Denver

Last Thursday, we flew to Denver to celebrate the wedding of Kim's good friend, Molly. Matt and Kim were glad to finally get on the plane. We must have been a sight to see carting all of our luggage through the airport. Quite a few random strangers offered assistance. Did we really look THAT needy?? :)

We weren't sure how Ryan would enjoy his first flight. Despite how this picture looks, Ryan (and Ian) flew like a champ. Many fellow passengers commented on how they didn't hear either boy!

Ian was happy to help with wheeling the luggage around. He also insisted repeatedly that we let him drive the rental car, until we told him that it wouldn't make the police officers happy to see a three-year-old behind the wheel.

Though Ian has stayed in a couple of hotels already, this was the first trip when we decided he was old enough to participate in a long-standing Walquist tradition (passed down from Kim's dad's family to Kim's family and now to Ian's family): jumping on the hotel beds and having pillow fights!!

While Ian thought the jumping on the bed was fun, he really enjoyed the pillow fights!

At the end, he wanted to build a "pillow house." Then, he got to try out the hotel's pool! He loved showing Daddy everything that he had learned in swimming lessons.

Molly & Steve's wedding was on Saturday!

Molly was one of the first people Kim met on campus at Concordia Nebraska. We were in the same Freshman Seminar group and were A Cappella choir tour partners all four years of college. I love this girl and was so happy that we could meet Steve and celebrate with them. (By the way, Matt did a fantastic job of keeping both boys occupied during the rehearsal, wedding prep, and wedding! What a stellar dad!)

We were also thrilled to be able to see another of Kim's college friends, Amy. Amy and Kim lived next door their freshman year, were suite mates their senior year, and were fellow altos in A Cappella all four years of college. We hadn't met Amy's two sweet girls (Anna - two weeks older than Ian or Lacy - one year old) or husband Tony until this trip. It was kind of them to have us over for play time and dinner!

Ian and Anna were fast friends and giggled like crazy over dinner.

After playing in the kiddie pool, they thought they should take a ride on the garden hose! Giddyup!

Then, we went to Olde Town Arvada to splash in the fountains ...

... and then enjoy some ice cream together at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

(Yes, Ian ate the WHOLE large cup of ice cream without any difficulty. Gotta let the rules slide on vacation!)

It was so good to see you, Amy!

By the third night of staying up until 11:00, Ian was pretty wiped out! But he was a trooper and SUCH a good traveler!

He loved watching Thomas movies and drinking apple juice on the plane.

Ryan, as usual, was pretty mellow the whole flight.

He loved being carried around in the Moby Wrap at the airport. (And Kim loved having both hands free to help cart our massive amount of stuff! :))

We loved our trip to Denver, and it makes us all the more excited to think about lots more family vacations in the future! Next up?? Billings! :)