Last moments of a wonderful city…

We had to wake up early for our flight back to Milwaukee. Katie and David were there to shuttle us back and forth again (you guys were great, thank you so much!) and we were all set to head back to Milwaukee, with fond memories of a wonderful weekend.

The view from our hotel room, CO

Oh and by the way, if you ever fly to Denver…don’t look at the Blue horse welcoming you by the airport, it has red eyes and is extremely creepy! Other than that, I loved Denver!

Creepy...just saying (google image)

It’s a surprise…

We made our way back to the hotel, where my boyfriend had a surprise for me. I was instructed to get dressed and bring a coat just in case. I had no idea what my special man had planned for me…

Tyler and I

The taxi dropped us off, and now I was really wondering what he had planned for me…then he revealed that he had booked a carriage ride for us through downtown Denver. It was magical and a great way to see the city. Thank you boyfriend J

After our carriage ride we went for a walk...I found a cow!

Denver, CO

Wow, wow, wow!

Today is a great day to see Denver. The sun is shining and the fall colours are starting to come out. We started with a drive to Red Rocks (with Katie and David) which was really awesome to see. There were so many people working out and running around the steps of the amphitheater…crazy I tell ya! But this people certainly are fit and healthy.

Red Rocks, CO

The Red Rocks Amphitheater, CO

Next we started to drive to Breckenridge, but had a brief stop in South Park…yes; the show is inspired by this lovely town.

It's South Park

Tyler and I as South Park characters

Still on route to see Breckenridge, we had another stop. At a hiking point. Tyler of course loved this idea.  It was a lovely walk and anywhere else would have been a small challenge but not too bad, however with the elevation…it was intense to say the least. But we all made it up the mountain and I was impressed by the beautiful view!

Colours of Fall

Tyler and I

The "hike" we went on

The the top of the mountain, CO

Katie and David

Next we took a stroll through Breckenridge, mainly in search of ice cream…and luckily we found some. It was the best ice cream ever…or maybe we were just so super hungry!

Breckenridge, CO

Tyler and I were really excited to try something that was exclusively “Denver”. David didn’t disappoint when he suggested BeauJo’s which is a pizza place that beats Chicago deep dish hands down! It was great and the best part is the left over crust is meant to be dipped in honey! So it’s like dinner and dinner for desert!

Yummy pizza!

Denver…let’s go!

Flights are booked! Denver, Colorado here we come. Tyler and I are ready to explore this wonderful place. Our flight was on Friday afternoon, so with much excitement I packed my bags and waited for Tyler to pick me up. Once at the airport we had an easy check-in and I was ready for this adventure to begin.

Denver airport, CO

We landed in Denver and Katie (Tyler’s cousin) and David (Katie’s husband) collected us from the airport and took us to a lovely restaurant for dinner. This place was crazy good. It was basically buffet style, but the meat was carried around by waiters and once you flipped your coaster from red to green, they came around with an amazing array of different meats ready to carve into your plate. So yummy!

Welcome to Denver!

After a great dinner they delivered us to our hotel, so we could catch up some sleep in preparation for an amazing day. 

The place we had dinner

A small farewell…

Sophie, my dear friend from Germany is nearing the end of her au pair year and since Tyler and I will be away for her farewell, we decided to do a few drinks as a goodbye. We invited Jenny too, as she is one of Sophie’s closest friend and always a good time (remember New Orleans?) SO the night started at Olive garden from dinner, then we went back to Tyler’s house to park the cars and then walked down to the ‘Salty Toad’ which is the local bar in Waukesha. We had a great time sharing shots and stories reminiscing about all the great moments we have shared, although it is always sad to see a friend leave, she has some great plans ahead of her so I know she will be happy to start her ‘new’ life. We also managed to sneak in a few dance moves and even got Sophie on the floor…which doesn't happen too often!

Last night out with an amazing friend...see you soon Sophie (Foophie)

Friday night date night…revised…

I planned a boat cruise on Lake Michigan, but due to traffic and the staff of the boat (who was still docked when we arrived, but refused to let us on because it was 5mins after departure time…even though they hadn’t departed) we missed the boat and were left with no plans but a time gap to fill. Tyler could see I was mad and upset that we had missed the special date I had tried to plan, so he suggested that we go see Comedy Sportz, which is an improv show that we have previously gone to, and one that I love! There are two teams of three that compete against each other in various categories of comedy games, with a different crowd and different teams every time it’s always new and funny material.

Closed ticket booth :(

After that we had planned to meet up with some of my au pair friend to watch the SA vs Fiji game (yes, I’m still a real safa girl!) There was Lara from New Zealand (Rugby World Cup 2011 host nation), Michelle from SA, Jenny, Sophie and Katrina from Germany and Katrina’s husband and Tyler, the USA boys. So a huge amount of people that understand the whole concept as well as technicalities of the game, but enough girls that know Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika to sing it loud and proud! The bartender/part owner David is an English boy so he was also pretty involved in the game too. It was really great to have a little piece of home in the far away country.

Au Pair friends supporting SA rugby

Tyler supporting me and my country :)

Block Party…in Whitefish Bay…

Our neightbourhood decided that it was about time that we had a “block party”, which is where they close off a section of the road in the neighbourhood and all the people from the roads/streets in your immediate neighbourhood all come together for a night of games, food and festivities. Amanda (my host mom) was part of the block party committee and helped to arranged everything. The committee had chosen a Saturday afternoon to gather everyone together, which turned out to be a lovely September day. 

Aj and I and our "artwork"

The firemen arrived in a big fire truck and allowed the children to have turns “driving” it. There were plenty of games set up for the kids to play, and a keg of beer for the adults to drink so everyone was happy. Tyler joined us near the end of the party after his Granma’s birthday party, and got to play with the boys a little. I believe he even lucky enough to have Finn drool on his heads while he was letting him sit on his shoulder, that doesn’t seem fair but anyway.

Hanging out with the boys :)

First Day of school...first day of school...

This has been a week of first school days for everyone, including me. I felt like Nemo (in finding Nemo) getting all excited about this new adventure I was embarking on, admittedly that makes me sound like a dork, but whatever. So the boys (Braden and Finn) started their preschool, which they attend Tues, Weds and Thurs for most of the day, which means the house is eerily quiet, tidy and I miss them! Annabel started going to Audubon Nature School Mon, Weds and Fridays, in the morning and K4 (kindergarten) Monday through Friday in the afternoons, which means my life has become car pools, play dates, and packing lunches. “My” car has now turned into a mass of car seats to accommodate car pool kids, as well as art projects that I keep forgetting to take into the house. Lastly I started school, I am beginning with classes that would eventually lead me to a business degree, so I have English 201 Tues and Thursday mornings, Math 10- I never understand what’s going on, Tues and Thurs nights, Psych 199 on Friday mornings and Business Management online (so pretty much whenever I’m not working or in class.)

I am really enjoying my classes so far, and have even achieved some good grades on my quizzes, tests and assignments…so wish me luck!

Look how big the kids have gotten...