Denver Wrap-Up

Bennett's first trip was a success! Our flight to Denver was scheduled to leave at 7:40 am last Thursday. Bennett wasn't having the best night, so Joel was up with him around 4 am and received an email that our flight was delayed to 8:30.  This extra time is great in theory. We can sleep in and take our time leaving home.  Naturally leaving home was chaos and even though security was a breeze, we arrived at the gate just in time to board.

We were SO NERVOUS for the flight because we obviously weren't sure how Bennett would act. The plan was to feed him on the assent and descent and hope he sleep the entire flight. When we boarded the plan, Bennett was ready to eat, which was not good, since we still had about 15 minutes before leaving the gate. He only takes 5 minutes to eat, so we were both SUPER NERVOUS about what would happen if he wasn't eating during takeoff.  But Bennett being Bennett was amazing. He took his time eating, then eventually fell asleep.

He eventually woke up after 20 minutes or so and just looked around. We had some toys for him to play with and spent some time bouncing on our laps. The flight was pretty short, only about an hour and a half, but I guarantee you every minute Bennett was awake felt like an eternity, because we kept waiting for the moment he'd melt down. About a half hour away from landing, Bennett let out a squawk so I quickly started feeding him and he fell asleep until we landed. Success! When we first boarded the plane, we profusely apologized to our seatmate about what could happen with an infant on a plane, but during the middle of our flight, he called Bennett a champ. Then after landing, he complimented Bennett on what a great job he did. The person sitting in front of us even turned around and said, "Good Job!" so that was all very reassuring!

Once we arrived at the Denver International Airport, Bennett did some stretches in his stroller while we figured out the rental car situation. It was a fiasco but after a while we were on our way to the city of Golden. Our plan was to have lunch in Golden, see the Red Rocks Amphitheater, then meet up with Joel's high school friend Ben and his wife. In Golden, we had lunch and Bennett tasted his first pickle.

His mother loves pickles, so it was no surprise that he LOVED it. Here are some pics we took around Golden:

The view from the balcony we ate lunch on. We watched kayakers and tubers going down the river.

After we took the scenic route to Red Rocks. Bennett napped and Joel and I stopped to take pictures. (We rolled down the windows and left him in the car, which we could see from where we were.)

When we made it to Red Rocks, Bennett woke up and we took some more pictures.

Afterwards we drove to Westminster to meet up with Ben and Meg. It was a 45 minute drive, traffic was horrible and we hit ever stop light on the way... Bennett melted down halfway there. We were hoping he'd stick it out and fall asleep but he was not happy. After a while we pulled over and found out he had one huge poopy diaper. Once he was changed, he was his happy self again. It was great to visit with Ben and Meg since they are expecting their first child in a little over a week. Bennett was a little fussy at dinner. It was past his bedtime, the restaurant was loud and he was just done with the day... but even still, he mostly held it together so that we could finish our meal. It was a half hour drive to the hotel and Bennett slept the whole way. When we arrived at the hotel, he woke up in a super happy mood, so we took his 22 week photos and then he fell asleep in the portable crib. After going through such a big day, catching short naps instead of his big naps, and working on teething (which we didn't realize until we got back home to Minnetonka), this kid is such a gem. So happy and so content. Clearly he wanted to make a good impression so that he could go on more vacations.

Day 2

Our hotel was super nice and gave us vouchers for free breakfast buffet at their restaurant (which was $18/pp!!!) Naturally we gorged ourselves and stole a few muffins and fruit to snack on later. Then we went to City Park to walk around. Ben suggested going to this park because there are great views of the mountains. Unfortunately it was a hazy day so they didn't show up in pictures.

 

We had to get back to the hotel early because Joel's workshop started at noon. Bennett needed a nap but really didn't want to take one, so I spent a few minutes walking around the hotel with him in the carrier and he was out like a light. He napped in our room for nearly two hours! Must've needed it since he didn't get his naps the day before.

My plan for the afternoon was to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens. On our vacations I have never driven a rental car and never wanted to, but on this trip, I told Joel that we were going to have adventures while he was at the workshop. So after giving myself a lot of pep talks while Bennett was sleeping, I worked up the courage to go. The gardens were only about 15 minutes from our hotel, and I could take side streets to get there, so it wasn't too bad.

Monet Pool at Denver Botanic Garden

Enjoying the Romantic Gardens

 

We had a blast! We spent about two hours there and the skies were overcast most of the time, so it was pretty comfortable. It would've been more fun with Joel but I was really glad we went. Bennett loved to looking around, so I could tell he was enjoying himself, and I was super happy he was able to pose for a few pictures!

Day 3

Joel's workshop started at 7:30 am, so Bennett and I had the morning to ourselves. When I was planning for our trip, I found out there is a town of Bennett about 30 minutes east of Denver and I REALLY wanted to take Bennett there. Ben and Joel were trying to dissuade us from going, because it is a bit of a drive on the freeway and there is nothing out there. Considering we had the whole morning to ourselves, had already spent time in nature, and shops didn't open until 10, I decided we were going to do it.

We started our morning off with another free breakfast buffet and then headed east. The drive was pretty nice because there wasn't much traffic since it was Saturday morning and the roads in Denver were much easier to navigate than in Minneapolis.

When we got to the town, I drove around a bit, to figure out where the best place would be to take a picture. The town had a cute water tower, but there wasn't a good place to take a picture of Bennett in front of it. There were some fire fighters outside the firehouse, so I decided to swallow my pride and ask them where a city sign was. Our conversation went a little something like this:

"Uh... hi. I have a REALLY STUPID question to ask..."

   -   "No question is ever stupid."

"...No... this one is pretty ridiculous... just wait for it... so I'm from out of town and my son, who is in the car, is named Bennett, and I was wondering if there's a sign or something I could take his picture in front of..."

   -   "How about the fire truck?"

"Are you serious?!"

   -   "Yeah! (Guys, pull it out)... just go get your son. He can sit in the truck. We don't get many people wanting to come out to our town because their kid is named Bennett, wanting to take a picture!"

They were incredibly kind and I hope Bennett really appreciates these pictures some day because Mommy felt pretty stupid. It really made the drive worthwhile though and we were able to pick up a few Bennett souvenirs (Yes! Their grocery store had merchandise for Bennett High School!) and snap a few pictures.

By the time we made it back to the hotel and packed up our bags, Joel was finished with his workshop and we headed to Boulder. We met up with Ben, who was fly fishing and also walked to the Boulder farmers market.

 

Our flight home was pretty stressful. We dropped off our car an hour and 45 minutes before the flight. We couldn't use the self-service kiosk to print off our tickets, and waiting in line for an agent took FOREVER. Denver doesn't have a family line to get through security so waiting in line took FOREVER. We hadn't eaten lunch (our flight left at 5:45 pm), and I needed to get ice for the breast milk I was bringing back, but we headed to the gate first because I needed to have my seat assigned and we were hoping to sit next to each other. By the time we go to the gate, they were boarding, so no food and no ice. Argh! We stepped foot onto the plane and Bennett started crying and screaming hysterically. We literally walked on, he looked down the aisle towards the back of the plane and melted down. Bennett has done this once before, at church. We had been to church the week prior and things went fine. Then we went the following week, stepped foot into the sanctuary, he looked down the aisle and started screaming. That time we took him out of the sanctuary, gave him a few minutes to calm down, then went back in and things were fine. Well, this time, we couldn't really leave the plane and give him time to regroup. Joel brought him to the bathroom in the back of the plane to change his diaper. That was horrible. I could hear him screaming from our seats. Long story short, Joel brought a screaming baby back to the seats, and we apologized profusely to everyone around us. I tried to feed Bennett, but he kept crying, so it took a few tries... and then he started eating. About five minutes after we were in the air, he was asleep. In reality he screamed bloody murder for only 20 minutes (most of it in the back of the plane) but it felt like an eternity. AN ETERNITY.

Like the flight to Denver, he woke up after a while and was in a decent mood. We tried to keep the pacifier in his mouth the whole time, which he didn't mind. Usually he either likes the pacifier or HATES the pacifier. If he hates his pacifier and you try to give it to him, he will scream bloody murder, so we figured, if he likes it, just keep it in his mouth so he can't change his mind and hate it. We broke out the toys, let him jump on our laps, then broke out the iPhone. He was so pleased with looking at himself, we took video:

 

Link: http://youtu.be/eows3LmjuQI

He did great the rest of the flight, and again the passenger in front of us turned around and said, "See, he did a good job." SO MUCH STRESS. Even when he's behaving well, we just sit there, tense, waiting for him to meltdown.

It wasn't until the next morning that we realized Bennett popped out a tooth. Joel was changing his diaper, and Bennett took his hand and bit down. He was probably thinking, "See, Mom and Dad?! I was crabby because my gums have been sore and this stupid thing is coming up and I don't know what it is but it hurts!" Message received! He actually did well on the trip, but considering he was popping out a tooth, he did amazing! First family trip was a success!