Author: pazmeyer

frisco bbq challenge

It was a perfect weekend for festivals! We were lucky enough to hit four of them while we were up in the mountains. Our first festival was the Hog Bones BBQ Challenge in Frisco. I thought it would be pretty small, but it took over all of Main Street. There were so many BBQ booths it was hard to choose where to start. The girls ate, ate, and ate some more. They tried mac and cheese, bbq chicken, ribs, corn on the cob and lemon italian ices. It was pretty crowded so they spent most of their time being pulled in the wagon. Eating and being dragged around town…not a bad life at all! B’s favorite booth was the BBQ chicken while mine was the bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp. This festival has been put our calendar as a recurring event. Can’t wait to get back up there for it next year.
Gwyneth showing us how it’s done…..
My girls don’t mess around with corn on the cob….
Uh-oh the girls have caught sight of a dessert booth!
Mmmm….Italian ices

alpine slide

We ventured over to the Peak 8 Fun Park and after a little white lie (we told them Gwyneth was two — shhhhh) we took the girls on the Super Slide. The only way to the top is the chair lift so B and GG hopped on a chair and Annabelle and I rode up behind them. I tell ya, that Gwyneth has no fear. About halfway up she wanted to turn around and see us. I could hear her saying “Hi Mommy, Hi Mommy”. She really tested my fear of heights. In hindsight it would have been better for them to ride up behind us so she could see me at all times. We’ll know better next time.
Annabelle loved the ride up on the chair. Slow and steady! She held on tight — one hand firmly on the chair, one hand firmly grasping my sleeve. We took the ride down together and anytime we’d start really moving, she’d say “SLOW DOWN!”. When we hopped off at the bottom she had a big smile on her face, but when one of the young workers asked if she liked that she replied “No, I don’t like that! Too fast!”. Hmmm….perhaps she’s not going to be my thill seaker.
Miss Gwyneth on the other hand got bored on the lift, but couldn’t get enough of the slide. B told me when he went fast for her she just screamed “WEEEEEEEE!”. Oh boy! She hopped off and said “Again! Again! Again!”.

hiking peak 7

We took the girls for a beautiful hike through the trees on Peak 7 at Breckenridge. This is the first hike we’ve been on and it was wonderful! The girls were very adventurous and really liked their daddy’s idea of walking sticks. I have to admit I was the weak link. Although I loved the scenery I’m a bit of an indoor girl and once I heard “weird animal noices” I kinda panicked. I kept asking B “are there any B-E-A-R-S?”. He humored me and said “of course not” and I did notice him chuckle a bit. Oh, I’m an indoor girl indeed.

beautiful breck

We set off for a fabulous weekend in Breckenridge. We had a lot planned, plenty of special treats for the girls, and most importantly an entire weekend of family time. It was wonderful to get away just the 4 of us. I’m a lucky momma and am so grateful for my husband, girls, and living in such a beautiful state where we can have all these great adventures.

Starting the weekend off right with some fun in the park.

ladybugs in her belly

B was up and out early Tuesdsay morning. He was playing in a golf tournament with Brandon, Heath and Rachel in Aurora. He left the house at 5:45. Yikes, early!!

Annabelle came into my room about 2 minutes later and I heard Gwyneth stirring in her room also so I figured we were all up and ready to start our day. I went in to get Gwyneth up for daycare and found she had thrown up all herself and her crib. It was horrible (oh, my ridiculous weak stomach!). My little girl was sick. She had it coming and going – throwing up and awful diapers. Poor thing!

At this point B was already on the golf course and although he offered to come home and help, I convinced myself I could handle it. I gave Gwyneth a bath, took Annabelle to daycare, went to the store for pedialite, rearranged all my meetings, got dinner in the crock pot, spent as much time as possible snuggling with my sweet but sick girl, and even managed to get a presentation for work completed by 4:55 (it was due at 5:00!). Phew!

Annabelle was very concerned about her sister and I tried to explain to her that Gwyneth was not feeling well and just had a little stomach bug. What Annabelle heard was “Gwyneth has ladybugs in her tummy”. She informed me if she had ladybugs in her tummy she’d throw up too!

Luckily Miss Gwyneth is on the mend now, I managed my work flow, Annabelle didn’t have to throw up (Gwyneth didn’t pass on her ladybugs!), and B golfed a good game. I’d say this day was a success! Thanks to YaYa for talking me through a crazy day – I think GG and I talked to her about 15 times!

bunk beds

Annabelle has out grown her toddler bed and it was time to get her a real big girl bed. We sold her baby furniture must faster than I had anticipated on Craigs List so we spent most of Sunday frantically looking for a new bedroom set. Once Annabelle saw this bed she had to have it. She asked for her “bed with a ladder” repeatedly so we caved and got it for her as a birthday gift.
I really wanted her to sleep on the bottom, but that was not to be. No way she’d pass up using that ladder every night. She looks so tiny in her new bed but I know she’s becoming such a big girl.
I found a website that makes party designs and one of the designs is a name banner. I thought “I can do that” and this is what I came up with. It’s hard to see but it’s held together with little green flowers. I liked it so much I made one for Gwyneth too – with ladybugs, of course.

camera crazy

Annabelle’s birthday is right around the corner and her fabulous Godparents sent her a birthday gift. I asked if they wanted her to open it now or wait for her actual birthday. Diane’s response was for me to decide. Woah, that’s way too much power and I can not be responsible for making someone actually wait to open gifts. It’s as if she doesn’t know me at all???
Needless to say she opened her gift….
Miss Gwyneth was trying to be patient, but she thought Annabelle was taking far too long and could really use some help.
Oh my goodness whatever could it be? (BTW – birthdays should be interesting this year since both girls understand opening gifts now and both really like it!)
It’s a camera!!! Oh how well Diane and Rob know Miss Annabelle!
Annabelle absolutely loved her gift! Once her daddy showed her how to work it she was off and taking pictures. There was no stopping her.
Miss Gwyneth is a very good sport.
Let’s pretend the picture Annabelle took turned out like this…yes, let’s pretend….
After Miss Gwyneth went to bed Annabelle took an opportunity to read to her babies and Care Bears…
…and then of course had to take a picture to capture the moment…
Thanks Diane and Robert for the very thoughtful gift. Considering Annabelle took over 100 pictures and took the camera to bed with her tonight, I’d say it was a huge, huge hit!

tickets

It was a rainy, ugly night so we decided to take the girls to Dave and Busters to play some games. This is a wonderful compromise for us – the girls want Chuck E Cheese and we want edible food so we get the games without the horrible pizza. Win /Win for us all!
Gwyneth rules the ticket games! I don’t know where she gets this unbelievable skill but the girl is unstoppable. If  you can push a button and win a ticket – she will. If you can get a bonus and earn an extra 500 tickets – she will! She never loses and she doesn’t just win – she wins big! She’s a lucky, lucky girl and if she keeps this up we’ll be hitting Vegas for sure on her 21st bday. Once I teach this girl shuffle board I do believe we’ll rule the world.
We have thousands of tickets – yes, THOUSANDS! The girls each got a Care Bear and we still have over 1,500 tickets left. Annabelle danced and Gwyneth lined her pockets – the night was a big success.
Annabelle can’t be bothered with ticket games when there is a dance floor.
Apparently dancing brings out her rage…
The girl loves to dance.
Gwyneth got the hang of ski ball, while Annabelle’s ball seems to still have a little too much air.
Who doesn’t like a game where the entire goal is to jump?!?!
Gwyneth and her daddy – I LOVE this picture!
I so rarely make an appearance on my own blog but Annabelle knows just what to do….
The girls were quite happy with their Care Bears. Notice Gwyneth’s hair – she was going crazy with her new bear and her hair can prove it.

curse of the orchards

Where oh where did my sweet little baby go? I woke up this morning to find a tried and true toddler….more importantly an almost two year old!
See, this is how the girls work me…I’ve been a bit too focused on whipping Miss Annabelle into shape these past few days and right before my eyes Miss Gwyneth has swooped in with her very own sass. I don’t ignore Miss GG by any means, but I kinda thought she was the easy one. We read together, we do puzzles together, we color together, we snuggle.  I don’t raise my voice with her, I don’t have to reprimand her, I just love on her…. and then she closed in on two…..that will teach me to label these girls.
I like to refer to this as The Curse of The Orchards. When Annabelle was about 2 months away from turning two we went to a Mexican restaurant at the Orchards to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. She was not having it and had a major meltdown. I couldn’t believe my eyes as she dramatically melted down. We left without taking a single drink of margarita or tasting the chips and salsa. I couldn’t believe my sweet Annabelle was capable of getting us thrown out of a restaurant (ok, we didn’t get thrown out, but I’m pretty sure there was a big round of cheers from the wait staff and our fellow patrons when we left the building). Miss Gwyneth was just under one and sat with wide eyes just staring at her sister and I thought I’d never see the day the roles reversed….
Tonight we went over to play on the apples at the Orchards and planned to have a quick dinner at Rock Bottom. We ordered dinner and Gwyneth wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to go play. She was fussing and throwing a fit and on the verge of melt down and we said “Fine, you don’t want to eat with us, don’t sit with us”. (This always works for Annabelle – she likes to be part of the family and stays close to us). BACKFIRE!! Gwyneth said “Bye”, got up from her seat and walked out the door! We had an eye on her and thought our sweet little angel would never roam too far. Nope, she headed right for the door and out she went. Guess who learned the lesson? Me, not Gwyneth. Annabelle stared in disbelief as we boxed up our dinners and headed straight to the car where Gwyneth sat while Annabelle briefly played on the apples. All the while, Gwyneth cried for the apples in the car and Annabelle told me “Gwyneth was very naugthy at the restaurant”. I refrained from telling her she may have learned from the master. Annabelle doesn’t quite get sarcasm yet, so that would have been lost on her.
So, the Curse of The Orchards lives and I have quickly realized that my baby is now on the road to her two’s and means trouble….. 
…She’s just so darn cute, though!