After ending last month celebrating Elle’s birthday at Disneyland, on her actual birthday, we boarded a flight out of John Wayne Airport to Denver, Colorado. We parked our car and walked Elle straight through security and onto our two-hour flight to Denver. Elle did amazing, after having a bottle of formula, she played with a few of the toys Jenn brought her and even got a short nap in. When we arrived, we picked up our rental car and drove to the Westin Downtown Denver, where we’d be staying for the next 5 nights. After getting settled and having Elle take another nap, we went out for dinner. Ironically, Jake and I stayed a few blocks away at the Renaissance on our drive from New York to California a few months prior, and so I was pretty familiar with the area. We landed on having dinner at La Loma outside on the patio.

The next day was our only one fully together as a family before Jenn was off to work. We made the most of it, walking from our hotel that morning to the Denver Art Museum. Elle continues to love going to art museums (I hope that never changes), and this was no different. Although a bit pricey, it was a beautiful museum and we spent nearly two hours walking through its various exhibits. Elle really loved one of the very first rooms that was made out of very colorful yarn.

We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown Denver, letting Elle take a nap, and going back out to have dinner at Osteria Marco. Jenn had pasta, and I had a pizza, and Elle ate most of the bread. The dinner was fine, but the highlight might have been seeing Peyton Manning walk right by as we left the restaurant. He must have a house right near the restaurant.

Over the next four days, Jenn had full days of work, which meant it was up to Elle and me to enjoy Denver. Fortunately, we had pretty good weather throughout, and so for the next three days, we’d go out on one big excursion each day. On Monday, we went to the Denver Zoo, on Tuesday, we went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and on Wednesday, we hung out at Commons Park. We had a great time, we were able to get out each day, explore a bit, see new places, and keep her entertained while Jenn killed it at work. I think we had the most fun at the zoo, although Commons Park was a nice day as well. The science museum would have been much more fun for her if Jenn were there as well. We made the most of it and were able to fly home together as a family on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed nearly two hours due to thunderstorms, but eventually we made it home safe and sound.

We arrived back from Denver and only had two weeks before we were going to be back on the road. Much of those two weeks was spent with family. From going down to Riverside for a pool day with the Nordbecks to enjoying some of the amenities at Jake’s apartment complex, we did our best to get out and enjoy the beautiful June.

Our last weekend at home in June was also Father’s Day. There was a lot of discussion between Jenn and me on how we would celebrate. Last year, Elle was only a few weeks old, and Jenn was just starting to feel unwell. I kept telling Jenn I didn’t want anything, but her Dad and Joan were nice enough to come watch Elle on the Saturday before Father’s Day, which allowed Jenn and me to go on a date. I chose for us to go see Peril in the Alps at the Laguna Playhouse, a fun, a bit quirky murder mystery. We had dinner reservations at a restaurant, but due to the Trump protests, we had to make a last-minute change to Broadway, the same restaurant we hosted Jenn’s baby shower dinner at last year. What a great restaurant. We still loved it, splitting a duck confit and pate appetizer, and a delicious pasta and beef cheek mole.

After Father’s Day, it was all hands on deck for our final preparation for our first European trip as a family of three. We left for LAX on June 18th in the afternoon after dropping Frasier off at Hydrant Pet Hotel. I’ve recapped each day of the trip, capturing over a week in Barcelona and our stops in both Munich, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden. It was an unbelievable trip and brought us through the end of June and into early July. What a crazy month. If you had asked me a year ago if we’d be traveling to Europe for 3 weeks and Denver for a week in the span of a month, I don’t think I would have believed you. But we did, and we have some great memories for it.

TV WE WATCHED

All of our TV watching for June happened before we left for Europe, and even that was limited. The show we watched the most (and finished the first season) was Your Friends & Neighbors. I’m not sure if the show was that good or if it got the Jon Hamm bump, but I loved it, probably a lot more than Jenn. I found the cast of characters and to hard-to-believe storyline to be compelling. We also finished the latest season of Hacks and Abbot Elementary which both feel like they are running out of ideas.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

This might be my slowest month of reading yet. With the Europe trip, I didn’t read nearly as much in the second half of the month. I started the month with Never Flinch, one of the weakest Stephen King books I’ve read in a while. It felt like a paint-by-the-numbers murder/crime drama. The same could also be said for book two of The Sun Eater series, Howling Dark. I really enjoyed Book 1 (Empire of Silence) last month, but this one didn’t do it for me, and I’m officially bowing out of the series now.

Far and away, the best book this month was A History of Loneliness by John Boyne. It wasn’t even one of my favorites of his, but I just love his writing. It wasn’t a great vacation read, but nevertheless a brilliant book.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

One of the benefits of Elle’s naps during our trip was that they allowed me to watch half of the movies I watched in June. I started the month with Captain America: Brave New World. I’ve started to fall off the MCU, and this movie didn’t help. I found it fine, sometimes entertaining, but I’ve grown a bit tired of the franchise.

The best two movies I watched this month were Anora (won Best Picture at the Oscars) and Sing Sing. I’m not sure I understand the best picture win, but I enjoyed Anora. It’s a very, very good movie and took some serious turns. Sing Sing was a beautiful movie. It’s about a group of inmates in a prison putting on theater performances. It was a heartwrenching story and one that had me crying multiple times.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

My main obsession continues to be Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. This game is everything I love about this series. Sprawling areas to explore, fun combat, and a great variety of missions to do. I do at times find myself a bit overwhelmed with how much there is to do in the game, but as of this writing, I’m still loving it. The other game I’ve been diving into a bit this month was MLB The Show 25. It’s a great 5-10 minute game where I can play a few innings quickly and go about my day.