Author: pazmeyer

poolside

We had grand plans to head to the mountains, but decided to just relax and lay poolside. We ordered pizza and had it delivered to the pool which Miss Lily loved. 

Annabelle has mastered the water slides and Auntie Becky and I took turn after turn after turn taking Gwyneth down the slides. It’s really a tough life with these girls:

outlaws

Happy 4th of July! B finally has a day off and we are so glad to have him home. Becky, Darnell, Madison, and Lily joined us for the holiday weekend. We had lots of fun in store for them. 
Miss Lily took a long afternoon nap while B whipped up a great feast for us. The rest of us spent the afternoon in Boulder buying Crocs and eating ice cream. After our delicious dinner we headed downtown to meet Lance, Sheila and their gang for the Denver Outlaws game. They are our Lacrosse team (I didn’t know that) and they are apparently pretty good (I didn’t know that either). They won by 12 goals (I’m pretty sure that’s very good). 
We ended the evening with an impressive fireworks display at Mile High. Really the best I’ve ever seen. Good music, lots of big explosions, all good times! I should note our tickets were $5 — best bang for the buck in town. 
Using the American Girl bath tub as a chair

Inhaling Uncle B’s mashed potatoes. I’d say they were a hit:

Sheila and Steph

super diamond

Wahoo – Super Diamond! We were trying to figure out how many times we’ve seen them, but couldn’t agree. We did agree, we’ve seen them a lot. Each year we head to Hudson Garden to see the Sureal Neil and we rock out to the man in sequins. 
This year Chriss and Paul couldn’t join us because they were in Wisconsin, but Lance, Sheila, Jen and Jeff joined us and we were even surprised by fireworks at the end of the show. 

B is so very exhausted from working on the farms. He’s up with the roosters…ok, that’s an exaggeration because I have no idea what time roosters actually get up because we don’t actually live on a farm. But he is doing farm work and it is kicking his butt!

monsters u

The girls have been so excited to see the new Monsters University movie. Monsters Inc was a favorite for the girls for years. Missi joined us for an afternoon movie and we all loved it. It was such a cute prequel. We had to go home and watch Monster Inc again!
 
 

In case you are missing B’s posts on his chef blog, he has moved on from the formal kitchen to the farm to table portion of his education. He is working on a farm! He is out harvesting veggies and pulling weeds and learning so much about where his ingredients come from as well as how much work it is to get that food to the table. He is TIRED!  Very, very tired, but what an opportunity. We’ll nudge him to post some pictures of his adventures soon.

dexter

This is the final season of Dexter and although I am an absolute chicken, I LOVE this show. I have read a few books in the series and I love the show, the characters, the story line, the sheer terror and the nightmares that come each week.
 
We had a season premier gathering for a few friends and you know me, I love a good theme. B made homemade ravioli and I put together a few “bloody” additions to the menu. We had a sitter come to play with the girls while we locked ourselves in the basement to watch the premier. Didn’t want to take the chance of our girls walking in and seeing Dexter’s Dark Passenger at work.
 
Blood Splatter Expert Cherry Chip Explosion Cupcakes:
 
 
Rest In Peace Dirt Cups and Miami Police Department Donuts:

Blood Orange Martinis:

Trinity Killer Blood Bath Salsa and Chips:

I really do like a theme and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of appropriate opportunities to wear this:

pool party

I am fully prepared for judging. I like birthdays.
 
So, B is in school and we’re trying to tone things down this year so we decided to have a joint family birthday party for the girls. We are going to do that in July.
 
And then Annabelle’s birthday arrived. And she missed her friends from school and dancing school. And she said she really wanted to meet her kindergarten friends at the pool. And we had a lot of guest passes and lots of her friends lived in the neighborhood and have their own passes. And so we invited her school friends to come to the pool and have pizza with us and swim. And she picked out a cake. And we went to the dollar store and bought some party favors and decorations. And then this happened:
 
I LOVE birthdays. I do. I really, really do.
 
I know it looks crazy, but it really was the most laid back party I have ever thrown. After pizza and cake, Annabelle and her friends jumped in the pool. Annabelle swam for 2 1/2 hours. She didn’t get out of the pool the entire night. She had so much fun and she was so happy. Yep, I still LOVE birthdays.
 
I offered to make Annabelle homemade cupcakes and she found this cake and really, really wanted it. I tell ya, easiest party ever.
pizza time on our rec center patio:

birthday wishes for the beautiful birthday girl:
now that is happiness:
let’s go swim!!!!

Gwyneth found this water gun (notice that is NOT our name on it) and proceeded to shoot her sister in the face over and over and over. Nothing says Happy Birthday like a water gun to the face.

Time to head home. Full of pizza, cake and worn out. Good stuff.
We got home late and it was time for bed but she really wanted to open her gifts. Such generous friends!

horse

YaYa left some wrapped gifts and I held Annabelle off as long as I could. She was so very excited to open her birthday gifts and YaYa knew just what to get this girl.
 
These pictures don’t adequately show how much she loved her gifts. She actually kissed the horse and the doll clothes and said “it’s what I have ALWAYS wanted”. She has not stopped playing with them since.
 
Thank you YaYa for the perfect gift for this little sassy six year old.
 
She loved the card addressed to “Annabelle Olivia”. Anything with her name on it right now is perfection:
 
SOOOOO happy!

Kissing her baby doll clothes (very grateful, but kind of a lunatic!):

There was no getting these girls to bed tonight. Way too excited with the horse….they  played and played and played with it and then of course it had to sleep with them. Of course!

dollar movie

Every Tuesday and Wednesday at the theater near us they offer $1 movies. This week I took Annabelle to see Monte Carlo. I really didn’t know much about it except it was $1 and that was good enough for me.
 
Have you seen this movie? If not, Annabelle quickly informed me the main character was Beezus in Ramona and Beezus and that she was Justin Beiber’s girlfriend. I didn’t have the heart to tell her they had broken up….or maybe I’m just embarrassed that I know that… either way, I should probably go ahead and buy her a subscription to People Magazine or share mine.
 
1 dollar movie and 47 dollars at the concession stand…I kid…or do I?

summer playdate

Where is this summer going? It’s flying by so fast. The girls have been begging for some time with their friends and we are finally home after all our travels. My sweet friend Kristen and I have worked out a great schedule for playdates for the summer so we each get a little peace and quiet and the girls get plenty of fun time together.
 
Today we hosted Emma and Rosie and they played hard outside. They rode bikes, scooters, and the monster truck. They proceeded to run through the sprinkler and play with the water table and then migrated to the basement to play with the toys. AND Gwyneth squeezed in an hour nap (she was kinda falling apart…this girl needs sleep).
 
After several hours of play they needed some down time and requested an episode of Sofia the First. Popcorn and princesses….good times!

le cochon

Le Cochon is French for the pig and was the name of the bistro that B and his fellow chefs set up for their final.
 
The classroom portion of B’s school is coming to an end. They treated family and friends to a four course meal which was absolutely delicious. It was also on my birthday…what more can a gal ask for?
 
B invited Chriss, his sister, and I to the lunch. Chriss has been very supportive of B’s big career change and it was great to celebrate and dine with her:

Our table mates, Shelly and Sharon. Shelly’s husband is another student and I’ve heard so much about them. It was great to finally meet them.

First course (B’s course and the BEST. I’m not just blowing smoke — it was beyond delicious!): Cone Farm Pork Rillette with French Onion Soup

Second Course: Seared sea scallop with watercress and spinach salad, toasted lavender, and apricot vinaigrette

Third Course: Pork Brasato with roasted heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and spiced apple gastrique

Final Course: Chocolate Gateau with raspberry sorbet, candied mint, and seasonal berries. Happy Birthday to Me!!!

B starts the farm to table portion of his school next week and will be finishing up in October. How quickly it is flying by, how much he has learned, and how well we are dining! Cheers!