My wife told me not to plan anything for the last day of our Colorado family vacation, a Wednesday, and gave no further details. Well, at first, but then I kept getting tiny bits of additional info.

First, she had to make sure she was covered under her dad’s insurance so she could drive us to Breckenridge. She also mentioned how she’d like to get there early so we could walk the familiar streets of Breckenridge. So now I knew we were going to Breckenridge.

Then I couldn’t help but think about how we had to be there at a certain time, so obviously it was something that required an appointment. The last hint was when I asked how to dress. Since I would most likely venture off to do some sort of workout, I obviously wouldn’t be that clean, so I had to ask.

“Just don’t be smelly.” was her only request. Easy enough, I would hope I could at least pull off not being smelly. With these clues, I finally put together my best guess that we were getting massages. I’ve only been talking about getting one for a long time, so I truly hoped I was right.

I fit in a workout by going on a 4 mile trail run, which did in fact make me smelly, and wet from the early morning dew. Oh, and the overnight rain.

No doubt, a shower was needed before going out with Going Mom for my “surprise”.  But first, I asked her to get a few pictures of me trying a head stand.

“Who cares?” you ask? Probably no one but me, but I can and obviously will share it here! Then I showered so as to not be smelly.

On the drive to Breckenridge, I let off that I was was 90% certain where we were going, and Kelley immediately caved.

“Well, happy anniversary.” she said, slightly disappointed. I let her know it wasn’t until that very day that I put it together, and getting massages, surprise or not, is just freaking awesome! And having a couples massage where I can lay next to my wife as we don’t speak a word to each other is….well, guess that doesn’t sound all that great, but it is!

We arrived in town with time to spare, so we took to the streets to take in the atmosphere. Oh, and get coffee, duh. No pictures were taken while we enjoyed our time together, but the place we got our coffee, Cuppa Joe, has been our favorite choice from year’s past. Here we are when we went in the winter of 2012.

Holy crap, we aged! Is this what having kids does? Nah, I’ll blame it on, *gasp*, the passing of time! That’s deep, I know.

Our couple’s massage at Harmony put us in harmony for the rest of the day. I had the Ashiatsu Massage, and let me tell you, having someone walk all over you isn’t always a bad thing.

Here’s the definition as given by this site.

Ashiatsu Massage Therapy. “AOBT Definition” Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy™ (AOBT) is Asian barefoot massage. “Ashi” means “foot,” and “atsu” means “pressure.” Oils and lotion are applied to the body, and soft, clean, bare feet give a rhythmic and deep Swedish massage

It was relieving, and although not a huge surprise, the perfect anniversary gift from my wife. Thank you, Kelley, I love you dear! Now when can we go again?

The rest of the day was low key and spent at home with Nana, Papa, and Ashlee. While we were out, Ashlee continued her marathon book reading to Avery like the awesome cousin she is.

That night, we got Avery to burn off lots of energy by mimicking Ashlee as she ran and jumped into a pillow pallet we created. Over and over again, she would do her best to “jump” into the pile and crawl around.

She slept very good that night! Which was great since it made for uninterrupted Yahtzee playing time for Kelley and me.

Besides the first night, every night we were there, we’d hole up in our room for a couple rounds of Yahtzee. We hardly play anything at home (as in never), and I forgot how fun it was to play a board game, especially with my wife! It probably helped that I won all but two games, but I think Kelley would agree it was part of the best thing of our vacation.

Maybe it sounds silly, but quality time spent together truly is the best thing for any relationship!

The next day was our return home, but not without crossing the last thing off my vacation bucket list. Come back to find out what it was. Hint: it was cold!

Have you ever figured out something that was supposed to be your surprise? Has your surprise ever been figured out?

Do you play board games with friends and/or family often?