Christmas Road Trips With 9 College Boys and Dally VonDroolio

I can't believe I am actually in my own home enjoying a cup of coffee with absolutely zero commitments on the calendar for today.

This. Is. Bliss.

I should also take the time to make an announcement, Mr. and Mrs. MHH officially survived the holiday season!

I was lucky enough to kick off Christmastime with a night at the theatre with Mr. MHH-- we had tickets to see The Lion King.  As we had some friends who couldn't attend, we could gift them to two other friends, and we met them ahead of time for apps and cocktails at one of my favorite spots- The Corner Office.  They have the most creative cocktails (one comes with a stick of rock candy in it!) and the food is so delicious!

The Ladies

The Gentlemen

 Needless to say, regardless of how fabulous the pre-show fun was-- the show was even more amazing.  Mr. MHH and I have been really fortunate to get great seats whenever we go to a show at The Denver Center for Performing Arts.  Everything about The Lion King was amazing- the performers, the sets, and most of all-- the costumes-- just INCREDIBLE! 

The following day after work, I flew to Kansas for a long weekend home with my family.  Mr. MHH was headed to Chicago, so I was flying solo.

• Night one, Mother MHH and I stayed up until two in the morning- chatting and catching up.  
• Night two, my college age brother (who I sometimes think I share a brain with) stayed up with me chatting until three in the morning talking and hanging out.  The late night marathon chats with my family are one of my favorite parts about being home.  
• Night three, my parents had their annual Christmas party- where I got to spend time with other siblings and lots of old friends and family

The party is one of my favorite events of the year-- and not just because my mother lets me raid her fantabulous shoe collection.  (Her shoes are a Mrs. MHH DREAM COME TRUE-- and I love finding myself SO thankful for our identical shoe sizes!)  I also have to mention that I get to raid the rest of her closet sometimes too--- gotta love being the same size!  
 
Being home for my family's Christmas party was a wonderful time and I would have loved to stay in Kansas for weeks-- but since I don't get a month off for the holidays like my college-student brother . . . had to stay up super late packing to head back to Denver the next day for a few more days of work.

Luckily, the aforementioned brother was headed to Breckenridge with 8 friends and agreed to give me a ride back.

Wait, did I say "luckily"? About getting up at 5am for a road trip with 9 college boys?

Just a few of my travel companions . . .

Yes, I did.  

It was a surprisingly pleasant trip- I slept most of the way, had a couple interesting stops in a couple interesting Kansas towns . . . and none of the boys were even that smelly!

So, I was back to Denver for a few days of work, last minute present shopping, and a book club Christmas party until the day we were supposed to leave.  And then, as if it were a Christmas travel miracle . . . drumroll please . . . SNOWSTORM!!

That is our mailbox in a snowdrift.

So, Mr. MHH, the 23yr old bro, the 120pound Dally-dog, and I loaded into Mr. MHH's truck and headed for Kansas in a snowstorm-- let's just say that truck wasn't made for 3 adults and a dog the size of a gorilla to drive 9 hours.  

We would have probably been better off in a sleigh, but it was a few days early for Santa.   

Dally and the bro got up close and personal (she has a thing about drooling on people and sitting practically on their laps while in the car), we made a magical stop at the Oasis on the Prairie (since when does an oasis have snow??), and I got a lot of reading done-- until I relieved the bro of backseat duty.  At that point, the only thing I got was a leg covered in drool.  

Yes, this is the face of someone who would drool on you

Christmas shenanigans to be continued . . . . .