Oh the joys of not working…

So far, Spring Break is everything I had hoped it would be. All of those idealistic visions I had in my head on how my break would unfold have come true.

My brother and sister-in-law came out for a visit the first half of the week and we spent three and a half glorious days frolicking around Denver.

Uncle Ben, (as the girls call him) and Bridget are the same spirit animal. They both could spend hours and hours perusing through comic book stores, listening to records, talking about the bands that they like, or judging which movies are the best.

While we were eating dinner together one night I commented on how they would probably be school friends if they were the same age and you know… he wasn’t her uncle and all.

Ben agreed, “Yeah, we’d totally be emo together and could bond over our angst.”

Then everyone at the table proceeded to bust out their smart phones and show what kind of music they listened to when they were in middle school. Uncle Ben admitted to having a thing for Kelly Clarkson but Aunt Stacie won the battle when she busted out some hardcore heavy-metal-screaming-lead-singer type of song.

We all just gaped at her because you never would guess. She’s a middle school math teacher who wear’s adorably fashionable clothes and knits with her small group friends in her free time.

I admitted to my R&B phase. But what I didn’t tell them was that I used to dance in the mirror to TLC’s Waterfalls wishing I had T-Boz’s abs. Or the fact that I went to bed at night listening to All For One’s, I Swear wishing I had a boyfriend.

Ahhh, I can smell awkward tweens from the early nineties as I type this (CK1 and mint chewing gum). And I can’t help but cringe at the fact that we slow danced to Boyz II Men- I’ll Make Love To You at junior high dances. (Umm… eeew?) This is obviously before my discovery of Gwen Stephani.

Ahem. Anyway, back to the present…

The first full day that Ben and Stacie were in town we headed for downtown Denver in search for Voodoo Donuts. According to Bridget it is a tradition to stand in front of the store and take a picture of you holding the pink box. At her school this is an instagram must.

We didn’t even know what to choose donut wise, so we let the guy at the counter pick out a dozen for us. Then we took them to a used comic book store/coffee shop that Bridget had been wanting to visit called Mutiny Information Cafe where we each took little pinches of the different donuts so we could try them all.

    

Then Penelope proceeded to run amok while Brent and I chased after her threatening to put her in time out if she screeched out loud in public again. Stacie sat back and drank coffee while Ben and Bridget listened to records and checked out the comic books.

   

Two peas in their pod… (Notice Brent in the back ground trying to corner Penelope before she darted around another book shelf.)

I actually forgot my phone on this occasion so I used Bridget’s phone to take pictures. I had to text them to myself in order to write this post. Have you ever looked in a tweenager’s phone before? It’s equal parts weird… and awesome.

When I tried to text the photos to myself I couldn’t figure out what my “name” was.

Turns out I’m under “Where am I” which is actually pretty much spot on… However, I would actually prefer to be referred to as “Strawberry milk” or better yet, “THE UNIVERSE ITSELF”.

Anyway, here are a few moments from Bridget’s perspective on this trip.

     

  

This area is very much what you would expect from Colorado. A lot of shirtless blonde dread headed hippies out and about playing hacky sack in their front yards smelling like patchouli and “herbs”.

“What’s patchouli?” Stacie asks.

“Hippy deodorant,” Ben responds.

After scoping out the local shops we headed toward Cherry Creek to our favorite burger joint, Cherry Cricket. We were all in agreement that we needed something in our bellies beside sugar and caffeine.

I debated on whether I should get a salad or a grilled chicken sandwich, but I caved in. It would be a shame to go to my favorite burger place and not order a burger. So I went the moderation route and ordered the smallest size burger. I opted to eat only a few fries from the communal basket and ordered water instead of beer or soda. Later that night we created a salad bar of sorts to try balance out all of the other debauchery.

The next morning everyone ordered breakfast burritos from a local joint down the street. I decided not to join in and made eggs for breakfast instead. We had debated on what to do for the rest of the morning and decided that Ben and Stacie should go on a hike in order to get the full Colorado experience.

  

  

Afterward everyone was still full from their breakfasts so we had frozen yogurt for lunch. We were all pretty worn out after the hike, so we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the back yard testing out the ol’ hammock. That night I made skinny taste chicken enchiladas and we tucked in for the night and watched the old Star Wars movies in our jammies.

Ben and Stacie’s last day was spent in true Colorado style, hiding indoors during a spring time snow shower. Stacie, Bridget and I braved the elements long enough to go to a local artisan shop so that Stacie could find a souvenir for a friend. Lo and behold we found some patchouli soap just in case she wanted to head back to Missouri smelling like Colorado… minus the herbs.

   

As Ben and Stacie drove off toward the airport that afternoon the sun came back out again just in time to give them a sunny Colorado goodbye.

Stay tuned for Spring Break Celebrations part 2… and we’ll just pretend like I didn’t listening to Boyzzzz 2 Men the whole time I was writing this post.

*** What kind of music did you listen to when you were in Junior High???***

…LYLAS 🙂