The only thing better than the beautiful scenery of Colorado’s mountains was the company of people I love and dearly miss. My parents rented a cabin in Estes Park and invited us to come along for a week. The house was tucked into the woods off a gravel mountainside road where the cool breezes were a wonderful respite from Savannah’s heat. You could hear the wind building before it came blowing through the windows. From those same windows we could see snow-capped peaks and the occasional deer and coyote, and lots of hummingbirds. Camille particularly liked all the little rocks on the gravel driveway, meticulously picking out a stone for each of us. “Mommy rock,” she would say as she placed it in my hand.
Instead of writing about the trip in one post, I’m going to break it into 3: The Friends, The Family, and The Hike.
The Friends
Anna, Jason and Elliot joined us for the first half of the trip. My heart was racing as we walked through the airport, I was so excited to see them and finally meet Elliot. She was even cuter than in all the pictures (as if that were possible – her pics are so cute!), and Camille seemed a bit starstruck. After all, she watches online videos of Elliot all the time, so to her, that’s one famous baby!
The girls hit it off, although Camille is very much in a “mine” phase and wasn’t always sure about sharing her toys. Elliot gave her an awesome tea set for her birthday, and Camille LOVED it! She even slept with a plate. And thankfully, there were enough plates and saucers that she was happy to share with her friend, and the two had many a tea party.
Unfortunately for Anna and Elliot, they had to spend part of their vacation dealing with a stomach flu. But we still managed to take the girls for a couple of “hikes” around lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. “Hikes” is in quotes because they were really more like strolls – no steep inclines or anything. But lots of nice views and plenty of baby ducks, so we were all happy.
Camille was a champ in her backpack, and wore her hat to protect her face from sunburn – most of the time.
Elliot enjoyed watching Camille run around – we called it Cami TV. And Camille enjoyed hamming it up, and would often dance while Elliot laughed at her. And these were no little giggles, they were full-on belly laughs. Lee captured this video, and I think it’s priceless.
Laughing Little Girls from Ginger on Vimeo.
I didn’t get the stomach flu, thankfully, but I felt like throwing up when they drove away from the cabin to catch their flight back home. I hate that we live so far away from each other, but at the same time I’m grateful we can still stay in touch. I envision many more tea parties in the future for Camille and Elliot.