Author: pazmeyer

Beautiful Breckenridge

It was unbelievable – we had a completely quiet weekend with no birthday parties, no playdates, no nothin‘ planned! Whatever were we to do with ourselves??? B and I mulled over our options – the responsible thing to do was to stay home, do laundry, run errands, clean out closets, get some yard/housework done, hit the gym, etc. Now as lovely as that all sounded, we decided to throw our bags in the car and get the heck out of town! We picked the girls up from school Friday afternoon and headed straight to the mountains.

It’s a Meyer-tradition to stop in Idaho Springs on our way up to Breckenridge. It’s about half-way and the girls are usually antsy to get out of the car and are ready for dinner. We love Tommy Knockers Brewery! The girls share a kids meal and B and I share a grilled cheese. It’s such a guilty pleasure! If we start talking about a trip up to Breck, my stomach starts growling for that grilled cheese. Yes, it’s that good!

Annabelle has learned to cheers and loves to clink glasses. She tries to get her sister to do a milk cheers with her, but GG just looks at her like she’s nuts as Annabelle knocks her cup off the table. Fortunately for Annabelle she doesn’t have to look far for a willing participant with a beer in hand.
GG is so easy to take out to eat! She is a great eater and you will rarely hear a peep out of her. She just smiles and plays and gets lots of attention from the wait staff because she fills her cheeks like a little squirrel!! I’m usually terrified she’s going to choke but she doesn’t even gag. She just loads up the cheeks and flashes a big smile! As we pulled into the town of Breckenridge, Annabelle asked “Where did Poppy go?”. We told her Poppy is at home but we’re going to his condo. When we pulled up to the condo, she walked right in (like she owned the place, of course) and said “Poppy’s house” and then walked through the condo calling out “Poppy, where did you go?”. The first night away from home is usually the hardest because the girls are not sure about their new sleeping arrangements. GG went down fairly easily, but Annabelle was not having it. She was ready to play! This is what she looked like about 2 hours past her bedtime…..
We knew the next day was going to be rough, because Annabelle is a bear when she doesn’t get enough sleep. The girls don’t sleep in so we were up bright and early and read to start our day. Lucky for us GG was in a great mood and was all smiles and ready for the adventure! We brought our wagon, loaded the girls up, and headed down to town. These girls don’t even know how good they have it. Colorado is so beautiful. Not a bad way to grow up….
We had a lazy breakfast/coffee on the Starbucks patio and then off to the park. Not a bad backdrop for some swinging. Not bad at all.
We hung out in town, watched the ducks, and then had lunch at Downstairs at Eric’s.

The walk down the mountain is gorgeous and relaxing — the walk back up the mountain is a much different story! It’s a hike and poor B was dragging about 50 lbs with the wagon. We were beat when we finally made it back to the condo. The entire family went down for a nice, long nap. Way better than a weekend of cleaning and errands at home!!

After naps we headed down to Silverthorne and did some shopping at the Outlets. That Robert Meyer can find some deals. I wouldn’t call him cheap (at least not to his face or on my blog where he can read it!) he’s just very frugal. He made a killing at the Ralph Lauren store and got several shirts one of which was originally $65 and he got it for $12. He’ll be bragging about that purchase for years to come!

We had dinner at the Dam Brewery.
Annabelle eating lemons – she loves them just like her cousin Madison.
Sunday morning we packed up and sadly headed back to reality. We are so glad we had the opportunity to spend some time just the 4 of us. The girls are growing up way too fast, so it’s nice to just sit back sometimes and enjoy the scenery!

GG’s 1 year portraits

I know, I know, I know – I’m Gwyneth’s mom so I’m biased but goodness gracious she is one sweet and adorable little girl! Keith picked the Littleton Historic Museum to take GG’s 1 year portraits andd the backdrop was perfect. The old brown barns and bright green leaves were a great contrast to GG’s pink tutu! Again, Keith has given me too many great pictures to choose from and has made it very difficult to pick a favorite. I know I”m lucky and you’re not hearing any complaining coming from me. I think I’ll just have to order one of each. I had to resist posting all the pictures so here are just a sample of some of my favorites:

Just another day at the park

Annabelle and GG were both up way too early this morning. My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and it must have woke them up. Poor little GG was not happy and they called from daycare to say that she was very fussy and were worried she might be getting sick. We knew she was just overly tired, so B took her home and put her down in her own bed and she was good as new after a very long nap.
Each night after dinner we’ve been taking the girls for a nice long walk and to the park. If we stay at home, the girls typically find trouble. Evidence below…
Off for our walk. The wagon is our best friend! The girls love riding in it together although there is usually a struggle over who gets to face forward. I still prefer it for our walks to the double stroller.

There are so many parks in our neighborhood we stop at one usually two for swinging and slides!

Annabelle loves to swing and could swing all day long if we let her. She says “higher, dadda, higher!”. Unfortunately it’s become a bit of an issue when we are leaving the park because she will cry the entire walk home for the swings. I’m reading up and gathering advice on how to handle this. I don’t want leaving the park to be a bad experience and overshadow the fun time we spent there. Annabelle has the best belly laugh when she’s on the swings – I certainly don’t want to take that away from her!
GG likes to swing but doesn’t want to stay in a long as her sister. I think she gets a little motion sick. She starts off laughing and smiling and then the smile fades and she looks a little nauseous. While B pushes Annabelle in the swing, G and I usually just cruise around the park. She is such a little climber. She’s so adventurous…and pretty darn cute too!

paz invites

My friend, Jennifer informed me that baby showers/lunches are called “Sprinkles” rather than “Showers” when they’re for the 2nd pregnancy – cute huh? My younger sister, mom, and I are throwing a Sprinkle Luncheon for my older sister in San Francisco next month. She’s expecting a sister for my niece Maeva, but she’s not a pinky pink kinda girl. I made the invitations and tried to make them modern – chic but not too girly. They didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped but hopefully my sister likes them and they serve the purpose. They are signed, sealed and soon to be delivered. Now I just need to book my ticket to San Francisco for the big event….
I’m co-hosting two baby “Sprinkles” in September, one for my older sister and one for my friend Jess. Now that Stacy’s invites are done time to get started on Jess’. Stay tuned for Round Two.

carlson time

The Carlsons joined us for dinner on Sunday and oh my, Annabelle was excited to see her friend Jack. The doorbell rang and she screamed “Jackie is here!”. She creates quite a welcome for her pals.

The girls were at each other’s throats all day. There was a lot of fighting over toys, pushing and even a few bites from GG. We’re glad the Carlson’s could come over and give our girls a much needed distraction from each other.

After dinner we enjoyed some Boston Creme cake — that’s my absolute favorite donut and it’s just as delicious in cake form! The kids loved it too.

Ben is getting so big. He’s such a cute and happy little guy!
He’s sitting up unassisted now. Yay for Ben!

Jack getting down to business B gave GG a little helping hand with her cake

After dinner the girls were in much need of a bath. They played hard this weekend and were DIRTY! The take-away from Zach’s bday party was “Mr Bubble” so the girls enjoyed their first bubble bath. Ok, GG enjoyed the bath – Annabelle not so much. At first she didn’t like the bubbles, then she decided she liked them and didn’t want to share with GG, and then she decided she didn’t want to get out of the tub. Oh the drama! When the girls were finally in their pj’s, they settled down, read books, and finally played sweet together.
GG is pulling on everything these days and taking lots of steps. Unfortunately this afternoon she got her first walking injury. She pulled a step stool over on herself. She cut her little nose and bruised her cheek. Poor girl! B and I were right there when it happened and although everything seemed to move in slow-motion we couldn’t get to her in time. She was mad!!!! She cried and cried (which is very rare for GG) but she bounced back quickly and was cruising again in no time.

Andooooo

What a wonderful way to spend the weekend. We relaxed all morning and then we had some friends come over and hang out in the evening. Consuelo, Gus, Jess and Don arrived and we were thrilled to see them, but we just don’t show the enthusiasm that Annabelle does when she sees her buds. Andrew arrived with his parents and she said “Andooooooo!” and ran for the door to greet him. Andrew gave her a hug and told her “I love you, Annabelle’. Oh, these little kids!

B treated us to his grilled corn on the cob, hot links, and brauts. Yum! Again, B owns the grill and never disappoints! The girls played hard and we all had a great time. I’m going to miss these relaxing summer evenings when winter rolls around but I’m trying hard not to think about that right now…

GG loves her cozy coupe!
She can spend hours just climbing in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out….

GG getting some extra attention from her pal ConsueloAnnabelle likes to show her teeth

She still loves her ducks!

Here’s Andrew!

Having lots of fun with her friend Andooooo!

baby steps

It’s been a busy, busy week but the weekend is finally here. Phew! We are in much need of some relaxing family time. I had a hectic week at work, B got in a little golf, and GG had her follow-up doctor’s appointment on Friday. She is weighing 22 lbs and her ears are all cleared up. She had to get 3 shots which made her very unhappy but she bounced back quickly.

Friday evening the girls hung out over at their Grandpa and Grandma Meyer’s. They had a blast! B and I went to Brandon and Kelly Also’s to watch the Broncos play some preseason football. It’s always a good time with that gang. We picked the girls up from their grandparent’s house around 10:30 took them home to put them to bed. GG never opened her eyes! She slept through B picking her up from the pack-n-play, the car ride home, and being put in her own bed. I was amazed.

The girls shocked us by sleeping in to 8:30 this morning. That never happens!! The girls and I had a quiet morning playing while B ran errands. At 11:30 they were still in pj’s. Its so rare, but I love lazy days at home with my babies!

Gwyneth took her first steps today!! It all just happens so quickly. She’s been working up the nerve and today she stood and took 3 steps. She stands, take a few steps, and then sits and shows us a huge grin! She’s quite pleased with herself and we’re very proud of our little girl!

We watched Ratatouille while playing with toys
The girls love playing together!

Livin’ the Good Life

It’s all playing and relaxing for the Meyer Girls. The world is their oyster and apparently their dadda is their chauffeur.
Livin‘ the good life.
Miss Annabelle just kicks back and relaxes and lets her dad do all the work.
We met the girls’ daycare buds and their mom at the park in the afternoon. Lance is in the same class as Annabelle and his little sister, Alex, is in the same class as Gwyneth. The girls had a great time swinging and going down the slides. It was really warm so headed back to their house for a little reprieve from the heat before heading back home for dinner. It’s really nice to know folks so close by with kids the same age.
Annabelle was sure to let me know that there was something a little off with Gwyneth’s dinner… Oh thank you for the heads up.
I probably wouldn’t have noticed that giant chicken nugget
dunked in ranch dressing she put on her head. After that there was no question it was time for a bath! After bathtime, we let the girls watch a little Dora. You can see the effect of television on them which is exactly why we try and limit how much they watch. I’m pretty sure this what I look like watching “Entourage”.

Party Aftermath

Annabelle found her bucket of party favors from Jack’s party and went Nemo crazy!! She walked around with the sand pail of favors saying “Jackie’s party”. She covered herself in Nemo stickers! Annabelle has only seen a few minutes of the Nemo movie when we were over at the Carlson’s house, but apparently it stuck and the party favors were a huge hit!

The Nemo themed cake from Jack’s partyAnd on to the favors…” Look mom, no hands!”

A-Town

The girls spent the day at the zoo with their Aunt Chriss and Uncle Paul. They had a blast! We checked in during the day and they were eating pb&j’s, snow cones, cotton candy and each received a toy and candy. Wow – lucky little girls. After the zoo they took their naps and then got dinner and baths at Aunt Chriss’ and Uncle Paul’s.

We met Brandon, Kelly, & Rachel for dinner in Aurora. It had been quite a while since we met up and it was great to see them. I picked up the girls from Aunt Chriss’ and Uncle Paul’s and I’m not sure they were very happy to be heading home with me. They had so much fun and received lots of love! They weren’t ready for their day to end.