A trip to Utah

More than a month ago I went to Utah with Cora to visit my family. It was Cora's last free flight as a less than two year old. Our flights were full both rounds, and we had a runway delay in Denver where we sat on the tarmac for an hour before our flight. At that point in time my "not quite 2 year old" with no seat of her own was splayed out in the aisle of the airplane. In my uncomfy prego state I just laid the portable DVD player down in front of her in the aisle, and prepared a mental "jump in the lake" speech for anyone who disapproved. No one said anything, and we finally arrived in Utah. On the last leg, I was wondering why the airlines even permitted people to carry a child Cora's age on their laps. It was nothing short of a day long wrestling match!



It was wonderful to visit with my family. My Grandma Draper is 103 now and doesn't travel, so it was great to get to see her, and be able to visit. Cora loved visiting Grandma because she had a cookie jar. I got to run a little experiment to see how many cookies a child who weighs 24 lbs. can eat before lunch without making herself sick. Then answer is at least 5 vanilla sandwich cookies! I don't know what the breaking point is, but I am just glad we didn't hit it. Cora would come up during our chats and say "Just one more cookie, PLEASE????" and give this sweet smile. Grandma Draper, who believes that sweets are an integral part of childhood would say, "Oh, let her have another" and so Cora would trot over and get another cookie. This scenario would repeat several times during the visit, and everyone seemed to enjoy it so , what the heck! Grandma Draper is living with my cousin so Cora also got to visit with some of her little cousins, and even got to feed a carrot to the horses at the back fence. Definitely a highlight.

We also had a great time with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tom. They took us to do all sorts of fun things. We went up the canyon and took a scenic ski lift ride to see all the leaves changing colors. It was beautiful, and a bit chilly. For me it was a little more nerve wracking than I had originally expected to have Cora on a ski lift 4o feet off the ground. Needless to say, I had a tight grip on my sweet girl. We had a great time just playing at the house and spending time together. My parents spoiled us and Cora enjoyed having lots of one on one with her grandparents.

Almost every evening my brother Michael and his wife Teri would come over and say hi. Cora loved seeing them and would spend most of the day asking if they were going to come over and play. She called them Uncle Muggy and Uncle Teri. Every once and awhile she would say "aunt" but mosty Teri was Uncle Teri too. The first time Mikey built a tower out of blocks he pretty much had to beg Cora to knock it down. Once the ice had been broken on that front Cora turned destructo-matic. Mikey and Teri would both build towers, and she would alternate between the two of them, knocking their towers over with gusto. Everytime they came over I would feel obliged to remind Cora "Mike and Teri are really nice, and they don't mind if you knock their blocks down. When you are around other children, you don't knock their creations down." Cora would nod her head like she understood, but I worry about the next time she is around someone who is trying to build something...

We also went to a place called Gardener Village with lots of Halloween Decorations and pumpkins. We met some friends there and had a great time. The weather was beautiful, and they had pony rides. Cora was absolutely enthralled to ride a real pony, and being the softy that I am, she rode twice. The second time I put her on she pushed my hand away from her back and said "I can do it!" and she did. She hung on, and had absolutely no fear of the animals.


Thanks again Mom and Dad for a great visit!