Olly Travels Utah.

Last week we took off for a little mini vacay to Utah...

"Uhhh...we're going where?!"

"Utah Oliver, Utah"

"Ok, well I'll just sleep anyway..."

We travelled 3 1/2 hours west to Moab, UT.  We were amazed by what Utah had to offer for scenery.  So quickly it changed from Colorado mountains to the Utah canyons.  A mini Grand Canyon mind you.

Oh and of course, in true Michael Road Trip fashion, we took the scenic route.  Another one of those "where does this road go" roadtrips =)  So, this is us parked on the side of the road less travelled & very close to the area I have dubbed the set of 'The Hills Have Eyes'.  I'm just glad that we stopped before I saw that broken down area or I would have never gotten out of the car...even in the daylight!

We tried to do a timed fam photo...but as you can see...we have yet to master it!

Oliver's favorite part of roadtrips...tunnels!

That was the trip into Moab...a very touristy town...lots of bikers, hikers, campers & jeepers.

We checked out the Moab Brewery & planned our next day.  It was here that I realized that in my quick preparation before departing from Basalt, I forgot my haircomb & deodorant.  But thanks to Michael & an old prison trick...I MacGyvered my way through it.

First destination was Dead Horse Point...& we found out that it's not just a clever name...sorry to you PETA members out there, but it was literally where horses were left to die, back in the day.

Oliver stayed nustled in his stroller most of the time, but we took him out at this lookout point to see if we could get a rise out of him...well...you be the judge of how excited he was about it... =)

I think he was just happy that he didn't drop his paci down the 2500 ft drop below us...there is a road down there, but it takes 4 days to travel the entire space & that would've just been out of our way.

Onto Arches National Park. 

As most of the hikes are not stoller friendly...hence the word hikes...we did most of our siteseeing from the car.  Plenty of arches have been natuarally carved throughout this area, but unfortunately, most of them require trekking some miles to get up close & personal.

Balancing Rock.

Haha!

I made Mike do this!

This one's for the ladies... =)

The guys hung out under the trees while Mama hiked up to get a good shot of an arch...

And this was all the closer the trail took me...& it felt like I hiked up a mile!  Ugh!  There were literally people walking underneath that thing...we took the wrong trail & it was NOT the stroller friendly one.

This one was towards the end of the 20 some mile drive through the park & as luck would have it, Oliver was a hungry hippo, so I fed him while Mike walked up to get some shots of this one.

And that was the end of our trip.  We took it easy the rest of the day & checked out some areas we definately want to camp at sometime this summer.  We weren't quite prepared (in my mind) for camping this trip...I mean c'mon, I don't even own a sleeping bag & I can't get organized on such short notice for camping with a 5 month old!!!  I have a lot more to catch everyone up on including Oliver's 5 month stats & a first time rice cereal feeding frenzy...we're working on it.  So I will be catching you up on more this week...I hope! =) 

Happy Earth Day Birthday.

...so I just spent the past two days uploading like 75 photos onto the blog & narrating our trip to Utah...& I don't even know what happened... one slip of the finger & the entire thing was erased from the editor!  I tried to exit out before it automatically saved, but it left me with a blank project!  I'm a little on fire right now, so I'm going to have to take a couple deep breaths & step away from the computer before I throw it across the room!  Hopefully I can repost this weekend!  Breathe in...breath out.

I think someone hacked into my computer too, b/c ever since my entire post was erased...as I type...random words highlight & the background color is changed!  I'm going crazy on Blogger right now!

Five. Mo.

Lots of stuff to cover in this one, so grab a beverage, sit back & enjoy...this post has chapters...

Chapter One. Happy Five Mo Little Man!
Oliver is 5 months old today.  Geezlouise, old man!  His hair is starting to grow back in & the waist of his pants are usually riding up to his lil baby boobies, so we frequently call him by nickname "Harold"...for his old-mannish characteristics.  He has officially rolled over by himself (videos to come in another post)!  He just now needs to master getting back over to his back.  He is constantly talking & talking & babbling & making fart noises.  Fart noises are funny, but not for 2 hours straight until finally exhausting your lips at 10 pM...c'mon little O, Mom & Dad's bedtime is 8:30 =)  Haha.  He is definately becoming a more grown up little human being.  He loves to use his jumper everyday.  He loves to splash all the water out of his tub & has refused to allow Dad to manage bathtime.  We still believe he may be teething despite no teeth popping through those tender gums.  PS...shout out to Mel on the Hyland's Teething Tabs =)  Mom didn't help the sore gum situation this morning however...we were laying in bed this morning & I was trying entertain him with facebook photos on my iPod so we wouldn't have to quite get up yet (don't worry I wasn't neglecting his empty tummy, Mike had already fed him)...so I was holding it inches above our heads, flipping, flipping, flipping, then outta nowhere, his crazy little baby legs went bazerk & kicked right at my iPod, I lost grip & it went tumbling down towards his head as gravity would have it.  It bonked his head (ugh I hate repeating it, but I chose to share the story so I must go on)...there was a slight pause...& then the world came to an end.  Screeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaams! Crying chaos & tears & loudness!  Poor man.  I felt so bad, it was an accident, obviously.  Then I realized that it had hit him in the lip & not the forehead & the cries were soon accompanied by a little baby fat lip.  He soon forgot about it, as I attempted some first aid on him & gave lots of lovin.  Besides this lapse in good-parenting...I think we're all doing ok.  He is growing in leaps & we head back to the doctor for a well check this upcoming week.  His cheeks are amazingly scrumptious & he laughs & gives us smiles all the time.  He loves attention & one-on-one time with both parents.  He has begun charming us with wet open mouth slobber kisses...they are to die for!  He has started some interesting temper-tantrums...yikeso!  He still enjoys stroller & roadtrip naps, but we're gonna start waking him up for him to enjoy the wonders that nature gives us living in Colorado...(more on that later in the post). I can't wait for the next month to unfold as we head towards becoming a half of a year old!  And I hope part of that involves a revolution back into the all-night sleeper he once was =)  Ho hum, love you pumpkin bum!     

Chapter Two. Two Become One.
We all want to congratulate my cousin Donna for becoming engaged to her beau Lucas!  Yaya!!!  For those of you who do not know Marley (as I call him), Lucas is from Galva & they have dated for 10ish years (just kidding) not sure how long...so we are excited to attend their wedding before the end of this year!  Love those two & are very happy for them to start their new lives together.

Chapter Three. Margaritas, Fajitas & Snubbing Senoritas.
Last night we went to a little Mexican restaurant I had been eyeing for weeks on Oliver & my daily walks.  I was not in the mood to cook & Mike...well, let's face it...haha just kidding, he does great around the grill & coming up with Cajun concoctions...but that wasn't in the plans.  So we settled into a booth & let me tell you, this place had a very authentic Mexico feel as it was approx 85 degrees in the there, cue my hotflashes & peeling off layers.  We ordered a margarita, relaxed & attempted to cool off...TGIF ya know.  Michael had some amazing seafood fajitas & I enjoyed a very authentic Mexican taco salad.  Now to the snubbing of senoritas part of the title...our sweet little happy-go-lucky, not afraid to smile at strangers little boy came into the situation with his poker face on.  The waitresses were loving on him, as always, & he would not give them the time of day...they even spoke in Espanol, trying to woo his little dimple out...nothing...straight-faced & sober he turned his head the other way & just wasn't having it.  Ha?!  Don't know what it meant & we tried to explain ourselves out of the awkward moment by saying he's shy around strangers (not really true though).  I guess our trip to Mexico will be a Mom & Dad excursion only...ehhemmm...grandparents... ;)  Kidding, kidding.  Snubbing senoritas, I don't know?!

Chapter Four. Bikini Season Is Right Around The Corner.
Just making a brief mention of this, because upon asking for the ok to share with you bloggies, I only semi received permission, so I'm sneaking it in anyway.  Michael has dug through old 'rockclimbing in Montana' photos & has hand picked some great ones.  His goal is to mold himself into that same physique.  I only mention it because I want to express my encouragement, I think it's great that he wants to get back into shape for himself & his family.  And, I just want to rockclimb!  So our refrigerator has been decorated with the motivational photos of Mikey...looking good with his shirt off... climbing rocks...what?!  Haha, ok I'm moving on, this is a family site =)

Chapter Five. Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls.
We ventured out today on one of what I've dubbed as Michael's "Where Does This Road Lead To" roadtrips.  We headed southwest towards Redstone & Marble.  It wasn't too far away, but you know how cruising through the mountains goes...it always takes longer than a 6 mile stretch through Iowa would.  This whole area is embedded by the White River National Forest & has some spectacular views if you go searching for them.  We travelled by Mount Sopris, the largest mountain view to our area & beyond.  I love getting in the car & exploring, if I am only able to overcome my car/altitude sickness.  A new thing since moving to the mountains =(  Anyway, on our trek over the river & through the woods, we discovered this little nook just off the road we were on.  It had a little waterfall & I decided this would be a great place to stop with Oliver for some 5 month photos.  Well...like I mentioned above, he loves his roadtrip naps so I did have to wake the little man up from a nappy.  He was a little dazed, but we trekked up the rocks a short way to the base of the fall.  A waterfall can be somewhat noisier than say...a peaceful nap in a vehicle, so it scared the bejezus out of Oliver.  I, of course had to capture his reaction on camera...he soon got used to the sound after a minute & was ok.  His eyes were glued to that running water the whole time though!  It was a great little nook!  I know the weekend isn't completely over yet, but thanks to the wonderful people at Nascar, Oliver & Mike are occupied with "the race" for the next who knows how many laps, so it gave me the opportunity to blog away.  Here are some photos from the roadtrip along the Crystal River (sorry they are not that quality, I snap from the car as we are driving mostly) & our little waterfall nook...

Coke Ovens...used to carbonize or "coke" coal for the fuel companies back in the day.

I really wanted to crawl into one of these, but since it specifically said not to trespass & we were already in trouble with the Colorado State Police (Ha! See 'Happy Keyster' post), I figured I should just leave it alone.

Leaving the Coke Oven Exhibition/Horse Riding Stables.

This first one is a heartbreaker...but so key to our experience today =)

...ok, recovering now...but he did not take his eyes off of that running water!

I love exploring with my guys!

Did anyone notice the pukes just nonchalantly spewing out of his mouth?!  In the short couple minutes we stopped, he had a meltdown & puked all over Mom...totally recovered from everything though =)  Notice I do turn the other direction in the rest of the shots however...