Rockies With Cousins

We said goodbye to a few of our cousins and then headed to the Rockies game with a few other cousins.

Jorge De La Rosa was our pitcher. I don't think this was his best outing, but he certainly did okay. It ended up being a heavy hitting game for both sides.

That made the game really fun, but also nervre-racking.

We had a pretty substantial lead, but then, all of the sudden, it was gone.

Angela, this is for you! I think the tooth won this race.

This is Jason and Angela. What a hoot, right? It was the 7th inning stretch, so we were having a little fun.

Here's our crew. We missed the rest of the cousins that couldn't join us. You missed out on an awesome game!

We ended up in extra innings. Can you believe it? The Rockies totally blew their lead.

In the bottom of the 10th, Arenado came through with a walk off home run to win the game! Whew! That was a close. The outcome was fantastic and we all went home happy.

Pancakes

You can't get a bunch of Meliuses together and not have Melius pancakes. 

They all argue over who has the best buttermilk pancake recipe, but in the end it's the same recipe that they all use.

The recipe comes from Grandma Rosemarie and it's the best!

We were well fed on the morning of our departure.

We cleaned up the house and hit the road, did a little shopping, and then ended up together for one last meal.

An Evening In With the Brisket and More!

After returning from our visit to The Breckenridge Distillery, we came back and cooked up a feast. 

When we began planning this reunion Adam couldn't stop talking about how fabulous this Texas brisket was and how he was going to bring it with him. It was sure to smell like heaven and the drippings were like liquid gold. With a brisket like that one wouldn't even need BBQ sauce and the taste should be fantastic. The brisket did not disappoint. 

Well, Adam ditched us at the last minute, but sent a brisket to us anyway by way of FedEx. It was just as good as he described and we sent him a photo to thank him.

We also celebrated Nikki's big birthday!! John and Michael picked out the cake. It was perfect for our mountain getaway, don't you think?

Then came a little Face Time . . . 

with Adam, who was stuck in Texas, "working." Thanks for the brisket, Adam! It was fabulous and it was fun to catch up even if it was just brief and over Face Time.

The Distillery

We've enjoyed visiting the local brewery and whiskey distillery in the Denver area, so when we found a distillery in Breckenridge we thought our cousins would enjoy as well!

We started things off with a shot of whiskey. Then out of nowhere Nikki's former student walks in. What? This kid who grew up in South Dakota now works at The Breckenridge Distillery. What are the chances? And, his parents were in town too. They were bottling whiskey.

By this point we've had a few shots and I can't really remember what this thing does, but it looks cool, right? 

This is where it all begins. The whiskey begins in this thing and then moves on to the copper thing above. Got that?

It happened to be our lucky day as they were bottling whiskey that evening. We got to watch how it all goes down.

Then we got a little sampling of chocolate sauce infused with bourbon. It was quite good and perhaps a fabulous topping for ice cream.

The guys then tried something that was 160 proof. Nikki and I declined.

If you're in Breckenridge totally check out this distillery. It's really laid back and so fun!

The Short Hike. . .

I think one of the highlights on our little Breckenridge getaway was this little hike that turned into an all morning affair. We headed out in the morning thinking we'd be back in time for a pancake brunch. That brunch turned into a late afternoon lunch in town. Yikes! 

We drove in as far as possible on what felt like a jeep trail. Then we came upon what looked like an avalanche and had to park our vehicles. The road was supposed to continue, but was covered in snow.

It was tricky getting across all the snow. You never knew if your footing was solid. One minute you were walking along just fine and the next minute your foot was stuck in a hole that was knee deep.

The trail was pretty snowy in many areas while other areas were just dirt and rocks. It was hard to gauge what was going to come next. I think that's how our short 3 mile hike took a few hours longer than we expected.

There were gorgeous views and waterfalls all along our trail.

We witnessed a lot of gushing water due to all the late snow melting.

Our first stop was this little lake.

The terrain became increasingly steeper as we got closer and closer to our destination.

Everytime we looked up the view just took our breath away. It was pretty incredible.

Higher and higher we went.

My cell reception was spotty and Rebecca was trying to text me.

We made it! Kind of. At this point a few cousins decided to sit tight and relax while the rest of us trudged on to Mohawk Lake.

We saw this waterfall from way down below. It was a pretty incredible sight to see up close.

We spotted a cross on the mountain. That's never a good sign.

Me and my Lutheran Stud!

It could not have been a more beautiful day for a hike.

We finally arrived at  Lower Mohawk Lake and it was frozen, but still beautiful.

We made it! Can you tell that they are all related-minus me of course. ;) I was the only "outlaw" to make the entire trek. The hike back down the mountain was much easier and quicker than the way up. It was a gorgeous hike and if you're in the area be sure vist Mohawk Lake.