Colorado trip

We went to Colorado at the beginning of the month, got back home on the 15th of this month, and I'm just now finding time to write about it! We took the train, which Ariel's always enjoyed, but it was more fun this time around because she's older and understands what's going on. She liked having her own seat, and for the first day of travel (that began at 2pm) was content to look out the window and eat snacks.

She didn't play with any toys other than her stuffed orange tabby kitty, and didn't need to be read to, or anything! (Although I did have to read her "Curious George Goes Camping" on our second day of travel.) The train trip showed us just how good her balance is, too; she was walking around just fine, even while we were having some trouble! But I guess, being taller, we have a higher center of gravity?

We spent a couple nights at my parent's house and then went up to Highline Lake on the 4th, where we camped until the 13th. Ariel loved it! She absolutely loved being outside, holding Klondike's leash, sitting by the fire, singing with her Grammy... She even hiked the 3.5 mile trail around the lake with her Daddy and Poppa, and had energy left after to play at the playground and then walk back to camp! She had a growth spurt, too, was eating and sleeping very well.

When we got back to my parent's house, we spent the night, then hopped on the train the next morning. We got to see my grandma only because she met us for breakfast at the Pufferbelly Restaurant, right next to the train station! We had talked about going to her house the previous evening but just had too much to do before bed (laundry, repacking, etc.). Ariel was nervous around "Big Grandma" until my mom showed her a picture of her holding Ariel on our last trip out; as we were leaving the restaurant, Ariel walked over to Big Grandma and wanted her to pick her up!

New things: Just yesterday we discovered they've made a show of the Maisy books by Lucy Cousins! It's shown in Chicago on Qubo at 9am. We've checked out a few of the books from the library over the summer, and have one of the books, so Ariel is familiar with the little mouse. She watched the show yesterday, and this morning when she woke up she said, "I want to watch Maisy!"

Ariel has also started asking "can I..." which is very nice! But she does have her demanding moments. And she also apologizes for things, too! Still has some problems saying "please" when she's asking for things, but we're working on that.