Summer Vacation in the Rockies - Pt. 2

About 2/3 of the way through our visit to Colorado, Kaden got doubly spoiled by a full week with TWO sets of grandparents! Bob and Nancy came out for a visit so they could spend some more time with their precious grandson. He definitely enjoyed the constant attention. He always had someone around to read and play with him, laugh at his antics, cuddle him when he was sleepy, and generally keep him entertained.

One great thing about having the Phinneys around was it motivated us to get out of the house! We went on some shopping trips, played at the park, ate at restaurants, and soaked up the sun during a third trip to the zoo and giving Kaden his first swimming lessons!

"Swimming" in a large plastic tub

First mohawk.

Kaden LOVES giraffes and couldn't wait to touch one

Watching the orangutans in the ape house

Definitely an animal lover. ;^)

We were very impressed with how well Kaden handled his first time in a real swimming pool. We all expected him to have a melt down, so we used the deserted pool at Bob and Nancy's hotel instead of going to a public pool that would be crowded and noisy. No need for extra stimulation, or witnesses to our struggles. He did cry at first... But we gently eased him into the water. First he watched me splashing around and playing ball with Bob from the safety of grandma Nancy's arms. Then we sat him on the edge of the pool and let him play with the ball. After he calmed down, we sat him in the water on the first step of the stairs leading down into the pool. Then we stood him up on the second step. Finally, I scooped him up and we were off! We enjoyed chasing a ball around in the water, bouncing, blowing bubbles, and splashing. I even dunked him all the way under twice and he didn't complain too much. I was very proud of my little water baby!

Having an extra pair of hands around also gave me more opportunities to get out on my own. I completed my long shopping list of clothes Kaden and I would need for the next year over seas. I also got to see my dad play during the Colorado Springs Conservatory's production of 'Oklahoma'! One more highlight of the trip was attending my friend Katie Dayton's wedding at First Pres. She has worked with the college and young adults for several years, and is now an ordained minister on staff with the church. They invited anyone in the congregation to worship with them during the wedding ceremony, which made for a very unique and powerful wedding indeed. I've never met her husband Chuck before, but I believe they will be very happy. :)

Singing worship songs at the wedding

They served communion to the whole congregation.

Our beloved former senior pastor, Jim Singleton and his wife Sarah officiated

After Bob and Nancy left, we only had a couple of days to prepare for our return to Korea. I know it was hard on everyone, emotionally, preparing for that separation. My parents took advantage of every opportunity to snuggle with the little man and make him giggle.

 
Nate flew back to Colorado so we enjoyed a few more days together. He and I took some time to go out and catch up, and had fun seeing a movie. But by far my favorite memory with him was watching Kaden dance as Nate played his banjo for the little guy. So fun! I look forward to whenever we get together next and Kaden can actually talk and tell us what he thinks!

A couple of things have grown in the last few months... The baby, and the beard. haha

It took Nate a little while to warm up to Kaden and figure out how to interact with him. But that last night was really fun. Kaden certainly didn't want to say good bye and go to bed, and neither did I. But we had an early flight to catch. So we said, "See you later" and tried to get some sleep.

Kaden suddenly has a lot more hair...

Trying to figure out what this hair on his uncle's face is...

"I don't want to say good bye!"

Thankfully, Kaden was much better behaved on our trip back to Korea. I think it helped leaving in the morning so he was not as tired. We also had great seats. The jet back to Korea was smaller than usual, and so there were only two seats on the side, so there was no one blocking the aisle. We were also all the way in the back by the bathrooms so I had plenty of room to get up with him and walk around when he got too squirmy. We were both exhausted when we finally got home, but that helped us go to bed at a normal time and made overcoming the jet lag a lot easier.

Over all, it was a wonderful trip home, and well worth the long trip there and back. I'm thankful we got so many good pictures. It's always hard realizing that Kaden will not remember. But we have visual proof of all we did and hopefully someday he'll enjoy looking at them and watching the videos and seeing how much our family has loved him, from the get-go. :)