A Welcomed Summery Denver Weekend!

I love traveling, being on the go, meeting new people, seeing new places. But, man!, did it feel nice to spend this weekend in Denver! It was one of the last summery weekends of the...summer...and Andy and I soaked it up.

Friday our friends Shelly and Kevin came over for a campfire dinner in our backyard. Andy and I got a patio set (woohoo!!) literally from our neighbor across the street on Friday, so we broke that in with some beers and general Friday laziness before firing up the...fire. Andy made some beer brats and we had hot dogs, veggie ones for me and to be honest they were kinda weird, and Shelly and Kevin brought over the fixins for s'mores. And, guys, can you believe that Andy had never had a s'more before?! I couldn't! I felt like a terrible girlfriend for never exposing him to the majesty of s'mores. Did he like them, you wonder? Well, let's just say he didn't stop at just one ;o)

Like a terrible hostess, I crashed pretty early Friday night, but then enjoyed a quiet Saturday morning of R&R: Reading & Relaxing. Andy and I spent much of the day cleaning the house trying rid our rooms of whatever is triggering my unrelenting allergies. Not fun, but important, Andy tells me. We cooked up a bunch of summer corn on the cob to have with dinner and to freeze for later. And I tell ya, we have not had enough corn on the cob this summer! I forget how much I love it. We had tickets to the Strand of Oaks concert that night with Shelly and Kevin. Strand of Oaks is a band Andy has loved and supported for years, and I am grateful he introduced me to their music. We've seen a handful of their shows together and I am constantly amazed at how much the band changes and grows from show to show. The first time I saw them perform, it was in a solo acoustic basement show in Madison, WI and then fast forward to this weekend and where there were four band members on stage and was a total rock show set! The lead, Tim, is such a versatile performer and is just a really good musician.

Tim is also a total softie for animals and just loves hanging out with Ella.

Now by Sunday I was itching for a hike! Andy and I got up pretty early to make breakfast for Tim and his band mates who crashed with us the night before. They had to be on the road by 7:30 to make it to their next show in Salt Lake, UT, so that gave us a head start on the day. We drove to Golden (about a 30 minute drive west of Denver) to find a quick nature hike. Our plans were a bit altered since the US Pro Challenge bike race was coming through Golden on the way to Denver and the road to our hike was closed to vehicles, but we improvised and did a walk along the road until we found a trail head. Totally worth it.

Sweet nature hike.

Alright, now this is what I'm talking about.

Someone was creating this beautiful, and terrifying, chalk art piece at the base of the foothill for the racers. How cool?!

Our friends, Kara and Chris, were visiting from Minneapolis (hooray!!) for a weekend wedding and extended their trip through Monday morning and we got them all day Sunday! They spend so much time in Denver since they have a robust group of friends and family here (this was their THIRD trip this year alone!) but are always coming for wedding-related events. So this time they requested some touristy stuff. Our original plan was so see a baseball game, but after realizing our dear Rockies are dead last, we scratched that idea and wandered downtown before heading back to our place for another bonfire. Now, Andy and I love our Kara and Chris time, but this time was even extra special since they are expecting their first baby in December and Kara is starting to show a cute lil baby bump, too :o)

Summer is winding down - fast! You know how I know? I just watched the little gals next door walk to their first day of school! Andy and I are trying our best to take in and enjoy those last summery moments. While sad for me to bid farewell to my favorite season, Ella is totally stoked to say goodbye to the summer thunderstorms! Check out where I found her at 1:30am this morning, knocking things over to make room for herself.

I hope your week is off to a better start than Ella's!
 
-Breanna