Surprise!

On Friday after work Christian and I headed to the airport to pick up Matt & Kip :)  Their flight was supposed to get in at 6:05 (as far as I knew).  So we get to the airport and park in the cell phone lot.  Then I get a bazaar text from my sister: "The blind praying mantis wonders why he even bothers to wear a watch."  Huh?! Apparently Christian told her to text something bazaar when she was ready to meet and he forgot his phone so she sent it to me.  So Christian says "I'm bored lets drive up to arrivals."  I disagreed but lost.  Then we did laps around the airport until my face was green.  And finally he says, "I have something to tell you...Matt & Kip aren't coming until 8:15."   I was livid- thinking he just realized/remembered this and we have been driving in circles for 45 minutes.  Then he says, "But Lisa and AJ are..."  WHAT is going on!?  Anywho... long story short Christian and Lisa had been planning this trip for awhile and didn't tell AJ either.  Then Matt & Kip joined in.  And Lisa had to tell AJ a few days prior bc he was planning so many things.  SO, we were really there to pick up Lisa & AJ at 6:05 but they thought we were meeting inside and Christian thought we were meeting outside... blah blah blah they had to tell me so we could figure out who was where.   Here we are at the airport bar waiting for Matt & Kip:

Then we waited at the escalators for Matt & Kip and did the slow clap when we saw them.  I should have taken a video, sorry!!

When we got back to the house we snacked on some cheese, etc. and then headed (walked) to Steuben's.  However, it was an hour wait so we went to Hamburger Mary's instead (gay/drag bar).  

Here is "Shaneeda."

Shaneeda Lawyer

Here is a video of us spying on the drag show, the girls at the table ruined it.

      Today we got a little off my schedule bc Kip, also known as "Shaneeda... Shaneeda Gettup" slept in a bit.  When everyone was up we headed to Snooze for breakfast:

 

Kip's pancake flight; Lemon-bar, cinnamon bun, and sweet potato.  

Matt & AJ got breakfast burritos: 

 

 Breakfast tacos

Upstream bennys

It was DEEELISH.

We planned on going to Red Rocks later in the afternoon to see the sights and for some apps and cocktails since dinner wasn't until 9:30pm.  Luckily I looked it up first bc I discovered most of Red Rocks was closed for an event so we decided to save it for Sunday and we ended up heading to the pool by popular vote with some beer & vodka lemonades.

When we got him the boys went to the market to some food for a little app.

Kip grilling delicious eggplant:

 My garden is growing :)

 This is the leftvoers I think... grilled eggplant w/ balsamic and some kind of brie & pesto bread. Yum!

We decided Christian and I (and possibly Lisa & AJ) would sleep in our McMansion in the backyard so we got to work setting it up. 

Before we went out to dinner Collin & his sister, husband and daughter stopped over for some cocktails.  Collin joined us for dinner.

Lisa wasn't feeling so hot before we left and in the cab... it was confirmed she was pretty sick as soon as we arrived at Larimer Street :(  So she and AJ headed home with the hope of returning but it didn't happen.  We missed them!!!

We had a fabulous dinner at Rioja on Larimer Square.

Some apps:

white miso soup with steamed mussels, Prince Edward Island mussels, 
miso broth, honshimeji mushrooms, sweet chili, cilantro

rioja “picnic”, a trio of artisan meats, warm pine nut crusted goat cheese, Italian Mountain gorgonzola, olives, truffle fennel salad, orange confit, almonds

watermelon-baby heirloom tomato salad, organic red and yellow watermelon, Valbreso feta, compressed cucumber, sweet chilis, watermelon vinaigrette, micro lemon balm

roasted candy striped beet salad, cucumber mint vinaigrette, snow drop goat cheese, crispy beet chips, 
pickled red onion, micro beets, mint syrup

Their famous dish: artichoke tortelloni, goat cheese and artichoke mousse stuffed pasta, artichoke broth, truffle essence, queso de mano cheese, chervil

Colorado lamb two ways, grilled t-bone, house made lamb merguez sausage, crisp couscous pillows, caramelized fennel, tomato coulis, preserved lemon yogurt

 grilled bone in Kurobuta pork chop, Dubliner cheddar tater tots, grilled bacon wrapped summer beans,
applewood smoked bacon vinaigrette, black truffle crème fraîche

pan seared halibut, cucumber wrapped salad of: Dungeness crab, avocado, hearts of palm tarragon crème fraîche,  heirloom tomato carpaccio and vinaigrette, crispy shallots, micro parsley 

tuna sashimi and tuna tartare, marinated apple and fennel, anise vinaigrette, crispy apple chips

Late night antics

Me getting ready to sleep in the tent

Goodnight!

It was actually a great nights sleep.  I was however paralyzed with fear for at least one hour when I heard a predator in the yard, only to find out later AJ went for a walk and went out the back.
Good times but we missed Lisa & AJ!!

More to come....

PS- Birthday shout-out going out to Mardi in Washington !!  Hope you enjoyed your day!