5 Days of Pure Laughter

We flew out to Colorado to visit Doug's Aunt Betty. We arrived on Wednesday evening and stayed in Denver overnight. Betty hooked us up with a condo. The next morning we headed out to Steamboat Springs. We took the scenic route (by the way every route is the scenic route when you are in Colorado) and stopped off at Vail Ski Resort to stretch our legs. We pulled up to our condo and lets just say, we were not disappointed. The place was beautiful with an awesome view from our balcony of Steamboat Ski Resort. There was an indoor pool, 2 outdoor pools, sauna, steam-room, the works. Way to go Betty! We spent the next few days relaxing, swimming, eating, hiking up to Fish Creek Falls, which was 283 feet tall, taking long drives through the mountains, to lakes, the Alpine slide, playgrounds, and anywhere else we felt like stopping. One afternoon we stopped at a playground, we got out of Betty's car, Chloe squatted down next to the back tire and said "hear that, hear that, air coming out of there"! Betty looked at Doug, Doug looked at me, then I looked at Betty. The stupid tire was going flat, air was pouring out of the valve stem, AND the kid informed us of it!! I know what you're thinking, NO flipping way, but I am telling you this truly happened. So, that became the joke for the rest of our vacation, well, one of many jokes. We had so much fun with Betty. We literally spent more time engaging in uncontrollable laughing fits than anything else. It really was 5 whole days of pure laughter. Chloe and Betty were quite the pair. They took to each other right away. Betty thought it was hilarious when she taught Chloe to say Ch-ch-chia, until Chloe got sick and tired of it. Every time Betty would try to get her to Ch-ch-chia, Chloe would say "no Betty, no Ch-ch-chia", which only made Betty laugh more. Okay, one more Chloe story. We went out to get ice cream one evening, Chloe leaned over and caressed my face and said "Mommy you are sooooo cute and soooo nice". I said "you want some of my ice cream don't you". She nodded her head and said "please". Not a second after she was done with my ice cream, she leaned across the table, put her hands on the sides of her face, and said "Betty you are sooo cute and soooo nice". Needless to say, she got some of Betty's ice cream. Once again we found ourselves in a fit of laughter. Next up Poppa, you get the point. The kid knows what she is doing.

We took off out of Steamboat and headed down to Central City a.k.a Blackhawk. It is an old mining town that has been completely restored and is now a gamblers paradise. It was a beautiful little town tucked in to the mountains. We decided to stay there that night. So, we checked in at Lady Luck Casino/Hotel. Doug and Betty went gambling for a bit, returning with nada, zilch, uh-hum; no winnings. We stayed up late the that night reminiscing with Betty and believe it or not laughing hysterically at anything and everything. The next day was our last day in Colorado. We drove back to Denver and ended up hanging out at Betty's place. Doug did a few home improvements including installing a new kitchen light, changing a few door handles, and literally yanking out some wooden spindles thingies circa 1960. Betty dropped us off and we were sad to tell her goodbye. We really had so much fun. It was one of the best vacations we have ever been on. Chloe was a traveling champ, even with all the long car rides. She kept us in stitches and has been asking about "Aunt Betty Heimansohn" every day since. Every time she hears or sees an airplane she says "go see Aunt Betty". Today she saw an ant on the table, she said "Aunt Betty!". Anyway, there I go again telling Chloe stories.