A few weeks into my most recent clerkships I found out about an awesome week - MS3 vacation week!! A reward for our many months on continuous service!  I originally had no idea this existed, and was thrilled when I found out. Luckily, Paul was fortunate enough to swap a week of his vacation so we could take some time to get away as a family.  I was planning for Iceland alone with the kiddos, which would have been wild, but once Paul switched his vacation, he took the drivers seat for vacation planning. We had to do a Southwest destination so our big guy could come as a companion. I declined another trip to Florida, so after much deliberation, we settled on Denver!!

After choosing the destination, choosing where to rest our head was another feat. We settled on a two bedroom hotel suite which was insanely affordable, even more affordable than an Air B&B! It had breakfasts, happy hours, a pool and two bedrooms, two baths - the perfect place to spend a few days in Denver. We were also lucky that Paul's youngest brother had off of school long enough to join us! He was in-between the end of fourth year of medical school and residency, which is the perfect time to run away on as many vacations as possible!

We had a great time in Denver. The first day we went up to Boulder to do some hiking at the flat irons. Paul carried drew the entire way, which was impressive. I had the little guy strapped in the carrier and we headed up the trails. The views were spectacular and the trails were excellent to enjoy a good workout. It was a nice hike!

We also went to Garden of the Gods, which had paved trails so we could take the stroller around the main park. It was a really cool attraction. We stopped to hike back to the siamese twins, and we were the only ones there! It was a quiet day, making it a perfect spot, not completely overrun by tourism! While in Denver we spent a long day at the zoo, it felt like it was never ending!  We also went to the Red Rock Amphitheater and Dinosaur ridge to look at old uncovered dinosaur tracks.

Finally, we made a point to catch up with the Gruners at their home and enjoy more Gruner and Boettcher company at local brewery. While at Erica's we recaptured a similar older brother photo from when they visited us in Pittsburgh. In addition to our visits, Paul and his brother went a a little self made brewery tour while Lovis and I went to explore the state capital and some shopping!  We were able to do a lot of exploring, walking, hiking, eating and drinking while in Denver, especially considering we had two little kids in tow! It was a major help to have Lovis join us too, since it's an extra pair of hands to hold the boys while they try to escape, run away in parking lots, and throw a fit while over tired.

One of Pauls favorite highlights was our trip to the restaurant in the Denver airport that was included as a park of our credit card perks! We all walked away with $30 in free food! We ate really well and I decided it was time to buy Rocky Mountain Oysters for the table!  Paul and Erik tried them, but none were excited as I was to try this colorado delicacy - it was a repeat performance from Blake's wedding close to four years ago! We had a blast exploring Denver, and hope we can come back to visit again soon!

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