In July, the boys had two weeks off from school for winter break between their first and second semesters. Since it had been 18 months since we came to Chile, we decided it would be a good halfway point to go back to the US and visit family. We added on a few extra days at the beginning and end of the winter break to make it closer to three weeks. First stop was Colorado via Miami. No trouble at all with the trip, other than Drew and I not sleeping a ton. We were graciously picked up by Mom from the airport and went straight to Steph's house, where we'd be staying Wednesday-Sunday for some concentrated cousin time.
We actually arrived on Auggie's 6th birthday, so we celebrated with homemade angel food cake by Nana. The cousins are ages 10 (Parker), 8 (Emerson), 7.5 (Kennedy), almost 7 (Avery) and now 6 (Auggie). It is so fun to have the cousins all in a similar age range as they play so well together. Auggie definitely changed the most for me in the last 18 month, as 4.5 to 6 is a big maturity jump. Before we left, he felt like a little guy to me, and now he acts like one of the big kids. So, it was fun to celebrate his birthday and, in my mind, his passage into big kid land.
On Thursday, my sister threw a party for Auggie with school friends at the local bowling alley, a place that's been around since I was a kid. Great times had by all!
Can't get enough of the cousin time! This was a hilarious dance party in the backyard.
On Friday, we put the kids into a day camp at the local climbing gym and us adults had a kid free, siblings day. We began by riding bikes to the Rainbow Cafe, a hipster health food joint in downtown Fort Collins, that has also been around since we were kids. We followed that with a trip to New Belgium Brewery another classic Foco staple, where we enjoyed an afternoon of local brews and good conversation. Thanks to Leah, Osman, Steph, and Kane for taking off work and setting aside time to hang out with us while we were in town. We felt very loved by your generous efforts.
Saturday was an All-American family day in the burbs. We started watching Kennedy swim in her local swim meet, which was actually super fun watching kids of all ages compete in endless races. They have those swim meets figured out. No waiting around, no empty pool time. Just lots of little guppies swimming their hearts out. We followed this with a girls' shopping trip and resulting spending spree by me at Sierra Trading Post. I normally do the majority of my clothes shopping at Costco (let's be real, I spend 98% of my time in athleisure wear, and $15 yoga pants serve my retired fixed income lifestyle as well as $100 pairs do 😁), and I needed to get a few staples on this trip. But Steph always knows where the best deals can be found, and Sierra Trading Post was a huge success. After this we went back home and watched the quarterfinals of the World Cup, which given how much the cousins are into it was fun for the whole family.
On Sunday, we transitioned from staying at Steph's house over to Nana's house for some concentrated quality Nana and grandson time.
On Monday, Steph, Leah, and I took the kids on a 6-mile hike to Lake Isabelle. The hike was perfect for the kiddos. Relatively easy with minor elevation gain and the ending views are spectacular. Aside from some tenacious mosquitos, it was a perfect Colorado day.
Drew drove from Fort Collins to Denver twice to play volleyball with his crew. On one of the trips back, his grumbling tummy was drawn in by Buc-ee's siren song of jerky and snacks. $120 later, some lessons were learned. Maybe.
On Thursday, we drove from Fort Collins down to Denver. We stayed in the basement of the Schopps' house, which has a very comfortable two bed, two bath setup which was perfect for us. We visited so many friends over the next 48 hours, it was a whirlwind, but amazing to reconnect with everyone. On Friday, we went back to Platt Park to visit neighbors including our old next door neighbor Valeska and her twins boys. Valeska installed a pool in her side yard, and the boys are THRILLED to partake next summer. We saw more neighbors and old school friends, which included a lunch date with several different families at McKinley Thatcher, the boys' old elementary school. We had ice cream at Sweet Cow, because we had to. Friday ended with a BBQ at our friends the McLains, who cooked for us despite being in the middle of a bath remodel. Saturday we began bright and early with a Volleyball BBQ at Lakewood Park, a tradition Drew used to host, and I'm sure he will continue when we are back. We got to see so many volleyball friends, and Drew was in heaven. Saturday afternoon included recharging with the Schopps and watching the 3rd place World Cup game. Finally, late Saturday afternoon, Mike and Leah hosted us and 4 other close families for a pizza party. It was so amazing to see all of our dear friends again. We somehow have no pictures from any of these hangouts, but I'd like to think that's because we were living in the moment. This trip definitely reaffirms that Colorado will always be home for us; the roots are deep. I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who took time to hang with us. To the Schopps for housing us, it was so kind of you. To Mike and Leah for hosting our pizza party hangout on such short notice, also very generous and gracious. It means more than you know. Thanks everyone! See you again in exactly one year!
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