Aspen y Burley

After two days back at work post Costa Rican vacation we decided we were fed up and ready for another adventure. We packed the bags and the dog and started on our way to Aspen, CO.

I’ve been to many CO ski towns, but not yet Aspen and was truly impressed. We stayed at the Sky Hotel which is dog friendly, and they provided treats for Rocco and wrote his name on the doggie board at the front desk.

The entire town is actually super dog friendly and we took him everywhere besides inside restaurants. We went hiking, checked out the town, swam, watched movies, and tried some mostly delicious restaurants. A good time was had by all.

Matt kickin it by the pool with some delicious eats.

Quite curious

mmmmm sushi

Rocco decided he wanted to play in the fountain.

Isn't Aspen gorgeous?

Friday morning we headed on our way to Burley, ID – through SLC. Ryan had asked us all to participate in The Spudman Olympic Triathlon which took place on July 31. We picked up Ryan in SLC and introduced Lauren and Meggie to Rocco. Meggie just squealed and wasn’t afraid of him at all. Then we thought it a great idea to take Rocco to the local dog park for 5-10 minutes before we got in the car again. He LOVED it, splashed around in the water, and started rolling around in the mud like a hippopotamus. Cute and fun, except we had to get back in the car and drive another 3 hours. Needless to say, our car is filthy and in need of a serious detail.

We then cruised to Burley, attempted to register for the race, but they were closed up for the night, so we ate some Mexican food at Angelo’s instead and hopped back in the car to head to our hotel in Twin Falls. Jon & Kaylene met us there – and we woke up at 4:45 am to run back to the race site to get registered and set out our gear. We made it just in the nick of time, as Jon arrived at the scene just 4 minutes before his heat was to leave.

Kaylene and I were in the 7^th heat, so we stretched a bit and got ready to go.

Ryan was in the 8^{th (10 minutes after us, he passed us on the bike)}. I freaked out a little in the open water at the beginning, but thanks to Matt’s encouragement on the side regained composure and got back in the game.

Jon, Kaylene, and Ryan all did really well – and I think it is something most of us will consider doing again.

The bike ride for me was actually pretty fun, though my toosh started hurting about 18 miles into it. I found myself thinking about the part in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure where he wins the Tour de France in his dreams and found myself laughing out loud. The laughter continued with additional pee wee references when the song Tecquila came on over the loud speakers and I started doing the dance he does in the biker bar with Satan’s Little Helpers.

Kaylene’s pedal fell off of her bike, so she had to be picked up and taken to the run (huge bummer!). The run was the hardest part for me, because it was at the end and my legs were jello – plus by that time it was hot. But… we all finished.

We were so hungry after the race we went for burgers, fries, and milk shakes – then drove back to SLC. We stayed with my parents for the night (though it was a very quick stay), and they got to meet and love Rocco. They were so great with him, got up in the morning with him, took him on a walk, etc…

The best part about all of this, it feels like summer. Real summer, like when you were a kid. Road trips, airplanes, swimming pools, milk shakes, hotel rooms, etc… Summer has always been one of my favorite seasons, and it’s nice to feel like it’s been a real summer. And… it’s barely August.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Why can't I turn 30 every day?

It was one of the most memorable birthday's ever! Matt in all of his clever, thoughtful, over the top gift giving (no complaints here) managed to whisk me away to Costa Rica. I have the best husband!

Here's how it played out: He had Jeff call pretending to have gotten in a car accident (minor) on his way to the airport, so he needed us to go and pick him up. When we were on our way Matt called Jeff to get more specific directions. Of course Matt was driving so he handed me some papers to write down the directions... and on the sheet of papers it said "This is a lie"... and proceeded to give me the itinerary for the next Seven Days in Costa Rica. YAHOO!! Bags were packed in the trunk, along with burned CD's for the driving portion of the trip, See's Candies... and much more.

After landing we drove to Guanacoste area, beach on the Pacific side of the country, where we checked into our ocean view room at the JW Marriott and put our swim suits on.

I was skipping around I was so giddy.

Our beautiful room, where we had breakfast on the balcony each morning over looking the ocean.

We lost our point and shoot last January - so for my birthday Matt bought me a new one. Cool news about it... it takes great underwater pictures (up to 10 feet). Doesn't this picture of Matt above look like an eighties album cover? Love it!

Love the infinity pool and buff dude in the shot.

The camera also has a cool panoramic feature as pictured above.

We went surfing (which I rocked at p.s.) and scuba diving where we saw a white tip reef shark, eagle nose ray, schools of fish, puffer fish and many tropical fish. Costa Rica is a beautiful country - and we loved looking back at the lush cliffs and splashing waves as we headed out to sea.

One of many fabulous meals - this is Matt's surf and turf which was preceded by foie gras.

On my actual birthday Matt had pre-arranged for dinner on the beach (10 courses). He had been coordinating with the chef in advance to have some of my favorite dishes and flavors served. It was unbelievable of course! He also set up a massage and facial for me that day, we went surfing that morning, and opened presents after the meal. I know... very spoiled!

After Guanacoste we drove to Arenal where there is an active volcano. We basically drove through the gorgeous rain forests while butterfly's and giant frogs fluttered about our vehicle.

We pulled over to get a closer view of the sloth - what an interesting looking creature, no?

We hiked to this gorgeous waterfall, where the water was actually pretty cool in temperature. We swam, but couldn't get super close to the falls because of the strength of the water.

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Another day was spent white water rafting and rappelling

In La Fortuna - Arenal, the volcano heats several hot springs. Our hotel had the sweetest ones in the area. There were tons of natural looking pools all at different temperatures. We loved this.

At both of our hotels we were lucky enough to get several spa treatments. Here we are waiting in the resting area before our deep tissue massages.

What a lucky duck I am!! Mostly to have such a wonderful husband and family. I came home to a birthday dinner, voice mails, emails, cards, and lots of love! Thank you for making my birthday so memorable!

Born on the Fourth of July! Breckenridge, CO

Happy Birthday America! We love celebrating you by doing all things American... tons of food, loud obnoxious belly laughing, black socks with sandals, and partaking in thy beauty! We spent the weekend in Breckenridge, CO with Matt's family - it's tradition for us to be together up in the mountains. Doris rented a beautiful home, and we all stay together and played. Friday our bellies truly ached from having laughed so hard.

Matt and I enjoyed the local parade, where the sled dogs pulling people on scooters were the highlight, with the tiny goat coming in a close second.

Sweet land of liberty

Like congo and pecan pie bars much?

We spent Saturday on the boat tubing and wake boarding. It was awesome, though a bit nippy... and I finally got up on the wake board (but no picture to prove it).

Matt killed it on the wake board

Little Matty got tired so he napped on a giant rock.... ahh to be 8 again.

Matt even makes sparklers look gangsta

I know I look homeless in this picture. I ate so much I wanted to put on one of Matt's shirts.

Gorgeous home we stayed in

Christine's cute table decorations. She served all food invented in America or considered to be distinctly American (hamburgers, macaroni & cheese, chocolate chip cookies...). She also put facts under everyone's plate about how and where the different foods were developed.

This picture about sums it up. Thank you Mickey and Doris for a fab trip!!