First family vacation (kind of)

This past weekend we got to take a last-minute trip to Taos, New Mexico. We were supposed to have friends in town, but when they had to cancel, we were facing a weekend with no plans. We had heard great things about Taos, and since it was only five hours away, we thought it would be the perfect chance to check it out. As we were driving down there, we realized that although we've taken trips with Jack before, this was the first one we took that wasn't home to Iowa or to another destination where we were meeting other family members. Hence this post's title: our first family vacation (sort of).

We left Denver around 4 on Friday and after hitting some afternoon traffic, we got to Taos around 9:30 or 10. We rented a 1-bedroom vacation home, which was great for lounging around. And that's how we started Saturday morning:

Our rental was within walking distance of Taos Plaza, where we found lots of shops and galleries. We had a good morning of exploring. It wasn't quite as relaxing as Jeff and I had hoped. Jack was good and patient, but it's kind of hard to leisurely walk around an artsy-crafty store with a 2-year-old!

We did find a special treat for Jack though: a toy store with a very big playground out back!

On our way out of town on Sunday we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, which was well worth the 20 minutes out of the way. The pictures don't do it justice, of course, but it was pretty cool.

We finished the trip with a five-hour drive home, during which Jack napped for exactly 0 minutes! Needless to say, it was a long drive. We're really glad we went, and we had a great time--if not as carefree as we had hoped for. Jack is really good, but he's testing his two-year-old limits. It's funny because in some ways we're so proud of him for learning to explore, expanding his language, and really learning to be his own person, but it can also make for some challenging parenting moments. Next up: a visit from Steve, Janet, James, and Teagan! Happy Memorial Day!