Destination: Denver

The high is 50 and the low is 30. That was all the information I was given. That, and eventually it was revealed to me that I would be getting on an airplane. When Dylan checked with me a few weeks ago to find out what our plans would be this past weekend, he told me he wanted to plan a birthday trip instead of doing a material gift. I told him the weekend was available...and sign me up!

At first, I assumed we would take our bikes somewhere in Arizona. But when I heard we were getting on a plane, I was at a total loss as to what our destination would be. He secured babysitting for our kids and dogsitting for our dogs and then picked me up at work at 4pm sharp on Thursday. It was right to Sky Harbor from there, where I typed in the confirmation code at the kiosk to discover our destination was Denver!

We had both spent time in Denver, but we'd never been there together, so we were very excited. On the train ride into the city, he also revealed to me the gift within the gift. My favorite author/blogger/speaker, Jen Hatmaker, would be in Denver on her Moxie Matters tour, and I had a VIP ticket! While recognizing that it's kind of weird to take me to Denver for a birthday trip and then send me to an event by myself, he knew that it was exactly what I'd want. He wasn't wrong! (In case you're unfamiliar with Jen, this is not an event that any sane male would ever consider attending.)

So, we got off the train, and it was sub 30 degrees. I thought it had started getting cold here at night...but this was COLD! I couldn't think about transportation to the hotel, so we ducked into the closest brewery and actually had a really delicious dinner. Afterward, we took a Lyft to the hotel and went to bed past our bedtimes.

Our hotel was the brand new Le Meridien downtown, and it was fantastic! Dylan's the Hotel Status Guy, so breakfast from the upscale restaurant downstairs was included both mornings. This wasn't just your normal breakfast joint. It had the perfect atmosphere, captivating decor, a friendly waitstaff, and of course, amazing food.

From there, I headed to the Denver Community Church, where my ticket to the event included a meet and greet with Jen and Nichole. Nichole Nordeman is a musician with whom I was previously unfamiliar, but holy smokes, she is amazing. When it came time to take a picture with them, the assistants at the event asked how many were in my group. "Just me!" I exclaimed. And then, I felt compelled to explain to these incredible women that my husband and I flew out to Denver from Phoenix for a birthday trip for me, and then he surprised me with a ticket for the event. They thought that was amazing, and Jen asked that I please tell him thank you from her for doing that. I left feeling special. The main event was fantastic, too, of course.

The best thing about it was that I got there at 9am and left before 1pm. It was the only matinee show on the whole tour. They kept making fun of Denver and saying, "What in the world are you all doing here at 10am on a Friday??" If you know me at all, you know that late night events (or even early evening events) are not really my jam. I guess the Denver show sold out really quickly, so they added a second show. Since they wouldn't be visiting Phoenix on this tour, it really couldn't have worked out better for me to see this show in this particular city on this particular weekend. I was so glad I got to do it.

I met up with D for soup afterward, and after a pit stop at the hotel, we set out on foot in the city. It wasn't quite so cold on Friday, and walking around with no agenda was so good. We visited the Federal Reserve Museum and popped into a couple of stores, including an interior design studio, where D fell head over heels for a sofa with built-in recliners because he's 85 years old. (It was actually a nice looking sofa, and we took down the store owner's info...but it's not exactly budget-friendly, so we will see...) We then perused the selection at The Tattered Cover Bookstore and walked and walked and walked.

Off we go! (Be prepared for a lot of selfies.)

On the train into downtown. Because of course we need a selfie on every form of transportation (except the Uber).

My new besties. Obviously.

Seriously good people.

Exploring on foot.

Maybe I should have just left him here.

I don't know why I was so captivated by the water jug at Linger. But it's cute, right?

Hot drinks for a cold day. My outerwear may have been excessive...even for Denver in November.

Our view from dinner at El Five.

Just a picture of a girl taking a picture.

That's the picture I was taking above.

Federal Reserve Museum

Our hotel was so cool!

Finally, we made it over the bridge and grabbed a drink at Linger...a mortuary turned hip eatery. After that, it was time for our early dinner at El Five. It was like a whole experience...we checked in downstairs and then took the elevator up to the restaurant for our tapas-style meal with a view of the city. We shared a pitcher of sangria, paella, and two different tapas. The menu was one of those with a bunch of unfamiliar words, but our waitresses kindly helped us navigate it, and our meal was out of this world. After that, we visited The Source for something fun, had a beer and watched Grease from a projector. We made it an early night. After another breakfast downstairs at Corinne on Saturday morning, it was time to take the train back to the airport.

For such a short trip, it was really, really good. Dylan is, without question, a real gem of a human being in every way. It's not lost on me how lucky I am to have a guy that would plan this trip for me. It was one of the best birthday gifts I've ever been given! I can't even remember the last time I ate that much good food in one weekend. The best part, though, was getting some time to hang out with my main squeeze. He's a busy guy, and carving out time to spend with him is rare. Dylan is so good about taking time to be with our family and to play with the boys, but as soon as the kids are down for the night, he dives into work. We don't even have a TV show that we both like to watch together. It's just this season of life, and it's totally fine. But it sure was nice to get some one-on-one with my favorite person!

We were wheels down in PHX by 1:30, and from there we headed to the family picnic at the park, where we were reunited with our boys. They've spent so much time at my parents' house lately that I'm starting to wonder if they remember that they live at our house with us, their parents. How lucky we are that our boys are well-cared-for and loved when we go on a trip! Our boys love going to their house and our parents love having them. I guess we can call it a win-win-win?

The two Gs hardly had any time to miss us. My mom always keeps them busy with tons of fun activities. Plus, they went to Pierce's third birthday party and a had an awesome time.

Home run!

Basically an adult in a stroller

We were able to get to the family picnic in time to catch up with some cousins and run around with the boys. It was a super quick trip, but so, so worth it. We fit in so much good stuff, and honestly, coming home on a Saturday made life about a million times less stressful than normal. I couldn't have planned it any better myself.

Teaming up with cousins to throw each and every ice cube out of this pile into the ditch.

Learning to kick the football.

Climbing trees with Jace.

As far as the happenings from earlier in the week? Well, it's hard to recall at this point. But I did manage to collect a few photos for the sake of documentation.

Video games! Probably not a great thing for kids so young, but Gavin and Dylan love playing together, so whatever.

I love this sweet boy! Celebrating Pierce's big day at Peter Piper Pizza on Tuesday.

But first, coffee.

He is perfecting the art of the tantrum.

Here are a few cute shots of the boys trying out a new park with...guess who...my mom. D and I had a meeting on Wednesday, so Nonna took over once again for a few hours. (I promise to start parenting my own children again soon.)

Earlier that morning at swim lessons, Gavin swam by himself the whole way across the pool in one breath! Dylan, my mom and me were all there to see it. Once he can do it consistently, he'll be able to graduate out of this level at swim.

We've been busy beyond belief. It's not our usual style. I got an hour or so today to get my mind right for the week ahead, and we'll kick it off in the usual way. Dylan will take off for a few days, and I'll just take a deep breath and dive in until Thursday night, when I'll come up for air. We can handle that!