Off a-Denvering we went.

Clara and I received an exclusive invite from my mother-in-law to go to Denver last week. You see, Tom has a brother and sister-in-law and two nieces and one nephew there. So I packed up our clothes and stuffed in as many diapers as not to exceed a suitcase's zip-up capability and we were on our way. Said goodbye to Tom Thomas (he did not receive an invite, you see. He had classes to attend—but I think the real reason is because I'm better behaved on an airplane) and said goodbye to my lap top (which happens to be a close second under my husband in my list of loves) for four days.

'Twas Clara's first time on an airplane and she definitely nailed it. As you probably know, it's not really my nature to gloat, but, she downright rocked.  I mean, if my mothering capabilities were judged solely from Clara's behavior on our two flights to and from Denver, I'm pretty sure I'd have a 3-foot mother-of-the-year trophy plus at least 17 gold medals plus Parenthood reporters lining up to ask me to divulge my secret.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that the airplane rides went well.

(My secret is Super Mario fruit snacks.) (And my other secret is that they're more for me.)

We had a lovely time. Now that we're home Clara's bored out of her mind since she doesn't have Lucy to dine with.

Or to (sort of) share toys with (not really).

Or to have music practice with. I believe Lucy had just asked Clara to work on her arpeggios a little more in this picture.

We visited the Denver Zoo as well.

As a matter of fact, we took great care to make sure this rhinoceros' rear was in our picture. I'm sure most would agree that if one is to take a group picture at the zoo, an animal be-hind of some kind or another is most fitting in the background. Pictured below and in the background is the rare sighting of the behind of a red-shorted human. Neat, huh?

Unfortunately I can't relay the entire trip to blogdom, because who has time for that? So I'll just sum up the trip with a few conversations that were held over the four days. One night Tracy and I talked all about how we don't miss high school. (I worry about people who say they DO miss high school.) Another time we all talked about how it might be fun to be Amish once a month. Just to stay grounded. So then when people invite you to, say, the movies, you could sound super cool with an excuse like, "Oh sorry, I can't, I'm Amish tomorrow." Oh, and apparently the world was supposed to end while I was there? I don't know, I'm always the last to know about these things. Plus, I should admit that I get ALL of my news from Twitter so if I go a few days without logging on my social- and world-awareness levels really decline.

But to top the trip off, we had a break through. Clara let her Grammy hold her! Willingly! With snuggles! Yee-haw! And she didn't stop there. One evening she felt extra accommodating and let her Uncle Taggart hold her. Of course, not without making her concerned face. (The concerned face pops up a lot these days.)

By the end of our trip, I could even plop her in a room with someone else and she wouldn't wallow in despair when I would leave. This, friends, is BIG considering she's had separation anxiety since 4 months. I now feel semi-confident that she's not going to be one of those children that live at home for 40+ years because she's too afraid of people.

We arrived home late Sunday evening to find Tom at the airport with a bubble-lettered "Welcome Home Alyssa" sign decorated with bright and colorful beads that he'd found sitting next to a trash can right by the baggage claim. That guy—he sure knows how to make us feel like a million bucks. I felt just as special as I'm sure Alyssa had.