was guilty, yet again, of not taking many pics, so I'm just going to give you my take on the highlights of each location, and then you can find the websites for each place that include lovely professional pics, okay? Good. : )
Boulder:
It's a fun city, and you definitely need to visit Pearl Street. Yes, there are many tourist shops selling the silly, "This whole city is high!" tees, homeless people, and plenty of street performers (my personal fav being the super flexible yoga man, because how on earth?), but there are also some restaurants, and shops not to be missed. One of my favorite shops is a place called Goldmine Vintage. It sells a little bit of new, and a lot of old, clothing. They also have a lot of fun jewelry and eccentric doodads. The prices, unlike most shops, are super reasonable, if not downright cheap. The staff is also very friendly and helpful, which is a plus in my book. The great places to eat are too many to name, but there is an awesome brewery that serves baked potatoes the size of your head, and tasty beer.
Other places not to miss in the Boulder area (and we've had limited time there, so I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot) include: Various hiking trails through the Flat Irons (bring bear mace for the mountain lions or keep a good eye out), Le Peep for an amazing omelette, crepe, mimosa, some breakfast potatoes, or a cup of coffee, the Planitarium that often hosts fun light shows to music, a Celestial Seasonings tour, and a farmers market (pick one, there are plenty).
Frisco:
This is quite possibly the cutest town that has ever exsisted in the Rockies. It's small and charming, has a delightful little Main Street, and it's about 20 min to any of the big name ski areas. It is the perfect place to stay if you are wanting to ski but don't have the cash to fork over to the resorts. In fact, we rented a place from a site called Airbnb, and a super nice guy named Jason Berman. It was a great deal, and had everything we needed (two bedrooms, two bathrooms, fireplace, cozy/clean decor, kitchen, garage, grill, nice view, hot tub access and a central location), all for $150 a night during high season (his rates may vary, and he's done updates to the property since our stay)!!! Technically, it's in Dillion, but you're equal ways between the two, and we always got off the interstate at Frisco. They have a great little nordic center in Frisco (for tubing, snowshoeing, etc), their downtown also has an interesting little set of musuems, free of charge, and a schedule of fun events throughout the year. We had a great time in this town, and it's way less congested than any of the more popular areas, so you feel like you've found a secret place to escape. Our favorite local place there to grab a bite to eat and drink was Ollie's Pub and Grub, but there is no shortage of places to grab a bite to eat, ranging from casual to fancy. A word to the wise: Make a reservation for dinner at most of the other places, because in a small town the seating can sometimes be hard to come by, especially around holidays. Locals are very friendly as well, so if you have a question, ask!
Dillon:
This is where you'll need to go if you want to shop an outlet mall, visit a brewery, or catch a movie, and it's a nice town to spend the day, or half a day, but we didn't spend too much time here, so my visitor info is limited.
As for all the ski resorts:
I was originally planning to review them individually, but really folks... a ski resort is a ski resort. Sure, Vail and Beaver Creek are definitely your high end areas, offering more shops and luxuries, even for those who don't ski/snowboard, etc., but you definitely pay for them (or look longingly at them through shop windows). We opted to ski/snowboard at the smaller ski areas like Copper Mountain (my favorite). The crowds are less, and they still offer the ski shops/views, and eateries, but for a much more affordable price. We decided just to visit the others for the day, but just as shoppers in the village areas. I'm sure the views from the top vary, so I understand the desire to ski all of them, but I'm with the toddlers on the bunny slope skill wise, so it's all the same to moi, lol.
Boulder:
It's a fun city, and you definitely need to visit Pearl Street. Yes, there are many tourist shops selling the silly, "This whole city is high!" tees, homeless people, and plenty of street performers (my personal fav being the super flexible yoga man, because how on earth?), but there are also some restaurants, and shops not to be missed. One of my favorite shops is a place called Goldmine Vintage. It sells a little bit of new, and a lot of old, clothing. They also have a lot of fun jewelry and eccentric doodads. The prices, unlike most shops, are super reasonable, if not downright cheap. The staff is also very friendly and helpful, which is a plus in my book. The great places to eat are too many to name, but there is an awesome brewery that serves baked potatoes the size of your head, and tasty beer.
Other places not to miss in the Boulder area (and we've had limited time there, so I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot) include: Various hiking trails through the Flat Irons (bring bear mace for the mountain lions or keep a good eye out), Le Peep for an amazing omelette, crepe, mimosa, some breakfast potatoes, or a cup of coffee, the Planitarium that often hosts fun light shows to music, a Celestial Seasonings tour, and a farmers market (pick one, there are plenty).
Frisco:
This is quite possibly the cutest town that has ever exsisted in the Rockies. It's small and charming, has a delightful little Main Street, and it's about 20 min to any of the big name ski areas. It is the perfect place to stay if you are wanting to ski but don't have the cash to fork over to the resorts. In fact, we rented a place from a site called Airbnb, and a super nice guy named Jason Berman. It was a great deal, and had everything we needed (two bedrooms, two bathrooms, fireplace, cozy/clean decor, kitchen, garage, grill, nice view, hot tub access and a central location), all for $150 a night during high season (his rates may vary, and he's done updates to the property since our stay)!!! Technically, it's in Dillion, but you're equal ways between the two, and we always got off the interstate at Frisco. They have a great little nordic center in Frisco (for tubing, snowshoeing, etc), their downtown also has an interesting little set of musuems, free of charge, and a schedule of fun events throughout the year. We had a great time in this town, and it's way less congested than any of the more popular areas, so you feel like you've found a secret place to escape. Our favorite local place there to grab a bite to eat and drink was Ollie's Pub and Grub, but there is no shortage of places to grab a bite to eat, ranging from casual to fancy. A word to the wise: Make a reservation for dinner at most of the other places, because in a small town the seating can sometimes be hard to come by, especially around holidays. Locals are very friendly as well, so if you have a question, ask!
Dillon:
This is where you'll need to go if you want to shop an outlet mall, visit a brewery, or catch a movie, and it's a nice town to spend the day, or half a day, but we didn't spend too much time here, so my visitor info is limited.
As for all the ski resorts:
I was originally planning to review them individually, but really folks... a ski resort is a ski resort. Sure, Vail and Beaver Creek are definitely your high end areas, offering more shops and luxuries, even for those who don't ski/snowboard, etc., but you definitely pay for them (or look longingly at them through shop windows). We opted to ski/snowboard at the smaller ski areas like Copper Mountain (my favorite). The crowds are less, and they still offer the ski shops/views, and eateries, but for a much more affordable price. We decided just to visit the others for the day, but just as shoppers in the village areas. I'm sure the views from the top vary, so I understand the desire to ski all of them, but I'm with the toddlers on the bunny slope skill wise, so it's all the same to moi, lol.
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