Aaron and I had the most perfect anniversary getaway this weekend, thanks to the generosity of my big sisters! (I've always loved being from a big family. You can't beat the love and support!) My very wise oldest sister, having majored in marriage and family science and mastered the subject with her own adorable family, knew just what Aaron and I needed. So she set everything up and told us where to be when. The Victorian Bed & Breakfast was just as romantic and luxurious as it was cracked up to be. I couldn't stop gushing, just ask Aaron. The giant king-sized bed with the down-topped mattress and down duvet was ridiculously comfortable. And the sheets were so incredibly soft--I didn't realize sheets could feel that nice. The jacuzzi was luxuriously relaxing. And that combined with the soothing sound of the babbling brook just outside our window--WOW. Plus the fireplace right there in the bedroom, which we had to turn on to offset that open window, of course. The weather was nice and chilly, making it seem that much cozier and
snuggly inside. And the town,
Manitou Springs, felt so quaint and far removed from the daily hubbub of the Denver suburbs. Oh yeah, we also enjoyed the luxury of being able to study our scriptures together in the
morning, without those darling children clamoring for breakfast, NOW! Everything was just so posh and novel that we hardly wanted to leave! And that's what made it such a perfect getaway.
It made me think. Our double bed at home is adequately big and plenty comfortable. Our sheets aren't the finest but they're fine. And our shower-tub combo filled with the kids' bath toys gets the job done. And that's just how a home should be--modest and comfortable and practical. If we had every luxury at home, we wouldn't revel in the luxury nearly as much when we flitted off for a romantic getaway!
After a delicious breakfast, we reluctantly checked out of the B&B and window shopped in
Manitou Springs, popping inside interesting stores when we got too chilly. We went into an art gallery where we got to talk to the sculptor himself about his work. It was very educational--we learned about the process of casting and coloring bronze, an alloy made up primarily of copper. You create the different colors via various chemical reactions at various temperatures. Highly interesting. Speaking of interesting, the potable mineral water that bubbles up from the underground springs tastes pretty interesting. And it's fizzy. That's interesting. We filled a water bottle with mineral water to let the kids taste it and
Xander pronounced it "too icky for me." Hearing that assessment,
Elodie was unwilling to even taste it. I guess you can't blame her. "Here, this tastes nasty, do you want some?" Anyhow, my favorite parts about
Manitou Springs were the cute bridges that crossed here and there over the little stream and the gorgeous mountainous rock-faces that were right there in town behind the storefronts. After enjoying
Manitou, we headed up to the Air Force Academy where Aaron got nostalgic about his boyhood dreams of being in the military. That was a fun reminder of our first date, when Aaron realized that the Lord was guiding him down a different path than he had planned. What an awesome journey it's been for us. Spending all day together, Aaron and I remembered just how much we like each other! It was so much fun, to say the least! This was our first getaway together, and let me tell you, it won't be our last!
How about getting up close and personal with a real combine harvester. These things are HUGE!
The wheat farmer's daughter gave Xander a hands-on tour of all of the tractor attachments.
And she let him sit in their grain-hauling 18-wheeler.
The local museum had row after row of farm equipment from different eras.
And the scavenger hunt took us for a brief visit of the fire station. Looking forward to that stop helped him endure sitting in the car on our wild goose chase through Sterling.
On the farm, there was plenty of room to play baseball. 
And football with the big guys.
And the junior college was right next to a train track, affording the excitement of hearing the train whistle and seeing the diesel engines puff by town. Sign Xander up for rural living!
Aaron particularly detests dandelions. When it goes to seed, he goes nuts.
My current enemy is the cheese weed. Come on, check out these roots! They may look innocent enough above ground, but they've got something ridiculous going on underground. I've been known to spend up to five minutes on one cheese weed, just to get that sucker by the roots! Which is why I'm so daunted by the thriving cheese weed crop in our yard. 
Since we were in Utah, we also got to spend a little time with Debbie's sweet family. Elodie is about the same age as Deb's youngest, Gunner. It was pretty cute to see them play together.
