Back to the Grindstone...

Bummer.

Feel free to click on the links below to check out our vacation.

{or you can scroll through backwards, whatever floats your boat!}

The Matthews Family Vacation

Aspen DAY ONE

Aspen DAY TWO

Aspen DAY THREE

Aspen DAY FOUR

Aspen, Colorado, DAY FOUR

And yes, we might have been tired, some of us might have been cranky, ahem, boys... but we made it home, safe and sound! And as for the Matthews first family vacation? Well, I can't wait to do it again! We had the best time ever! Thanks queenie and boompa for letting us tag along with you guys! Here is a re-cap of our last day and some good times in Aspen. Here are Troy and Luke, getting off the plane and heading in for the last {and definitely longest} leg of the trip. Hello Denver!

Sorry we had to wake you two up. And Luke, I'm really talking to you bud.

Our plane left at 1:30, and we literally took up until the last minute soaking it all in! Here we are at Wagner Park. We had a great time, and met a lot of nice people and dogs. Aspen is very dog friendly, which we enjoyed, and they have a sense of humor. Troy couldn't help but laugh at a sign posted in the local Boggie's diner stating, "Please don't feed the Blondes" They were, what Troy deemed, the only problem in Aspen... We ran into {literally} quite a few that, um they were, um... not very nice? They couldn't ruin our good time, and I'm pretty sure Luke still enjoyed looking at them. Here he is doing what he loves to do, climb. He also learned a few new words in Aspen: Cold. Brrr. Cheese. He had been saying Boompa, but Boompa and OUTSIDE, are by far his two favorite words right now.

This is Ajax, where we ate lunch the first day. It's at our hotel. Which is why people would come up to us and say, hey, weren't you guys here yesterday climbing these stairs? Why yes, yes we were. Because it's one of the things that kept Luke quite. Didn't I see you climbing the stairs at Brunelleschi's? Why yes, yes you did.

The beautiful mountain directly behind Ajax {and our hotel}.

Giving up on a good picture with my little moving maniac.

Attempt 1 million 1 hundred thirty-seven...

See why we wouldn't have minded missing our plane home?

T-roy and Luke!

oh yeah, and those stairs I was talking about...

I do NOT need your help! I don't even use my hands.

See?

Told ya so. Yeah. He has SO perfected that look already.

That's the one.

Matthews first family vacation, A+

Aspen, Colorado, DAY THREE

Pizza was a favorite of ours on the trip, but this pizza our last night was by far my favorite meal! It was at Brunelleschi's, and it was scrumptious! I was splitting* {I got 2 out of 8 pieces}. I gave one to Troy and this little one... he was the pizza monster!!! He decided to forgo little pieces, which are clearly for babies, and just go for the whole piece.

Or four...

Here is a picture to prove to Luke I will go to no end to embarrass him if he doesn't listen to me. Point Proven.

Troy with the hipstamatic. He's good.

We ate at this tasty restaurant called Little Annie's, and walked around the local outdoor market. Ahhh... did I mention I like this place. Hey Troy, if you ever want to surprise me with a vacation... back here okay???

Aspen, Colorado DAY TWO

After the haircuts {see below} we headed to the park behind the condo my parents were staying in. It was so pretty! It was so nice to be somewhere that it really felt like Fall, my favorite time of year. Luke met a boy named Felix who instantly took a liking to my dad {also see below...} Here is the one and only family photo, snapped by my dad. Thanks Dad! We ended the day with my parents offering to babysit. Troy and I gladly accepted and went out for dinner and drinks to local spot Jimmy's. We had a great time, but forgot to take any pictures to document our night, or the fact that we ran into Uncle Bill not once, but twice in one day, in Aspen! Yes, you heard me correctly. Troy says I always run into someone, no matter where I am. But I must be rubbing off on him after 10 years together, as he ran into an entire wedding party of old friends and family {some of which I knew as well naturally}!

The Park

Luke sporting the new do.

I love this place...

I mean, seriously...

here is dad, or boompa, as Luke said over, and over, and over, and over. It was too cute.

And this was the little boy Felix. He showed my dad all around the Park. Too cute.

The Haircuts

On Thursday we discovered this cute little place called Sammy's, a traditional {and perhaps only} barber shop in Aspen. I decided my shaggy boys could use a haircut, and they both agreed, so Friday we started our day with a vacation haircut. Here is the before picture...

Luke was so excited to get a vacation haircut.

Okay, maybe not that excited. But he was good. You can see Sammy working on him in the background. Hmmm... A girl named Sammy gave Luke his 1st haircut, now his second haircut is also by Sammy... I bet I am not the only person who see's the pattern...

The boys sporting their new do's! Troy is proudly sporting his Rangers shirt hoping for a Rangers win against the Yankees...

So the Rangers didn't win game one, even though they should have. But we did have a great second day in Aspen. Rangers, 0-1. Matthews Family, 2-0.

Aspen, Colorado, DAY ONE

I didn't take very many pictures today... I guess because I was so tired. We woke up about 3:00 a.m. to start getting ready for the 10:00 a.m flight. You might say I have had a bad track record in the past for making flights, but I was not about to miss this trip. And you might say I've become slightly* more organized since becoming a mom. Here is a picture of Luke and my parents at Little Nell's {the hotel where we stayed} restaurant, Montagna. It was pretty darn tasty. We mainly stuck around the hotel and condo today. We ate lunch at AJAX, and climbed the stairs about one million times, walked around town, and then Luke took a long nap {and perhaps mommy did too} then we got up and got all ready for dinner. It was a great first day!

The Matthews First Family Vacation

We went on first plane ride on the way to our first full-fledged family vacation! Schew, try saying that five times fast. This fall we decided it was gosh darn time to take a family vacation. We had been a few places with Luke, Arkansas and Oklahoma to see both great grandparents turn 90, and Galveston for the propane convention I call disaster August 2009, but nothing I would qualify as a vacation, until now! Here are Luke and I on his very first plane ride on our way to the very beautiful Aspen, Colorado. Boy did we have fun!