Work or Play: Denver Trip

It's safe to say that Nick travels A LOT for work.  Even though he is working and lives in North Carolina right now, he has been gone quite a bit to different trainings and job sites over the last two months.  The company's headquarters are in Denver, so anytime Nick has to go there for work, I always fly up and we make a weekend out of getting to play with one of our favorite families-The Badger's.  This time Nick was up in Steamboat Springs for two weeks at a training and we had initially planned on all of us going up there since it is a cute resort town, but when we heard of the snow and cold that would be happening the ladies quickly decided against it!  So Nick finished his two weeks, and then found a ride down to Denver to join us for the weekend.

I got to babysit this cute girl while her Mom and Dad were working on Friday.  She was the perfect playmate minus the blowout diaper and TJ leaving without even telling me where the diapers were!  ha!

TJ's oldest son is a sophomore in HS and got to dress for his first varsity football game, so we decided to all go a cheer the team on.  It was sure cold sitting on those metal bleachers, but it was fun to see them totally demolish the other team.

The next day we drove down to Colorado Springs and went to the Garden of the Gods.  It is a large area of land that was owned by a man who had in his will when he died that he wanted this to be opened always to the public free of charge.  There are large red rock formations and we picked the perfect day to go explore.

 I'm sure somewhere there is a sign asking people to not climb on the rocks, oh well :)

 So beautiful!!!

That night TJ wanted to go one of the oldest restaurants in the Denver area called The Fort.  He warned us that it would be a little pricey, but we all gave in to him wanting to go there.  I was not impressed the $45 6oz steak that Michelle and I split, but he boys seemed to like their assortment of wild game.

 Rocky Mountain Oysters.  Yes, they are buffalo testicles.  Disgusting.  I had one bite and texture about killed me.  It was funny to watch them eat the whole plate since they forked out some $$ for them!

 Nick ate buffalo, quail, and elk for his main course

Being that I wasn't very hungry or impressed with the food I got to keep little Scarlett entertained.   

And just like that, the next day we were headed to the airport.  So grateful for these friends and the chance we get to travel to Denver quite a bit for Nick's work.  More on what Nick does while he is working in the next post.  

BOOTS

Let it be known that I did not own my first pair of REAL cowboy boots until last month!!!  That is saying a lot considering I'm married to the man that has more pairs that he can wear--pick an animal and I'm sure he has boots that are made from it!! (ok, so maybe not that many but you get the idea).  

I just never could justify the cost.  They are not cheap!  I finally gave in as I realized that there are many times I found myself saying, "I wish I had a pair of boots."  So when the boot-man himself, Nick, was in town, I knew nothing would make him happier than to escort me to buy my first pair.  Let's just say it was a long 3 hours in one store!  I have never been so indecisive in my life.  Overall, I think for my first pair I got a good neutral and was surprised at how comfortable they fit.  

And here was the winning pair!!

What better place to break the new boots in than the AZ State Fair!  It was a perfect fall night and just our luck, Trace Adkins was playing.  We went with our friends Kristina and Taylor and had a great night eating more food than humanely possible.  Seriously, my stomach hurt for days just from having one or two bites of each thing.

After seeing this picture Nick said my next purchase needs to be a big belt buckle--yay, pretty sure that is never happening!

It was Kristina's birthday, so I felt extra special to get to spend it with her!

Trace Adkins Concert

This was one delicious corn dog.

Pretty sure between the four of us we ate: bacon batter corn dog, turkey leg, carmel apple, philly cheesesteak, deep fried snickers, cheese fries, Texas size bacon maple donut, ice cream cone, and fresh squeeze lemonade!! 

Love this picture of my man

I got to wear my boots a second time that week when I had a night out with the ladies.  Jason Aldean came to Phoenix with his tour, Night Train, so a few of us bought last minute lawn tickets and had a great time!!!

Overall I have loved my boots purchase so far!  I have a feeling that I will get some good use out of them, I just wish I didn't wait 30 years to buy them!

Goodrich Annual Girls Trip: Connecticut September 26-29

How quickly a year goes by!  It seems like all of us were just in Tennessee have a great time at Dollywood!  I LOVE that the ladies of my family make it a priority to get together each year for a woman weekend.  How much fun it is.  Sadly, grandma wasn't feeling up to making the trip to Connecticut where this years outing took place, but the rest of us were sure to have enough fun for her too.  My sister in law, Rachel's mom lives in Newton, CT and offered to let us come invade her beautiful home for the weekend.  My mom was excited to go there because the Goodrich ancestors had land and settled in Wethersfield, CT (about 40 minutes outside of Newton) back in the 1600's!!  So the trip was decided.  As usual my mom (Terry), my aunt Carol, my sister (Katherine), my two sister in laws (Rachel and Becky), and my cousin's wife (Christa) came.  It was fun to have Henrik there (Becky's cute little toddler boy) and meet baby Myles (Christa's 3 month old).

The first day my mom had arrange for a private walking tour of old Wethersfield.  It's the oldest town in CT and were my 16th great-uncle (I hope I'm getting this part right) lived.  It was neat to see the old houses and to see where William Goodrich had his plot of land.

Here we all are outside the Wethersfield Historical Society Building.

They had a cheesy little museum of the time period back then, but the saddest part was the book of handwritten letters from soldiers back home during the Revolutionary War.

A map showing where William Goodrich's homestead was.  Of course my mom bought multiple copies of this!

One of the old historic houses.

I'm assuming the people that lived in this house were very wealthy for that time period.  If I remember correctly, this light green house is now a bed and breakfast.

Another cute bed and breakfast

This is where William Goodrich's plot of land was, his house is not longer there, but it is close in proximity to where that blue house now stands.

Henrik was sure a happy little boy throughout the trip

We visited the oldest cemetery in the town.  The higher up on the hill the headstone was, the higher up in society they were.

Grace Goodrich's headstone.  For dying in 1712, it's amazing how well her headstone looked.

There were so many Goodrich's.  It was great to see these.

Of course we had to go find Goodrich Drive!

After a little afternoon shopping (because every girls trip must consist of that), we came home and with 8 women in the kitchen a fabulous meal was whipped up in no time!  We had such a great time just sitting and chatting at night.

The later the night got, the crazier we became.  We had a wild night of pictionary and literally I don't think I have ever seen my mom laugh so hard in my life!  It was hysterical.  Haha...love her!

The next day we explored around Newton, CT.  What a charming town.  I think Rachel's mom told us there are over 1000 historical homes just in that town alone!  The streets were beautiful as the leaves were just starting to change colors.

The old library is a fabulous place.  We spend time going through old books and watching Henrik play in the best kids area I have ever seen.

Henrik loves his Aunt Rachel

After a yummy lunch at the old General Store it was back to the house for book club.  We all pick a book to read and this year we read "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand.  We had an interesting discussion about humanity and the life of Louie Zamperini.  The weather was perfect 74 degrees outside and it was so great to relax.

My mom with baby Myles

Next up:  Apple picking at the local orchard.  We decided we were going to pick our own apples and then come home and make apple pie of course!

Katherine and I

Mom sampling if this was the kind of apple we wanted to take home

I thought I would give it a try too

Henrik loved this place!  Here is the cute little man with his mama.

The whole group on a perfect fall day

After buying apple cider and apple donuts to take home we headed to the local duckpin bowling alley.  Rachel's family loves to come here when they are all visiting so we thought we would give it a try.  I had never heard of this before.  It pretty much consists of mini pins and mini balls but otherwise it is like bowling.  We had a so much fun and lots of laughs as Katherine beat us all!

We came back to bake our apple treats.  Here is Rachel with her mom, Eve, who was such a fabulous host!

That night we got the computer out and all Skyped with Grandma Goodrich.  It was so fun to see her and it was like she was on the girls trip with everyone.  I know it meant a lot to her to be able to do that.

And just like that another fabulous weekend comes to an end.  My mom is amazing and puts these things together with every detail.  I love her!  Eve, was such a generous hostess and despite us all living all over the country it is great that everyone puts the time aside to come.  Until next year's outing...  :)