Our trip started out with a bang...or a barf really :o( We drove down to stay at the Doubletree near the airport Friday night since our flight left early Saturday morning. We got as far as Petaluma before Carina decided the snack she had before we left was not up to her standards. Ugh...so we pulled off the freeway and parked in the Trader Joe's parking lot. Mike got to work on cleaning her car seat (Purell hand sanitizer cleans and deodorizes, by the way) while I changed her into clean clothes. Pats on the back to me for having a change of clothes (not even from her suitcase!) a bag to put the yucky ones in, and extra wipes. Can you tell we have done this before?!
Okay, that's it for the gross stuff. We have now enforced a strict "No barfing in the car" rule that we go over before the start of any outing. The delay actually ended up being a blessing, because we decided to stop in Corte Madera at CPK for dinner, and shop for a little while so we would miss rush hour in San Francisco. Brilliant! To top it all off, the Doubletree greeted us with warm chocolate chip cookies when we checked in-yum!
The flight to Denver was uneventful (moment of silence for Carina's last time flying for free...sigh) The plane landed early, so we got our luggage and headed out to the parking lot to meet my Dad and Lori who were picking us up. This is what Mike looked like:
What? I was pushing the stroller AND carrying my purse! My cute little pack mule :o)After walking out to the car, which I'm pretty sure was parked in Oklahoma, we were off! Carina fell asleep within minutes, so we decided to stop and pick up some lunch to take back to Lori and Steve's house. If you ever see a Smash Burger, you MUST eat there! I have to say, I think they are better than In N Out (gasp!) We had to smell it all the way back to the house, but 15 long minutes later we pulled up to the house (which was hard to see due the ginormous motor home parked in their driveway), had a quick tour and then inhaled our food. Best. Burger. Ever.
After lunch I got to take a nap-I was still recovering from a sinus infection, and pretty much felt awful. I conked out on the couch for an hour or so, and woke up having NO idea where I was. Always a nice feeling...and my loving husband took a picture of me sleeping with my mouth wide open (couldn't breathe through my nose) which will NOT be included in the album! While I was sleeping, Carina was falling in love with the cats: Dolce (as in "& Gabana") Moose, and Elvis. She was totally infatuated with them...not so sure what they thought of her though ;o)
My sister's house is great-it's in a nice neighborhood with an elementary school nearby that we walked to later that afternoon. As you know, Carina loves a good playground!
Next stop-Denver Zoo! We love taking Carina to the SF Zoo, but the Denver Zoo puts that one to shame, I have to admit. Carina got to see elephants for the very first time! (Yes, that means SF doesn't have them...how do you have a zoo with no elephants?) We also got to see/hear a tiger growl and jump up on the glass of the indoor viewing area. Thankfully we were viewing from the outside at the time, because we're pretty sure the people on the inside wet their pants. We think he was angry at some flies that were buzzing around him...my healthy respect for wild animals quadrupled after hearing that roar!
Carina loved the peacocks that wander around the entire zoo, and she especially loved the train ride.
Mike had the super camera with him so he got some great pictures of the animals.
Oh, and Carina now understands the concept of "gift shop" very clearly now. We definitely will go back on our next trip! (Back to the zoo for sure, the gift shop is a bonus)
We ended the day with a late lunch at a sushi restaurant called Zen. I told Lori we would not take Carina to sushi until she and Steve could go with us and we could all share our love for it together. Carina slept on Mike's lap through most of it, but when she woke up she was intrigued by the chopsticks, edamame, and tempura shrimp. She did pick the rice off of a California Roll, but I don't think she actually consumed any sushi. Oh well, more for us! 
No, she wasn't still sleeping at this moment...although I wouldn't put it past Mike to torment her like this...oh wait, he would do that to ME. More to come later! ( can you stand the suspense? Remember you came to this blog willingly...it's not like you're trapped in my living room for a family vacation slide show)
4 comments:
I can hardly wait for Part Two of the trip. Looks like you guys had a great time in Part One!!
I love it...Cant wait to read more.
I need more!! Why do you do this to us?
love the photo of mike with all the luggage!
Post a Comment