Now Mama loves Christmas, the whole Christmas season.
Please don’t ask why, we all know the reason.
It could be that she has almost enough lights
It could be, perhaps, she loves all the sights.
But I think the most likely reason of all,
Is that that sparkly tree is three sizes not small.
Cricket and Ernie are as excited as I am about the season!
Kyla and Wes enjoyed the decorations at church with me.
But no one was more excited than Piper after she and I looted the Trader Joe’s seasonal cookies aisle. We understand the true meaning of Calories Christmas!
Our tree was up, the decorations strung, and the clean-up half done. Time to have Wes fly a drone into my hair. He laughed once he apologized profusely and saw I was giggling. It was quite tickly until I tried to comb out that tangle!
Even while we were celebrating his in September, Dwayne was already planning my November birthday. Somehow, I had to figure out how and when to leave our world for 4-5 days, including the kids. I knew that whatever he was planning was going to be worth it, but that did nothing to mitigate the intense planning to leave my beloveds during a school week with all their schedules, work, and chores. And that’s to say nothing about the cats, one who has recently doubled down on his “behavior disorder” by peeing all over the house, which began … wait for it … when we were gone for a weekend.
But, again, Dwayne doesn’t bluff about his surprises. I wrote up 15 pages of sub plans for the entire team, and followed him out to the car on my birthday morning, after making sure kids all got to the bus on time.
It wasn’t until the pilot came on the intercom that I found out we were flying into Salt Lake City.
It amused me to land in SLC and have my picture taken in front of a large liquor display. We didn’t spend long here before driving south, four hours to Moab, road tripping with a good audible book and lovely scenery.
When we got to Moab and checked into our hotel, we were directed to the lobby to check into….
….our Rocky Mountaineering scenic train ride to Denver! Finally, the surprise was revealed, and it unfolded with perfect timing over the next few days.
Moab is a charming, very walkable town that we could have spent more time exploring. We had dinner, bought me meds and a deck of cards, and dashed over to Arches National Park in the morning before catching the train Thursday afternoon.
Our lovely car–the tall windows were custom built for this company.
The train was refurbished specifically for going over the Rockies, with windows going up high. We had access to a lounge car, as well, and drinks were inclusive. Such beautiful scenery! I wanted to read my (new Sherry Thomas) novel, stare out the window, and chat with fellow travelers/non-abstainers simultaneously, which obviously, is not actually possible, and the only disappointing thing about this trip.
Thursday night put us in Glenwood Springs, CO, a charming town with world’s largest hot spring swimming pool, which was slightly chilly after first dipping into the 104 degree, ahem, health spa. Ooh, Mama like. We’d love to return someday to enjoy the gondola rides and other attractions with the kids.
The next morning, we had breakfast back on board the train before a full day of climbing up and through the Rockies. I had always wanted to visit Colorado, and this more than whetted my appetite! I finally got to see a herd of tall, skinny cows to satisfy my 2020 bucket list, and there were plenty of regal bald eagles. The sky was blue, blue, blue, and Dwayne’s wariness about November weather on a scenic trip waned.
Look! Tall, skinny cows! Finally.
Moab about 400 miles behind us, we stepped into Denver Friday evening. Dwayne had booked the hotel for two nights, so we could explore this new-to-us city all day Saturday. First, we found an open urgent care clinic, and finally got inhalers and antibiotics so I could fight my November-allergies-cum-bronchitis.
I woke up feeling great on Saturday, and we set off with money, water, our deck of cards, and fully juiced phones, ready for adventure! Denver is very walkable, and we meandered from Rally Hotel, to the capitol, on to the Unsinkable Molly Brown’s house and museum. That was quite a distance, so we downloaded the Lime app, and took scooters around for a look at the museum and capitol hill district. We walked further away from downtown to another park and finally got ourselves into Denver Botanical Gardens.
February is probably the only worse month to visit gardens than November, but we both still loved it. The “bones” (or hardscapes and design) of the gardens were attractive on their own. We were coming off a mid-60’s day with clear blue skies, and the Christmas lights were already adding to the festivities. I also downloaded the garden’s augmented reality app, so we had some extra visual interest. Some year, I I would love to visit in December to see the Christkindlmarkt in action and revisit the Botanical Gardens bedecked and bedazzled.
By the time the gardens closed, it was dark and Dwayne and I went scooter hunting, happy to find an alternative to walking another 5 miles back the Brazilian restaurant we had our eye on. But later even stuffed cheesebreads and fried bananas, we felt pretty good about the ten miles we logged on foot that day. As Dwayne said, I’m not sure we could have done a Dwayne and Denise Day in Denver any better, even with a real plan!
Home again, I feel like I’ve entered my 48th year properly. I really have to up my game for Dwayne’s birthdays!
These two witches have about the same driving skills.
First of all, I am so excited to find a coven with “witch” to properly celebrate Halloween. With weather in the 60s, blue skies, and an algae-green cauldron lake to paddle about it, this was a lovely Sunday afternoon. Can’t wait until New Years when the witches transform into polar bears!
(I’m on the pink SUP, demonstrating proper use of a witch’s oar!)
The evening was even better. Wes and Piper both invited a few friends over, and Kyla and her BFF took the boys trick-or-treating in the ‘hood, neighbors forewarned. Dwayne and I set up a fire and outdoor furniture on our street, and prepped the roasting station for guests and neighbors. Piper’s group played video games and ate candy, and Dwayne and I relaxed around the fire, chatting with new and old neighbors. I started liking Halloween when I had kids, but I only loved Halloween when it became a community celebration!
And the best part? Right before the evening began, Piper and I realized that Ernie didn’t have a costume. She quickly made a hat so he could be a grumpy strawberry. He clearly loves his costume!
The last time we packed up the motorhome for camping, we made about a mile before we realized that we couldn’t make it out of zipcode, let alone out of state, like we were planning. But several weeks and dollars later, we have a working motorhome, and we finally had a weekend we could get away.
So we set off for our one of our favorite spots over the mountain, Leavenworth. It was the last weekend that Icicle River RV Resort was open, and we snagged one of the few open spots. The weather forecast was good, so I have no excuses for why I was surprised when Leavenworth was warm and *packed* with tourists…like us. In fact, the only moderately-convenient RV parking lot was so filled with cars that we barely found a spot to squeeze our 31-footer into. But we did, which meant we got to walk through my favorite park at its autumn best, and eat lunch (and gelato) outside.
These are some of the views from the campground. I reveled in the autumn colors!
Our campsite didn’t have a fire pit, but there was a community one by the river. Dwayne and I had it to ourselves (because even our kids preferred to stay mostly in the camper), and it was a perfect, moonlit evening. I love romantic evenings with my husband of 19 years. We had had a tough parenting week, and I have been subbing too many days a week, so this really felt like a true getaway. Thanks, Yeti the Motorhome, for being on your feet again!
The kids all wanted to hang out with friends, so we ended up with four extra friends, a bonfire, and cookies on a perfect Friday night.
Dwayne seriously made these out of giant carrots. The talents this man has….
Piper made this, and there’s a tiny bit of hot apple cider somewhere in that cup.
All the kids roasted sausages outside, and the girls each decorated cookies kits. Wes and his friend had a very complicated game involving nerf guns, snowballs, and hoverboards, and even dessert was an imposition.
What Dwayne really likes for his birthday is a dinner out, with friends, his treat. We sort of alternate between the island and home, but we did something new this year. Friends who still have a too-little one would not be able to make it for a night out, so we hired a personal chef to cook for nine of us at the cabin. We brought Costco food for the kids, to be eaten at our friends’ house, while we splurged on a home-cooked-by-someone-else meal. Unfortunately, weather sent our picnic table inside, but it was still a perfect evening. Jon brought the bucket of homegrown veggies that Chef Raina turned into part of our scrumptious dinner.
Now, Dwayne is fully celebrated and ready to be 47!
Dwayne always likes to scout out a new year for us so I don’t have to go first. He’s 47 today, and between flan and family, pretty much has everything he needs.
Kyla wanted to go to Wild Waves with her BFF to celebrate turning 15, and she thought her siblings also getting to bring a friend would make it the perfect day. I got to bring my buddy, too! He did all the waterslides with the boys. [When we did this 3 years ago, I brought the same number of kids, three years younger, and by myself. Wow, I was amazing!]
And as for me, myself, and I? I guarded towels and read an amazing book in the sun. Purely delightful.
Needopedia 