My Adorable Trifecta: Denver, Colorado

For the first time in a decade, Michael and I went on a little vacation with just the two of us. Technically I don't know that the one 10 years ago qualifies since Kate was there in-utero and kept me close to the saltine crackers... which means that our last all-alone vacation was our honeymoon.
True, Michael did have to do a training meeting for a few hours one morning since it was technically a business trip, but we'll gloss over that fact.
We spent 3 days, 3 nights in Denver. The girls got to have a sleepover at grandma's house and a sleepover at their aunts' house one night and they had a great time. Fortunately that all went well (especially considering that my mom had cataract surgery the same day we were leaving!). Since we've never been on a family vacation, much less a "couple" vacation, we started feeling guilty about the fun we were having when we kept seeing things the girls would have enjoyed. So we were really ready to come home at the end of it.
Here's a brief (ha ha! as if I'm ever "brief") rundown on our trip:

See that itty bitty pretzel? Salt Lake City in one opening, Denver in the other. Such a clever pretzel :P

Sweeping Generalizations:
* It is required that drivers shall drive at least 15 mph under the speed limit except in construction zones. In construction zones drivers shall accelerate to at least 15 mph over the posted limit.
* There shall be a minimum of 1 King Sooper grocery store per square mile. Starbucks density shall not be any less than 5 per square mile. Starbucks and King Sooper may coincide.
* Specifications that parking spaces are limited to compact vehicles only are to be taken as mere suggestions. As long as at least one tire is within the painted lines, you're good. Good luck exiting and re-entering the vehicle.

Chuckles:
* We ate dinner the first night at the hotel restaurant. There was an older man serving us (late 60's, early 70's-ish). I ordered the seared salmon to which he heartily replied "Good for you!". Michael ordered the pork chops. He wasn't praised. When he checked on us partway through the meal he commented on how much he likes both the items we'd ordered. The salmon came with potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, and some sort of fancy olives. He said that he likes the olives, but some people don't and it's okay if I don't eat them. Good to know. The meal was nicely portioned and I did enjoy the olives even, so I pretty much cleared my plate. When he came back to bring us the check he broadly praised me with a "Good job! You finished everything!". I'm so proud of me for ordering, and eating my dinner! I can only imagine how disappointed Michael must have been for not getting a pat on the head for his eating skillz.

* After dinner that first night we were kinda tired and didn't really want to go "out", but wanted to do something anyway. We decided to watch a movie in our room... but we wanted movie popcorn. Hmmmm...
So we looked up a nearby movie theater. We went and Michael bought a bucket of popcorn. Then we dumped it into the dry cleaning bag from the hotel and I went and got the free refill. Problem solved! We went back to the hotel and watched a movie while eating movie-theater popcorn :)

Aw, shoot:
*I was pretty horribly sick the first night actually. Fortunately, due to the required density of King Sooper grocery stores, there was one not far away. I drove over there during Michael's work the next morning for some medicine and some kefir. After a morning nap I felt much better. Phew!

Heel Click!:
*We visited the American Girl's Store at a nearby mall. It was incredible! I even got to bring home my very own miniature Samantha doll.

*During our mall wanderings (it was an easy, inexpensive-as-long-as-you-don't-buy-anything activity to do while chatting) we found some great prices on some dresses for the girls. It's one of those things on "the list" of things we need to get sooner or later and they loved getting a present when we got home. We also got some yummies from Godiva chocolate. Most luxurious.

Cinnabon!

*Friday afternoon we spent walking the 16th Street Mall. Really it's a mile-long stretch of downtown with shops lining both sides and a walking only "street" (besides the free bus that shuttles you along the length). There are restaurants, street musician, and souvenir shops and the weather was perfect for wandering the length. We found some perfect presents for the girls here too! A dream box for Lizzie (make a wish on it before bedtime) since she worries about nightmares, an amethyst chip necklace for Sabrina, and a fairy glass sculpture thing for Kate.

Various Others:
The food was just beautiful.

I want to eat this all over again. Yum.

The Dodge Charger is a pretty awesome car to drive (Michael considers it at least a zillion steps above the 80's Chevy Celebrity he gets to drive these days)