Linewife: July 2014

Is the Summer really half over? That's what I keep hearing, but I don't believe it. We have been in full force fun mode all month. We just had friends from California come visit and they stayed with us ( in our fifth wheel) for a whole week. The best part is that I think they still liked us when they left. Keeping 8 people happy in 650 square feet is definitely a challenge but these beautiful ladies were Super Stars and after their first initial shock of claustrophobic showering and airbeds deflating on them, they got right into the groove of living in a fifth wheel. I was so impressed.

While I haven't completed everything on my list of things to do this Summer, we really made a dent in it this last week. We started off with a trolley ride to the Rockies Game on the Fourth of July. The Rockies played horribly, but we ate our hearts out and were rewarded with the most amazing firework show. It was so good that even the pictures came out great. I always talk so much trash about people taking photos of fireworks. My theory is: enjoy it now, you're pictures will not do it justice, but my friends proved me wrong.

Trolley Ride

Monday we went to Elitch Gardens. It was a blazingly hot day in Denver, which forced us to do drastic things like spend $30 on ice cream. Amusement Parks can be so intimidating for me on my own. They're always so crowded and finding rides that a 2 year old and an 11 year old both enjoy seems impossible. But with my amazing friend, we divided and conquered.

Me and my Bestie

My view from the Ferris wheel

    Can you believe after this long day we still had energy to stop at Happy Cakes Bakery and buy cupcakes? Happy Cakes is a famously delicious bakery in Denver and they're cupcakes did not disappoint....but I still think Elizabethan in Encinitas are better.

     Tuesday we took the kids to Heritage Square and let them loose on the go Karts and mini golf and everything else their little hearts could dream up. Us mom's just hung back and relaxed. One of the most hardest parts about living on the road is the distance between you and your friends. Everyone's lives go on and I've found that a lot of us tramp wives feel like we understand the words of Thomas Wolfe, "You can't go home again" It's like every time we go home, things have changed and it's never the same. (They actually put in a stop light in my neighborhood while I was gone. Can you believe the nerve?) Its definitely a fear I have that makes me uncomfortable. I think my bestie and me both thought " What if things have changed between us, what if she doesn't like me anymore? " I am so honored to have a treasured friendship, that the distance and time doesn't matter. We can pick up where we left off and realize the other is just as crazy as we remembered. The only way I can try to describe it is, that it refreshes my soul.

   Anyway, sorry to get all serious on you. The rest of the week we spent dancing in the kitchen to "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea, hanging out at the pool, walking around Golden and the kids dug for worms. We tried to give them the true Colorado experience with thunderstorms and everything. We played with our hair and gave ourselves manicures, not something I get to do often with all these men folk around. It was a true vacation for me minus the cooking and laundry.

    Thursday we decided to make the trek up to the Rocky Mountain National Park which turned into an all day road trip but we saw amazing scenery on the way and stopped for a picnic at Lilly Lake.

After all the driving we rewarded ourselves with a stop at Krispy Kreme which these California Girls may have been more excited about than the mountains. They had never experienced fresh Krispy Kreme's and the cool conveyer belt view of donuts being frosted. It's safe to say we ate our way through our vacation....and I only ran once.

We had so much fun with this family and it makes me look forward to going home some day and knowing that I still have friends there waiting for me. Thank you friends for coming.

We also did a lot of other Summery things before they came to visit but this is what is most fresh in my mind, but here's some pics of our other adventures. Hope your Summer is going well and no one's lost their minds yet!