I haven’t been to the Magic House since I was a young kid. Not to age myself too much, but it’s been a long, long time. The girls had a blast exploring. There was so much for them to do. They are the perfect age for the exhibits. 

This is how B would have survived if he lived in Lewis and Clark days….just big old slabs of meat over a fire. 

Gwyneth hosted a tea party in the Alice in Wonderland themed exhibit

We spent the morning at Grandma’s House. The girls played with all of Madison’s old toys, we were able to catch up, and we got our yearly picture on Grandma’s couch. 

We had a fun afternoon playdate with the Carlson’s at the Fire Fighters Museum. The museum is a converted fire station which is over 100 years old. The kids had a blast climbing on the fire trucks! Annabelle really liked  playing on the fire pole. Ahem….I put an end to that really quick. Seemingly innocent, somethings are just NOT funny. (you’ve met her dad right?). 

There is a really cute exhibit upstairs that represents a house. I was “the fire” and I would scream “fire” and they  had to find the fastest/safest way out of the house. Gwyneth would look for the nearest exit and throw herself out the pretend windows! Oh my, I think we may need to work on the safety part of the fire exit. 

The Carlson boys are headed back to preschool on Monday so our summer o’ fun has come to an end. We were able to meet up for lots of fun days this summer!

After the museum, the girls and I cruised 16th street. It’s been a while since they’ve been downtown and they really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of it all. They sat and had a sweet treat and did some people watching. There’s plenty of good people watching on 16th Street and the girls were quite intrigued. 

Our summer is quickly drawing to a close. Our pool closes after Labor Day. My girls are going to be devastated. We spent every night this week at the pool. We are trying to squeeze in as much summer pool time while it lasts. Both my girls have become so adventurous and love the water. I hate to see them lose that when the pool closes. I enrolled them in swimming lessons twice a week in the fall at the rec center. 

We spent the morning at the park. The girls love the park in Breck. You can’t blame them. Swings, slides and a gorgeous view! Our weekend of injuries continued as Gwyneth fell of a wall (very similar to the one she is standing on here) and cracked her poor little chin. Oh my, perhaps it is time for us to head home…

We hit the farmer’s market and got plenty of fresh fruit and the girls even managed to talk us into a few new books. I love reading them books before bedtime and I’m always happy to add new books to the collection….I can recite several of the old fav’s in my sleep. We packed up, grabbed a few ice packs, and headed home. Time to nurse these wounds! We really did have a good weekend, despite the bumps, bruises, and burns….I promise. 

I was determined to be happy today. For the past year I have been a bit of a wreck. My girls have seen me cry one too many times over the passing of my dear friend, Jess. Today I was determined to be happy and remember Jess as my wonderful, hilarious, quirky friend. 

We most certainly tried to have fun, but we had a few obstacles. Our first hurdle – Gwyneth got a nasty bee sting on her face. It went from a small sting to her eye and cheek swelling. I was worried, but it didn’t slow her down one bit. She was still all smiles.

We headed up to the Breckenridge Peak 8 Fun Park. The girls both rode the roller coaster. Annabelle went twice! Once with me and once with her Daddy! She put her hands in the air and screamed the entire time. She loves it. 

After the roller coaster we took a ride down the alpine slide. Well, Gwyneth and I rode down. Annabelle and B tumbled, slid, and flipped right off the track. Being the good daddy that he is, B protected Annabelle and took the brunt of the wreck. He has burns on his shoulder, elbow, and leg. He actually has some fiberglass in his arm which the nurse told him will eventually fall out on their own or can be removed with a wire brush. B opted for the 1st option and he’s waiting it out. Yeah, the wire brush option didn’t sound so great.  Annabelle escaped with a burn on her wrist which she handled like a pro. She told us on the gondola ride back down the hill that she was never going on that alpine slide again….but she sure would like to ride the roller coaster again soon!

Everyone handled their injuries well and we actually managed to have a very fun family day. We stopped at Mi Casa for dinner and Gwyneth, Annabelle and B were all trying to one-up each other with their heroics and injuries for the day. They had me cracking up and despite some swelling, burns, and a bit of a fiberglass we managed to really, truly enjoy our day together. (I can probably say that because I was the only to escape injury today…..) 

We wanted a little getaway, so off we headed to Breck. It had been way too long since we had been up as a family. We cruised in to town just in time for dinner and stopped at one of our favorite places, Downstairs at Eric’s. We had a wonderful meal and then let the girls play around in the arcade. Annabelle figured out that you need quarters to play games. AND she ratted us out to Gwyneth! Drat!!

I was on the phone with my sister and it was quiet. Way too quiet for a 3 and  4 year old. One might think that a quiet house is a good thing. One would be wrong. Very very wrong. I hung up the phone and Gwyneth walked up to me with a big smile on her face and a missing chunk of hair. She asked me if I liked her hair cut and if she wasn’t so darn proud I would have burst into tears. 

They are never allowed to play with scissors without being supervised. I have told them hundreds, maybe even thousands of times that scissors are for paper and absolutely nothing else. Especially not hair! The scissors are usually stored in the top of the closet and they only get them when I can supervise. They were put away in a craft bucket by mistake and my girls took the opportunity to give themselves a trim while I was distracted. 

Gwyneth’s hair got chopped off at the bottom. Nothing that can’t be fixed. It will still be long. Annabelle did not fair as well. She has a bit of a mullet. Both sides were chopped. The front middle is still long, just really short sides. I guess it’s more the making of a mohawk than a mullet. I think it will be lots of ponytails until this grows out. 

I love that my girls have long hair. I’m a bit attached. I was almost in tears and then B walked down and saw the drama and thought it was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.!! He convinced me it was a right of passage and that we just had to laugh and it would grow back in no time. Ok, he’s right, but I do have to admit I teared up as I cleaned up all that hair….

I heart concerts. I heart concerts with my hubby. I heart free tickets to concerts with my hubby. We scored big with that trifecta tonight!

My pal, Melissa, won free tickets to the Goo Goo Dolls concert at 1st Bank Center. She couldn’t make the show so she gave the tickets to me and B. Michelle Branch opened and was delightful. We had such a great time and of course, now have the music bug more than ever. We’re on the lookout for more concert tickets….preferably fee concert tickets!

This has been a crazy, busy summer and we’ve been missing some of our friends. The Tyler’s invited us over for a cook-out. They have a new pool for the kiddos and everyone had a great time splashing around, playing on the swing set, and relaxing. B manned the grill and made some delicious little sliders – so good Annabelle ate two!  What a perfect ending to the weekend!