Leslie and I calculated a that we had been to 11 countries together (not bad for only having known each other 12.5yrs)...but only 10 states and a District (North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Arizona, and DC). So...we decided to even up the score by heading to Colorado together!
Okay...that was a lie...not the part about the states/countries...but the reason for our trip. Last time I was out in San Diego, we decided we needed to meet in the middle and go visit Xander and Brooks...I mean Emily and Andrea....I mean Brad and Richard....I mean Deac and Dirk...okay, we needed to visit all of them!!
Aunt Christy couldn't resist spoiling Brooks and Xander with Christmas/Birthday books. I haven't really done much book shopping for kids, but let me tell you - fun times. I got Brooks one about going on a bear hunt (his parents call him Little Bear) and Xander one about 10 rubber ducks who get packaged up and put on a container ship (SS Maersk/MOL for sure, right?!) and fall off in a storm to then have many fun travel adventures.
On Friday night, Emily put us to work in her kitchen. That sounds WAY worse than it actually was...we had a blast preparing a slightly complicated Asian meal...well, more complicated than pasta!
Chinese fried rice and potstickers....delicious and the perfect pre-game meal for a night of Wii competitions...who knew Andrea was such a good soccer ball header and Em was such an expert ski jumper?!!
When most people hear about 4 sorority sisters getting together for a weekend, they think lots of alcohol and late nights, right? Well, while there were both of those, we also went on a candy factory tour one afternoon!
Hammond's is one of the oldest candy factories in the country and specializes in hard candies such as candy canes. They had them in every flavor imaginable (nutmeg, clove, champagne, cabernet, to name a few...). Unfortunately the candy makers only work on weekdays so we didn't get to see them in action, but it was great to see all the old candy presses and learn about the process.
And, we may have found a future summer job for Brooks....
Saturday night it was off to Rio (aka, home of some of the best Margaritas that side of the Continental Divide) for a birthday party for Brad. Brad's parents, siblings, and uncle joined us as well as Em's parents. So great to see all of them!
Happy Birthday Brad!!!
After dinner we took a walk around downtown to see the Denver lights....and got on the channel 7 news broadcast...sweet!
And....no girls weekend is complete without the Mexicanos!!! Arriba!
While we played the train, Xander watched "Bob Builder" and Brooks pounded a bottle after a great nap (as evidenced by his red, blotchy, yet still adorable face!)
Thanks for a GREAT weekend Lewis' and Fuquay's - we'll be back soon!
This time, Chi Chi joined us and wow, amazing voice!
Marge made a full Thanksgiving dinner since her girls had not been able to enjoy it last month. Delicious!!!
It wasn't a huge party, so it was pretty special and unique that it included 3 sets of childhood best friends....Marge and Jen, Stacy and Erin, and Jenny and me!!!
The DJ played the kazoo...no wait, the accordion...no, the harmonica. Whatever it was, he did fantastic playing backup for Lynne in Sweet Caroline!
Don't be fooled...though we look happy here, we all secretly couldn't wait to get back out into the cold Chicago night...the giraffes like it hot!