more from colorado...

this is day two. where we slept in, hung out with the kitties and I helped tonya make invitations for her sister's baby shower. and played mario kart. I really want a wii. I don't know when it would get used, but I want one. Matt and I talked about getting us one for Christmas. with the wii fit, of course!

after that we swung by the liquor store (for beer that Matt and I took home!) and went to manitou springs. we had been planning to ride the cog railroad up Pike's Peak, but ALL the seats were taken on ALL the trains. and honestly? I'm really thankful it panned out how it did!

so, I took pictures of manitou springs

and then we saw these birds. and an arcade, and had our photos taken in the booth. it was SNUG in there.

and then we talked around some more--I LOVE these open windows. as a matter of fact, I took some pictures of them and said "aaaaand now I have my pictures of colorado!" and I love all the benches painted brightly. and the flowers.

Matt and George were troopers. Tonya and I went in quite a few stores and saw pretty things like these! We spent a lot of time in a jewelry/crystal shop where I didn't take any pictures but I DID get a turquoise ring, a turquoise bracelet, some beads, a piece of fluorite for my mom and some agate bookends (that I have yet to photograph)

then we saw this super-colorful kissing bench. of course we HAD to sit on it. and it seemed just right for arm wrestling--though after a moment of matt going easy on me and working hard I realized my only defense was biting. matt=not pleased. ha! but look how MEAN and SERIOUS he looks! harumph.

after that we went to have FONDUE! I've had fondue three times ever. The first time I LOVED it. It was when Betsy was my Valentine. And it was YUM! The next time was on a date--and the cheese part was good and the chocolate part was okay, but I hated the meat part. I told him I didn't like mushrooms, but he insisted on that sauce. and one of the parts in the chocolate was something I didn't like, and again, he insisted. so yeah. But this? This was DELISH.

the indoor light was kinda crappy though. and in that pic with tonya? I'm all red 'cause I'd almost fallen on the floor while trying to lean away for the picture--ha!

so anyway, we decided to just do the cheese and chocolate this time. and I was quite pleased that they brought me some blue cheese crumbles--no one else liked blue cheese but I had a hankering. just a dab on some bread was plenty. :)

on the walk back to our car I saw this love-o-meter guide to romance thingie and knew we HAD to play. In the interest of my personal safety I won't give full disclosure, but I WILL say that we stood there for a while wondering why the machine wasn't doing anything before someone thought to pull out the coin holder we'd pushed in--and then it went. so, matt was forced to go first--and he got "blah." that picture where I'm turning around? yep, that's when *I* landed on "blah" too! and then george went--he's harmless. but know what? we made tonya go, and SHE is harmless too!

btw: Matt is SO proud of himself for taking that picture right as I whipped my hair around. :)

who knew, huh?

and here is matt at the del taco. we definitely needed this picture. we'd be talking about food and where to eat and suggest, say, olive garden, lonestar steakhouse or cracker barrel, and matt would say "or del taco!!" seriously. for FOUR meals this came up. hence:

and this is what we came home to. little tinka is cuddly and I missed my kitties, okay? and it's a nice view of my new watch.

one more day of colorado left to share!