Destination Crested Butte
We’re in Crested Butte this weekend hanging out with our good friends Kristin and Brian Grimes. We arrived in the early evening, after a four-hour drive with little Eli. He generally does pretty well in the car, although this time he was a bit fussy. Morgan ended up sitting in the back with him, which seemed to help. We think he was just restless and wanted to get the Crested Butte already, darn it. Perhaps he’s getting too old to pass out in the car for three or four hours, and requires a bit more attention.
Today I’m hanging out at the base of the hill while Morgan, Brian, and Kristin enjoy some very warm spring skiing. Eli has been a good kid this morning, but I sometimes wonder if I’m nurturing his outdoor lifestyle or my own. I’d like to think that if he wasn’t happy, he would let us know, and I feel lucky that he seems content hanging out at the base of the mountain. He loves to look at things and seems to be happiest when there’s a frequent change of scenery.
Eli's Second Ski Tour!
Uncle Scotty was in town again to see little Eli and they kicked off the weekend with a ski tour in Boulder Open Space. I wasn’t able to join because it was a work day for me, but with close to three feet of snow in the last week, Morgan, Scott, Eli, and Jasmine had a blast!
The other big adventure for the weekend was our fist family run, including the dog. We had to stick to roads and bike paths, but it worked pretty well. Eli rode in the Chariot, which was considerably easier to push than I imagined. We made it 6 miles in just under an hour, and everyone got their exercise in at the same time!
Steamboat Springs
Dirt Mom here. Every February, our good friend Ryan gets a birthday visit from his sister and brother in law, and we go on a trip to a ski area, this year, in Steamboat. Eli would naturally come. I was a little apprehensive about subjecting non-family and close friends to Eli’s nighttime crying and general babyhood (not everyone wants to be around infants, imagine that), but by trying to work our adventure into his schedule (or the other way around, I suppose), we all survived. He’s a wonderful little boy.
Steve skied Saturday while I took Eli on a Nordic skiing tour at the Steamboat Ski Touring Center. I hadn’t been cross-country skiing in 20 years, but assumed that I could easily pick it back up, and I bought a new set up this winter expecting it to be an activity that Eli and I could do together. I had Eli in his LÍLLÉbaby, which doesn’t offer much protection in the case of a fall. We found this out the hard way, because surprise, featherweight skis that don’t have edges on them can’t easily stop, and certainly can’t be controlled when going really fast downhill. When I realized I was going down, I grabbed Eli close to me and broke my fall with my shoulder, so Eli was fine.
The following day I got my money’s worth on a powder day at Steamboat with Ryan, one of our favorite skiing (and riding) buddies, while Steve and Eli spent time together.
Visiting Sidsie and Papi in Carbondale
Morgan and I got to ski two days together this weekend at Snowmass and Aspen, thanks to her parents who live in Carbondale! They love watching Eli and we love skiing together, so it makes for a great trade! We timed our trip perfectly with a snowstorm and had one of the best ski days of the year, especially in the Burnt Mountain area at Snowmass.
President's Day Staycation!
We staycationed at home for President’s Day, with an adventure a day. On Saturday, we lugged Eli in his Chariot all over Boulder. It’s such a fun town to go exploring on bike path adventures, you can ride for 50 miles without ever feeling unsafe on a road or bike path, so we took Eli out east, then back to north Boulder where we discovered Lucky’s Bakery, then back home with a few errand stops in between. On Sunday the weather turned, so we took a snowy hike and went skiing at Eldora on Monday.
Visit to Chicago
This weekend we visited Eli's aunt, uncle, and baby cousin Addie in Chicago. It was Eli's first airplane trip, and he seemed to enjoy it. When there's turbulence, he just giggles, which I attribute to him being in Dirt Mom's womb while she was downhilling in Steamboat. He likes the bumps and high speed descents!
Eli's little cousin Addie was born seven weeks after him, so I look forward to them having each other and growing up together. Both of them are portable and love being on the move, so we took long walks in downtown Chicago, took them out to dinner, went to the zoo, and visited our friends Russ and Sarah and their three kids (the youngest who was born one month prior to Eli) as well.
Airplane travel with a baby isn't as bad as it looks. You get to cuddle and play in the seat, and as long as you have something soothing nearby if they start to freak out -- pacifier, bottle, toy -- they seem to be appeased. I'm not expert, but Eli ate, slept, and played and enjoying flying as much as his dad!
He also got to see his beloved Uncle Scott who flew out to join the party.
Adventures with the Chariot
The most epic part of today’s adventure was just getting started. I tried to fit the infant sling into the chariot, went to REI, got the last taped-up infant sling in stock, drove up to Brainard Lake, had a proper blow out in the diaper, Morgan changed Eli while I attempted to install the new infant sling in the snow and cold, got him in there, doubting whether I had installed it correctly. Then we started on our way on the snowy road up to Brainard Lake and realized that we didn't bring food, water, or a change of clothes for Eli. Squarely on the front seat of the car. We tested out the ski attachment on the Chariot on the road. It's a heavy trailer and we'll probably only use it for cross country skiing or when we have two kids. It's not as useful if you're on a long tour in untracked snow. We'd carry Eli in the chest carrier for that, or in a sled once he's old.
The following day was the Super Bowl, Morgan’s favorite holiday. The Super Bowl was fine, but the norovirus we both contracted within 24 hours of the Super Bowl, not so much. Talk about adventure, I was changing Eli while Morgan was doubled over on the floor of his nursery, useful only for her milk and nothing more. The next day, roles were reversed, as Morgan had to take care of me and Eli, since I was struck with the same vomit comet.
