Eldorado (Hot) Springs

The Eldorado Pool opened recently after being closed for many seasons. Tanner and I went last summer with Alana and Sienna and I've remained on their mailing list. This winter, the have turned the pool into a "hot springs" and selling limited tickets for 2 hours blocks. The tickets sold out quickly in December so I didn't hesitate to buy them for this weekend when they became available. I booked the morning adult only session and it was more lovely than I thought it would be - especially on a chilly (18 degrees) morning. 

We soaked. We talked. We got out in the chilly air to cool down and grab the free coffee/tea. We enjoyed the sunshine and the spa vibes. A wonderful little get away just 20 minutes from our house. 

ready to get in 

quite the view

a fun morning 

6 Week Wrap Up

Drake took off on Friday morning to head back for his last semester at Miami University after being home for six weeks. He spent his final week here working on his thesis, working out, seeing friends, playing us in Dr. Mario, watching basketball and getting some errands done. It was wonderful to have him home for so long - hard to believe this is the last long break we'll have with him.  

Thursday night dinner 

Fall 2025 Dean's List

Super proud of all Drake's continued hard work at school. And hard to believe we just paid his last tuition bill today. How the time has flown by.  

Blackhawk and Winter Park Staycation

A three-day weekend at home is very difficult for me. It just doesn't feel like a holiday when we're in the same place as where we work as well. Up until Friday night, we had no "fun plans" to speak of...... While Marshall and Drake were at the gym, I went on a late afternoon walk and crafted up some potential options. 

We landed on a little trip up to Blackhawk to check out the casinos with a trip up to ski on Monday in Winter Park (chosen over hot springs and National Western Stock Show rodeo). We had a leisurely morning on Sunday with a french toast and sausage breakfast and were on the road a little after 1:00. 

Blackhawk and Central City are old mining towns where gambling was legalized in the 1990s. We walked around Central City first and checked out one of the casinos there where Drake quickly lost $5 in video poker. We were unable to check in to the hotel so we checked out all the casinos in this part of town - The Lodge, Bally's, Lady Luck, the Horseshoe and Monarch - before ending up back at our hotel, The Ameristar. It was fun to check out the different energy at each casino, sports book, etc. Considering this is one hour from our house, it is crazy to think I had not explored Blackhawk before. 

As it happens in a casino, time flew by after we chilled in the hotel a bit. We checked out the table games, we played video poker with our free casino money, we sat the bar to get free drinks, we watched the Bears lose in overtime and just enjoyed the time together. We had Ramen for dinner and then headed over to the Lodge Casino to play $10 craps. I even got in on the (losing) action. Marshll and Drake were both up for a bit, but then the rolls just didn't happen. 

Monday brought sleeping in for some and chilling at the pool with a book for me and hot tubbing for all. We got on the gondola around 1:00 and enjoyed decent snow given the recent snow showers. It was a couple hours of leisurely skiing and no lines and the drive back was manageable. Even though we were only gone a little over 24 hours, it felt like much more than that. 

Main Street in Central City 

Lady Luck (the Casino Marshall worked at many years ago when it was Colorado Central Station

our hotel and casino

The bar at the Ameristar 

Marshall and Drake at the craps table 

The inside of the Ameristar 

dusting of snow overnight 

bluebird day! 

Drake and Marshall 

 a fun getaway 

Broncos Win!

And Miami basketball (in overtime)! And Nebraska basketball! (both still undefeated)! And Miami hockey (best season in years)! And Iowa won too. 

We enjoyed a day of watching sports (with two TVs) and cheering on our teams together on Saturday. Marshall's delicious wings and munchies were perfect for the day. Go Broncos! (although next week will be difficult without our starting QB)....... 

even got the 2nd TV up to watch basketball and hockey 

3 different types of wings

cheering the Broncos to victory over the Bills! 

Holiday Cards

 I know that the sending of holiday cards is a dying tradition, but I love sending and getting them. There is just something about getting something in the mail. We are overwhelmed these days with texts, messages, slacks, snaps, pings - you name it. So, there is just something about someone taking the time to send a card or a letter. And with the holiday cards, you get to enjoy them for a bit longer. (And we actually think this is our largest amount of cards in several years - so maybe sending them is not dying???) 

The Year of the Horse

Every year, I choose a word. This year, I was inspired by a post I saw online that said this year's Chinese Zodiac was the horse. 

According to Google the "Words for the Year of the Horse (2026) focus on movement, freedom, momentum, and courage, with key concepts like swift success, energy, new beginnings, and overcoming stagnation, using imagery of galloping, vitality, and breaking free. Common themes include transformation after the Snake year, embracing adventure, and finding strength for forward motion."  

So, I have chosen move/movement for my world of the year as this can be applied to personal life (relationships), work life (career), physical life (exercise), home life (moving forward on some project) and much more (Drake moving to Chicago, movement on some new hobbies, etc.) 

Over the weekend, Tanner, Marshall and I went to the Lego store so Tanner could cash in on one of his Christmas gifts. Fortunately, the store had the new Lego Tanner had been hoping for (whew!). There was a gift with purchase which happened to be a horse in honor of the "year of the horse" so Tanner gave it to me. 

Of course, I didn't want to do the Lego alone, so Tanner and I headed to the Lego store Tuesday night before we went out and selected a little Lego he could do with me. After we got back from Tilt (and Marshall and Tanner played a little Dr. Mario), we sat down and did the Legos together. What a fitting way to wrap up the break and head into the Year of the Horse. 

Louisville Sendoff

 Tanner, Marshall and I went "out on the town" on Tuesday night before Tanner headed to Chicago (spending a few days there before heading to Iowa). Tanner chose Parma, the Italian restaurant up the street. Of course, I thought it was perfect as he finished his application process for the Italy study abroad program that day and has been accepted! We enjoy some burrata and some delicious pasta and Tanner told us more about the program in Italy. 

We decided to forego dessert and headed to Sweet Cow instead. After enjoying our ice cream, Tanner asked to go to Tilt as he had ben wanting to play a specific game. We put $5 on our card and played a variety of games. That was the best $5 I have spent in awhile! While we're sad to see Tanner leave, we are thankful for the time together and so excited for his next semester! 

ice cream! 

he ALMOST got to level 10 - impressive! 

ski game - close competition! 

Flight Club >> Korean BBQ = (Almost) 22

With time running out with both boys home, we snuck in a birthday dinner for Drake in Denver on Sunday night. We started off at Flight Club which is a cool interactive darts bar. (Darts were a hit this holiday for sure!). We got some drinks and appetizer and tried out all the games. You can check out some of our shots here. Marshall came away as the big winner. 

We then walked a few minutes to Korean BBQ which was yummy, different and unique. The dinner included several different meats, some veggies, potstickers and rice. We also tried Soju as Drake had friends who raved about it after their trip to Asia (we did not get the version of Soju that they talked about). 

It was a great last family outing of winter break to celebrate Drake. Here's to another year around the sun full of many adventures and memories. 

cool games

videos they show

Korean BBQ

Soju

on the walking bridge downtown

love this crew

GNO

What a wonderful Girl's Night Out to celebrate the January birthdays of Suzie and Lisa. We started with happy hour at Teocali and then walked over to the Foxglove speakeasy. A very fun night catching up with everyone - laughing and sharing life stories.  Here's to more celebrations of the moments that matter throughout the year. 

Teocali happy hour - yum

the birthday girls

speakeasy