Story time

Eating a lemon at the restaurant.
Loving the Beer Gardens with GPS.
The new hairstyle.
A hike in the pack.
Enjoying the view from above.
Eating some turkey by the river.
Happy now that she's not in the pack.
A family picture in Jerome.
So Big!

Once upon a time, a little family of three took a trip to Arizona for a wonderful Spring vacation. There was a mom, a dad, and a beautiful baby girl. They had to take a plane to their destination, and it was the baby's first plane ride. Surprisingly, the baby did pretty well (maybe a B+). She fought sleep (even after a dosage of benedryl,) but finally took a little snooze. The parents were quite pleased with their little one. Once the family arrived in Phoenix, two very nice grandparents picked them up at the airport and took them back to their wonderful home in Cottonwood. The grandparents had brought down a pack n play, a carseat, and all sorts of baby toys and clothes. This made it really easy on the parents. The grandparents even bought all the food for the parents and baby! Upon arrival, the adventures began! The families got to enjoy walks, hikes, bike rides, and warm afternoons at a pristine swimming pool. There were always free and willing babysitters so the parents could enjoy some strolls, bike rides, trips to coffee shops, and swim practice for their upcoming triathlon.
Before going on the trip, the stubborn baby had decided to stop nursing. This was actually really freeing on the vacation for the mother. She did not have to work her schedule or adventures around nursing. She, her husband and the grandpa even went on this crazy 25 mile mountain bike ride while Grandma babysat. It was wonderful for the mom to not have to worry about nursing or the baby taking a bottle while she was gone. The baby could just have her water or juice and eat her applesauce, carrots, mac and cheese, kiwi, strawberries, and turkey. That was good for everyone! Now, many of this story's readers are wondering if the baby is drinking any milk yet. No. No milk yet. The thing is, whenever the mom tricked the baby into drinking milk out of her sippy cup, she'd get mad and reject the sippy cup for days at a time. The mom didn't want to fight the baby on this when the weather was 80 some degrees outside and the baby needed to be hydrated.
Back to our story- a few little highlights from the trip:
The baby started pointing on the trip. She discovered her love for birds and the family said the word "bird" and she'd point.
The baby also started babbling more and more- chatting up a storm of unrecognizable words.
The parents got to go out on a long, beautiful bikeride for the first time in many many months. Though the mom is still sore from falling off her bike multiple times (once into a cactus)- she is proud of her battle wounds and the challenge of a great bikeride with two of her favorite people!
The baby loved the Beer Gardens and was hilarious to watch as she pointed at birds and fed them popcorn while sitting with her GPS.
The baby did wonderfully sleeping in a new place and being off schedule. She was flexible enough to go to a few restaurants and on many walks. The only thing she did not like was being in the backpack for a hike. She got to meet a great grandmother and some other family friends and was quite charming! She was great fun to be around and seemed to grow up in just the few days away.

All in all, the family had a wonderful few days away with the grandparents in the enchanted land of Arizona! When they arrived home to their little place, all of the Mom's tulips were in full bloom and colorfully greeting the family. Although they loved their vacation, it was nice to come home to their cozy home in Colorado.
Hope you are all doing well!