Tour de Mountain Towns

We just got home from a wonderful family road trip - that ended up being a tour of three (relatively) nearby mountain towns.  In general, our trip consisted of many of the same things we would be doing at home if it wasn't so dang hot this time of year...with a few special things thrown in too! For Lola and I, that meant lots of stroller rides.  For Matt & Silas, that meant lots of bike riding (that included many loops to check-in with the "walkers").  We were fortunate to have a number of good friends along the way that we got to socialize with too!

We eased into vacation-mode by spending four nights in Flagstaff.  Silas enjoyed playtime and a little picnic with his friend Brynn:

He also got to go hiking with my friend and co-worker Molly.  Silas felt very special to have some "Molly-time" all on his own!  She took him "climbing":

We also spent some time time exploring NAU (my alma mater) with the bikes/stroller.  We had so much fun cruising around North Campus, we went back the next day to play around on South Campus too:

Next, we packed up and headed to beautiful Telluride, Colorado.  We rented a cute little condo right on Main Street.  It was a perfect way to be "part of the action" even when we were taking it easy in our cozy condo.

On another little bike/stroller ride, we discovered this pretty little waterfall:

Besides the amazing scenery, Telluride is nestled within a magnificent high mountain box canyon, a major highlight was attending the Telluride Jazz Festival!  We went on "New Orleans Day", which kicked off with a Mardi Gras-type parade down Main Street.  The Festival itself was super fun, with lots of awesome live music.  I think we most enjoyed seeing Soul Rebels and The Funky Meters play.

We met-up with my friend Julie and her family.

Silas enjoyed playing soccer in the rain with Julie's kids (it sprinkled on and off during the day...but then rained pretty good at night!).  Lola was a champ for her first festival experience and I think she enjoyed "dancing" with me in the wrap!  

After Telluride, we drove down the "Million Dollar Highway" to a little house we rented in Durango, Colorado.  Before the trip, Silas was most excited to ride the train.  He could hardly stand the thought of waiting until the end of our trip to do it!  The house we rented was 7 blocks from downtown Durango, so on our first night in town, we rode bikes/strollered downtown and stumbled across the Train Museum 15 minutes before closing time.  Silas was super psyched to get to "drive" a real locomotive:

He liked it so much, in fact, he requested to go back the next day (which we did).  And then he asked to go back again!!  The actual train trip was pretty neat too!  We rode the historic narrow gauge steam engine train from Durango to Silverton (and then back again).  I thought the trip was a little long (3.5 hours each way)...but apparently I was the only one!  Matt and Silas (and I guess Lola) really enjoyed it.  The scenery was stunning!

The sunglasses were not only "cool"...they also helped keep the coal specks/soot out of our eyes!  It was the only bummer about riding in the open air gondola.  And probably wouldn't have mattered much at all, except I felt bad for Lola (since she didn't have any!).  But she nursed and slept most of the trip, so it was pretty easy to keep her covered up!

You may see this family photo again come Christmas time...

We also enjoyed swimming at Trimble Hot Springs (where I got this sweet picture of Silas and Lola):

I have to say, Silas really is an amazing big brother.  He adores his sister and spends quite a bit of time "playing" with her...and she clearly adores him!

This photo totally captures the mutual adoration...he fell asleep while still holding Lola's pacey in her mouth!

And, finally, I think the icing on the cake, for this trip, was Durango's BMX track!!

Silas and Matt both had a BLAST riding around (and around and around).  This video cracks me up because Matt was filming while riding his bike (and consequently had no brakes!)

The first thing Silas did when we got home, was put on his train engineer costume and play "train".  But the second thing was to get on his bike and be a "famous BMX racer"...and give autographs to his friends and family!

Man, we sure do feel lucky to have the time and resources to go on such a special family adventure!  The timing turned out to be kind of interesting - as Matt is currently looking for a new job and I'm back to work on Monday after 12 wonderful weeks of maternity leave.  Guess we'll keep you posted on what the next Gidley Family Adventure will be...

New Arrival!

To follow-up on the last post...the waiting game for the newest little Gidley ended last Friday and I'm very proud to announce the arrival of:

Lola Aspen Gidley

May 18, 2012 at 8:32 am
8 pounds, 15.7 ounces
20 inches long

Lola arrived via a scheduled c-section, four days after my due date.  We were waiting and hoping I'd go into labor naturally but it never happened.  Given my skill at growing large babies (plus remembering the difficulties we had when Silas was born), a c-section was definitely the best option for us at that point.  And, honestly, I never could have imagine what a wonderful experience it would be.  

It sounds crazy to me (I guess because I really didn't want another c-section), but that evening, I looked at Matt and said "what a nice day this has been."  And I really meant it. Our experience with Lola was such a striking contrast to our Silas experience.  It gave me the opportunity to sincerely appreciate every step along the way.  In the last five days since Lola's birth, there have been so many moments that I didn't even know we missed with Silas.  Holding her in the recovery room was the first.

Keeping her by our side for every minute afterwards was the second.

Now we have begun life as a family of four.  We've all been looking forward to Lola's arrival.  But Silas' response to his little sister melts my heart.  He continues to ask to hold her every chance he gets.  He marvels at the size of her little feet and fingers.  He's been telling her knock knock jokes and singing her made up songs: "I'll never let any bad guys get you..."

Our first family photo:

So now we're settling in to life at home.  Silas is helping Lola test out all her new toys and continues to hold her and sing to her.  I'm sure she'll adore her big brother as much as he loves his baby sister!

The Waiting Game

So - here we are again...waiting for the arrival of a new baby Gidley!  My due date is tomorrow,  May 14, and I guess I was holding on to the notion that she might come early since she is "the second" baby.  But I shoulda known better!  Baby Silas was is no rush to come out and it looks like baby Lola is the same way.   Which would be fine, I suppose, except Matt and I can't help imagining another big baby that is growing bigger by the day.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed she is nowhere near the impressive 10 pounds  10 ounces that was Silas...but we'll see.  The plan is that if she doesn't arrive naturally we're going to do another c-section on Friday May 18.  So one way or another, we'll be meeting Lola soon!!

Regardless, I think this final waiting game is such a strange phase of pregnancy.  Especially with a second child.  I feel like everything we've done lately is the "last time" we'll do that as a family of three or as "Mommy and Silas". It is both a special and anxious time together.

We went to a Diamondbacks baseball game last weekend.  I love how Silas is shielding me in this photo so I look relatively normal.

Ahhhhhh....but not so in this one:

Silas really enjoyed the game - but he was primarily focused on seeing Baxter (the mascot).  He doesn't actually know to much about Baxter, except that he appeared in a little movie with Solar Man (one of his very favorite superheroes) and, therefore, must be a friend of Solar Man.  You can check out the 2 minute movie here: Solar Man Fights Watt Waster

We talked a lot about Baxter...where he might be, what he might be doing, etc. etc.  Luckily, we found him!

Silas and I also had a really fun evening picnic this weekend with some of my life-long friends at a great Tempe park/splash pad.

We even managed to pull-off our Fourth Annual Family Camping trip this weekend!  Except, of course, the our travel only took us to Ahwatukee and it was a backyard camp-out at my parent's house.  Silas, Ma-Mo & Karen actually slept in the backyard.  The rest of us enjoyed the (tiny) campfire and s'mores...but also enjoyed sleeping inside.

We love our Mother's Day camping tradition, though, and look forward to actually doing it in a forest somewhere next year!

Pura Vida...otra vez!

After a delayed start to a trip that almost didn't happen** (see below)...we got to enjoy another fabulous vacation to Costa Rica as a family of three Gidleys!! Actually, I have to admit, this trip was way better than last time - even with me being 6 months pregnant! (If you remember, Silas was 21 months old on our last Costa Rica trip and, for a variety of reasons, it was a really challenging age to do a trip like this with him.)  He's now 4 years old and a relatively seasoned traveler - plus he's old enough to appreciate much of the cool stuff he saw.



Since we went during the "windy season" (which is also the "dry season"), we spent a lot of time at Lago Arenal watching my parents windsurf and playing in/around the lake.  Matt also did some windsurfing.  We brought Silas' life jacket, so he had a lot of fun bobbing around/swimming in the water.

Mom is in the water at the moment and Dad is zooming by.

  

Silas, as his usual goofy self, playing in the wind.

We enjoyed relaxing at my parents house too - often on the patio (which wasn't scary this time since I knew Silas wouldn't accidently toddle right off the edge and roll down into the jungle!). 




We tried to re-create the classic sunset photo from the last trip...not really the same with a goofy 4 year-old!

 

hammock-time!



Silas loved playing this soccer (aka futbol) game that one of my parent's Costa Rican (aka "Tico") friends, Sandra, had left as a gift for him.  Everyone who visited our house got to play at least one game with Silas.  It's too bad we didn't get a video of him playing with Sandra.  He thought her fast-talking game commentary (that was all in Spanish) was pretty hilarious!

 

 

We did afloat trip down the Rio Tonorio again. 

We saw an incredible amount of wildlife on the river.  I was telling Silas how we'd probably see little cocodrillos again...but I was totally unprepared for the size of this one!  (I guess the little crocs we saw last time grew up!!).  I didn't mind that our guide kept a safe distance...

This also turned out to be our best look at howler monkeys (although we heard their fierce roaring every day from my parent's house...usually at the crack of dawn).

Matt and I got to take a little day-trip adventure to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (next to the more famous Monteverde).  It was a beautiful drive and an amazing hike with some cool bird sightings.  We didn't see the illusive Quetzal, but we did see an orange-bellied Trogon (which is also very special and in the same family).

We spent the last few days of our trip at Playa Hermosa.  It was a beautiful beach in a tiny little town.  The Pacific Ocean was calm and relatively warm.  Matt and I enjoyed some amazing snorkeling.  Silas would've enjoyed swimming in the mellow surf...but he got stung by a little jellyfish on his first dip in the ocean.  I actually swam through huge swarms of little jellyfish when I was snorkeling.  It wasn't pleasant - but I didn't have much of a reaction to the stings.  Silas, unfortuantely, did react with more pain and swelling - and that was the end of his swimming in the ocean for this trip!  But we still had lots of fun playing on the beach and exploring the tide pools.

It has been fun imagining how we'll be a family of four the next time we do a big trip!  I'm so grateful we got share this adventure now, before we settle into the next phase of life that comes with baby Gidley.  (And if you're wondering...no, she still doesn't have a name yet!!)

**long story - but our trip delay was basically due to a complication with my pregnancy that arose on Saturday, when we were supposed to leave on Sunday, turned out to be no problem on Monday and allowed us to rearrange all our travel plans to leave on Wednesday!

Another Summer blockbuster

So, I'm finally dusting off my blogging fingers and am going to give an update from our last few months. Maybe I'm going to have to call these "quarterly" updates. Well...no...I'm an optimist. I'll try to do this more often.

One big highlight is that Silas and I took a trip to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco), Mexico with two of my girlfriends and their kids. We rented a house on the beach. It was heavenly! The weather was beautiful and everyone really enjoyed climbing on the rocks and searching for treasures in the tide pools. I know parts of Mexico have had a lot of issues with violence lately - but Rocky Point felt as safe and welcoming as ever. And with our own private happy hour on the beach (every day!!)...does it get any better?

We also enjoyed a new tradition (second year running) to spend Mother's Day camping with my family. This year we went to Peppersauce campground on the north side of Mt. Lemmon (outside of Tucson). I just had to take a photo of the boys doing dishes because it was so amusing and unusual (ha ha!):

I got some cute pics & videos of Silas playing with with great grandma, M&M, and hunting for treasures with his great aunt Michelle and, of course, Ma-Mo.

see the M&M and Silas blowing bubbles video here

see the Tresure Hunt video here

Silas went to his first Diamondbacks baseball game. I can't say he really watched the game - but we managed to "stay" in our seats until the seventh inning and he definitely enjoyed the food aspect of "watching" a baseball game.

We also went to a very special birthday party where "The Reptile Man" made a guest appearance. Silas was way into it...except for when it came to wearing the snake around your neck. He prefered touching the reptiles on his terms. Understandable, I suppose, and probably a good self-preservation technique. Still, I was so proud of his affinity for snakes!The video footage with the snakes is pretty cool too: Sunshine the Snake and holding the snake.1

Uncle Norb flew into town - and Silas has the awesome opportunity to "drive" his airplane. Again, Silas was way into it and Norb was so sweet with him. I couldn't believe he let him push, pull and twist (almost) all the buttons and knobs. Now every time we see an airplane he asks if Uncle Norb is flying it and I'm pretty sure he thinks he'll get to "drive" again next time we're on a plane.

see the video of Silas and Norb

The Blake Family exodus to San Diego was another great trip - and a smashing success compared to last year (where, if you recall, Silas wanted nothing to do with sand, sea or waves...or Aunt Karen!). We had lots of quality time with the family and also our friends who live in San Diego. I think one of his favorite things about this trip was baby Colin (my friend, Cecilia's, new baby). He really loves babies!

I love how we are related to every single person you see in the picture (i.e. everyone at the beach!).

See how Silas also loves "surfing"!


We enjoyed some quality time with our (great) grandparents too!

I can't forget all the fun times at home riding bikes with friends and family (go Papi!) and splashing around:

Here are a couple pics from our most recent camping trip to the Mogollon Rim with friends. Summer tends to inspire lots of camping trips. Not because the weather is great in Phoenix (duh!) but because we are all so motivated to escape to cooler country as much as possible! (Unfortunately, this was the trip where half the people came home with a nasty stomach flu. Fortunately, I didn't get sick until after we got home and Silas managed not to get sick at all...so we still had a great trip.)
and who doesn't love S'mores when camping? Well...s'more kisses might be even better!

Guess that's all for now! Until next time...