Friday, December 2, 2011

Over the River and Through the Woods...

To Grandmother's house we go!

Thanksgiving was a blast in Colorado! We had such a good time, and we were glad to spend our "10-day holiday vacation" with my mom and dad. It was good to be able to go back home and to see my family in Colorado and spend time with them.

We were a little anxious about Claire and how she'd do in the airplane. The flight itself wasn't too long, 1 and 1/2 hours to Amarillo, then another 1 and 1/2 hours to Denver (3 hours, that's not any longer than Church, and she does fine at Church), but we had quite a layover in Amarillo of a few hours. EEEK!


She even got her own tiny boarding pass, as a "lap child" of course. Southwest lets children under 2 fly free as a "lap child" held by a mother or father. The flights from Dallas-Amarillo and back were booked solid, but from Amarillo- Denver we had plenty of room and even were able to have a seat for Claire in her car seat, if we wanted to. Not only that, but you get to cut in line and board early during "Family Boarding". Melissa and Claire even got to skip the full-body scanner during security! Claire was just smiling and being very happy up to this point, she charmed security and airport personnel alike. Traveling with a cute baby has awesome perks! We definitely will be using this again to our advantage!

Here we are! On the plane!

 Claire, what a charmer!

She slept the ENTIRE way! Woke up to eat, then back to sleep.

We like to fly Southwest because checked bags are free, and we knew that traveling with Claire would require LOTS of baggage (clothes, extra clothes, diapers, blankets, the like). We were able to condense it down to 1 checked bag each, though we could have had 1 more, and Melissa and I with a carry-on in tow, plus Claire's car seat.
This is how excited Claire was to get to Colorado!! I LOVE this pic of her so happy! It was time for a week and a half of late night card games, laughing, talking, Harry Potter and "Clean House" Marathons, sleeping in, Wii Sports Tournaments, betting too many points in Rook, Black Friday sales, dressing Claire in cute clothes, eating, walking our dog Pepe to the park, naps, Thanksgiving, Bingo and door prizes (including the Corn Nuts) and other vacationing that it seemed we hardly had time to take any pictures. 


The Classic Card Game Rook... Somebody's always got the bird!



The Purina National Dog Show after the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on NBC is always a personal fav. This year the Wire Fox Terrier won best in show. I didn't like that one, I was quite disapointed. I thought it was the ulgiest dog there.


Aunt Britta and Claire were fast friends.
Britta wanted to hold Claire ALL THE TIME! She practically had to fend off mom and Aunt Denya.
Making homemade pizza! Yummy!



Thanksgiving dinner... delicious! Ok, this wasn't really our dinner; ours was better.



Claire was so happy! She even laughed for the first time!
We went to Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant in Denver that seats over 1000 people at a time, and features strolling mariachis, flame jugglers, and a 30-foot waterfall with cliff divers. It also has a small puppet theater, a "haunted tunnel" called Black Bart's Cave, an arcade, and a magic theater. The food's mediocre at best, but the atmosphere is bar none! We've been going there for almost 20 years, a tradition of sorts! The parent company went under, so there's no telling how much longer they will stay open.
File:Casabonitadenver.JPG
Look at Melissa, what a pro! They serve all you can eat sopapillas - small squares of fried bread with honey - at every meal.
We had a good time, but Claire was a little fussy and very sleepy. This picture reflects the mood well. The waterfall put her right to sleep. Melissa was feeling under the weather, but that didn't stop our fun! It was Claire's first time at Casa Bonita.


They even sell Flashers! Credit Cards are accepted!



Blake made her cry!
The Palmer girls!
"Patt-a-Cake" is her favorite game!


High 5? Yeah right, Claire prefers the fist-bump!

More to come!

posted by Austin @ 9:33 PM

5 Comments:

At December 3, 2011 at 7:54 AM , Blogger Kristie said...

Wow! Looks like you guys had a great time! I am glad to hear it! :) I love seeing all the cute pictures of Claire! She sure is getting big! Those are very cute little Christmasy dresses!

 
At December 4, 2011 at 3:11 PM , Blogger Amanda said...

Loved hearing about Claire's trip to see your family!!!! Glad ur blogging this Austin:) Can't wait for part 2!

 
At December 4, 2011 at 4:36 PM , Blogger Debi said...

I also love all of Claire's "prom" dresses! She's a very fancy girl. Love the little bumble-bee outfit, too. :) I had to laugh at the Thanksgiving dinner picture. I looked at it and I thought, wow, the Palmers have such a fancy dining room. Then you said it wasn't the real picture. That is what made me laugh. Thanks for posting on the blog, Austin. You are the best! :)

 
At December 6, 2011 at 9:23 PM , Blogger Shanna said...

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about your trip.I had to laugh a couple of times--the ugly dog show winner, Britta wanting to hold Claire all the time (so true!), and bidding too much during Rook. You have some FABULOUS pictures.I loved having you and we had some great times. Sure do love that Claire, and she is so photogenic--every picture of her is adorable! Thanks again for coming to visit!

 
At December 7, 2011 at 10:14 PM , Blogger Austin said...

Thanks, Mom for keeping us for so long!

 

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