After coming back from Sensorio, I was invited to Montana and Michigan for quick visits -- and then, I had a week and a half trip planned to Colorado to see my family.
The visit to Montana was to see my good friends, Brian and Teresa (!!) who moved to Missoula last year, and who thoughtfully invited me out to go to a Decemberists concert at the Kettlehouse Amphitheater!
The night before my arrival, however, there was a giant storm that knocked over a bunch of trees and took out the power for most of the city! So, the first day I was there, we drove around looking at the fallen trees and planning for a weekend of camping in Brian and Teresa's beautifully designed home. :) But then, around 11pm that night as we were finishing up some games by floodlight, the power came back on in a delightful moment and things went back to normal. :)
The next day, I had an easy morning while Brian and Teresa did some work, and then Teresa and I went to lunch and wandered around downtown Missoula. They have a lot of cute shops and bars and a small art museum. Eventually, we headed back to grab Brian and make our way to the concert venue.
Kettlehouse was nestled right in the mountains, the weather was perfect, and The Decemberists were impressive!
Then, on my last day there, we got in a little hike before I headed back to the Bay.
About a week later, J- and I were off to Michigan to visit his family (and for me to meet his family for the first time!).
J-'s mom lives in Michigan, his sister and her two daughters were also visiting from London, and his favorite aunt and uncle were there from Houston!
We kayaked down the river, played games and rode bikes with the girls, walked the Dow Gardens and did the canopy walk (pictured above), took some late night walks to The Tridge and around the neighborhood, J- cooked all of our dinners, we ate a lot of ice cream, and we were sad to leave as we drove back to the airport.
We were both a bit nervous going into this trip, and then it was wonderful! 🩵
And then, back Colorado for a week with my family in Colorado Springs and a weekend with my dear friend Michael in Denver!
Family time started with a little celebration for my dad's birthday at my brother's house, and then continued with a busy and fun weekend together. We went to Casa Bonita in Denver and had a day on the boat down in Pueblo. No drama on the boat this year. Well, except for the rain. :)
The rest of the time was filled with: my mission for the perfect sneaker, a fun afternoon with Katie, walking the dog with my mom, arcade with the kiddos, lunch with my brother, an afternoon by the pool with my sister-in-law, a visit to the Ninja Warrior gym, and a morning at the pool with the kiddos.
Joshua and Joy are both excelling at the Ninja Warrior gym and I happened to be there when they both did a crazy laché between two bars that were... 5 or 6 feet apart(?) for the first time! Joshua is 7 and Joy is 5, and both of them are less than 4 feet tall (I think). Amazing!!
At the end of the week, Michael came to pick me up, say hello to my parents, and to see Colorado Springs for the first time! I took him on a quick tour of the Garden of the Gods and The Broadmoor Hotel before we headed back to Denver.
The rest of the weekend we did a lot of walking, went to an audio exhibit, paddle boated, had a great sushi dinner, went up to Golden, and just had a lot of quality time to catch up and hangout together. :)
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