rocky mountain high

A couple of weeks ago Joe completely surprised me with a trip to Breckenridge, CO.  He had everything arranged...travel, kids, lodging.  He even called my boss to make sure I could get the time off.  He employed the help of my friend Amy, and managed to keep it all top secret.  I was so impressed.  I love surprises!

We had so much fun.  I have been to Breckenridge before, but only in the winter.  I loved it just as much in the summer.  There is something about the mountains that is just so amazing.  We hiked a ton.  Hit the shops, great restaurants and the local brew pub.  The resort we stayed at was awesome, complete with a wood fireplace in our room and about 10 outdoor hot tubs on the property.  Heaven.  The only thing I was disappointed to miss was the concert with this guy doing all John Denver songs.  (I know Carrie can truly appreciate how sad I was about this).

This trip rocked!  Not only was it fun, but just plain relaxing.  We were active and lazy all in one trip.  We had uninterrupted conversations and time to just enjoy the silence.   He gets big points for planning such a great, for no apparent reason, surprise.  Thanks babe ;)

Gondola trip to Peak 8

Top of Peak 8 before the hike down



Midway up hike to Mohawk Lake.

Hiking with a torn meniscus. What a die hard.

It was so pretty at the top.  I want to go back!  Like now.  Right now!

oh yeah...we went to FL

...in April! Ok, so I don't blog much anymore, whatever. We've been to Orlando so many times, but this was the best trip yet. Largely because we went with Carrie and family again AND our kids are older and more self-sufficient which means they require less supervision and leave us alone more. Yet they are still young enough to want us around, lovely. Our trip was the perfect balance of downtime and activities. So much fun...let's do it again guys!

We were there over Easter. Easter egg hunt, steak and shrimp on the grill, Vicki racing the kids around the pond after a few glasses of wine...it's a long story, don't ask. Very fun night.




We topped off a great evening with a late night drive to Merrit Island near Cocoa Beach where we spent the night so we could get up at 4:30 AM and watch the Space Shuttle launch. So worth the drive and the lack of sleep!


We never go to Orlando without hitting Fun Spot. It's a great park with carnival type rides. The kids seem just as happy here as they are at any of the big parks. Why we continue to torture ourselves is beyond me. It was beautiful out each day of our trip. The colors at Fun Spot with the evening sky were gorgeous.

Although I kind of like this one better in sepia.


I hope these boys are friends forever. Makes my heart happy.







We also did Universal, went out a lot and had a ton of pool time. Those pictures are all apparently on Ava's camera, which I just don't have energy for at the moment.

wine country

I just returned from an awesome trip! A true girls weekend. Tara and I met in Sacramento and had the time of our lives. We toured wine country, met some awesome people, drank delicious wine and ate wonderful food. In four days we hit 26 wineries! We did zero shopping, which is unheard of. We ate 5 course meals, sipped champagne, saw the giant redwoods and stayed in a cabin in the mountains overlooking a beautiful valley. We brought two cases of wine home and have one more on the way. We spoiled ourselves silly and loved every minute of it. A HUGE thanks to my hubby. He more than handled the craziness while I was away and had no qualms about all the cash I spent. The pictures I took barley captured the beauty that was every place we turned around, but you get the idea. Cheers T! I had a blast!!!

first stop on Wine Road

So happy to be at her favorite stop...Robert Sinskey

gnarly

our view from the front porch...thanks Doug!