take your daughter to work day

Gwyneth had an appointment with specialists again this morning (more to come on that later). My manager is on vacation at my Aurora studio so I had to cover the afternoon there. I didn’t have time to take her back to school and get back to work on-time so Miss G joined me for the afternoon. I always have momma guilt when stuff like this happens, but she loved it. 
She got to pick lunch and asked for Chinese food. I don’t know many places in Aurora anymore, but we settled on PF Changs. 
This girl loves Chinese food! 
Feeling optimistic about our fortunes. 
I told Gwyneth she could paint, but she got right to work. She unloaded inventory for me.
She input customer orders in the point of sale. 
She checked on customers and changed out water bowls. 
This girls is amazing! I found my next store manager. 

zoo edventure

It was a beautiful day at the zoo!
The girls had a field trip for school today and I volunteered to chaperone. It turned out to be quite a warm day. It really doesn’t feel like fall around here yet. I’m ready for sweaters and boots! The sunshine was lovely for a walk around the zoo though.
Giraffes are always the first stop and we met up with a big group of their friends there. 
They had an assignment that involved animal names and they snapped a few pictures on their phones to study when we got home. 
The sun was bright!
Ran into more friends
It was so great to spend time with these wonderful little ladies. 
It wouldn’t be a trip to the zoo without a cold, sweet treat. 
I sure do love these little ladies!

broncos vs chiefs

The girls were rather bummed that they couldn’t join us for Monday Night Football tonight. We were worried about school the next morning and getting home too late. Our friends, the Billeras joined us for a fun night at Mile High. The game was a blast with great friends and the only bummer was that the Broncos didn’t pull off the win. 

corn maze and pumpkin patch

I do not love Halloween. I like fall and pumpkins and sweaters, but I am not a fan of Halloween. I hate to be scared. I’m a big chicken! 
We joined Gwyneth’s girl scout troop at the pumpkin patch for an adventure through the corn mazes. This was a big leap for me because I have a ton of anxiety about corn mazes. Annabelle wasn’t super eager to go either. We got over our nerves and we did it! It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t the worst either. 
I really did enjoy our time in the pumpkin patch though and we got some great pumpkins to transform into jack-o-lanterns. 

health fair and mamma mia

Our family volunteered at the 9Health Fair and we had to be there bright and early. B left the house at 4:30 and the girls and I left around 6:30. B provided breakfast for all the volunteers and worked the check out table. I was tasked with form checking. 
Annabelle was a greeter at the front door. 
Gwyneth ran the kids table
These kids did a great job. I was really proud of them. 
It was a cold, early morning and as soon as we got home G jammed up. 
After a restful afternoon we went to the Arvada Center to see Mamma Mia. The girls are hooked on these movies right now. They loved the show! 

rockies vs philly

We only have two Rockies games left in our 10 game pack. Our plan was a little September heavy, but it’s turned out to be a blessing since the Rockies are playing so great this time of year. 
The girls both have dance on Monday nights. Gwyneth is done at 6 pm, but Annabelle dances until 8:30. We tried to talk her into skipping class, but Tap is her favorite so she was not interested in missing it. 
B was super nice and offered to run the girls around all night and let me take a friend to the game. Lisa met me downtown and we had a great time! The Rockies were a blast to watch. We stuck it out to the end and the Rockies won big. As they entered the final inning the skies opened up and it started pouring rain. All the fans started running for the exits. It was pretty funny to watch — it was just a little rain!
I took a Lyft downtown because I didn’t want to mess with parking. After the game, the Lyft spiked up to $77 — what a rip off! I walked Lisa over to her car and then walked to Mortons. I had a beer in the bar for $3 and waited a half hour. The price dropped $50 and it was so easy to get home. Crazy!

vra photo shoot

I was asked to do a photo shoot at the girls’ school for some upcoming marketing materials. They are redoing their website and brochures and asked me to take the pictures. I felt pretty honored because I really do love taking pictures. It is one of my absolute favorite hobbies and although I’m still pretty insecure about my abilities I love it and I get really excited when people ask me for pictures. 
I took tons of pictures and won’t share many of them because they are of other people’s kids. I did manage to embarrass my children in front of their friends so I feel the day was a success. 

mri | take two

Gwyneth and I had to be at Children’s hospital this morning at 8:15 am. After seeing the specialist a few weeks ago they requested a second round of testing. 
The hospital was so quiet. I was surprised that they scheduled us for a Sunday morning but we were happy to have the peace and quiet and I was glad Gwyneth didn’t have to miss school. 
Gwyneth had a really tough time today. She had a bad reaction to the dye in her IV. She started crying and then had a difficult time laying still for the MRI. She was pretty upset and it was a long couple of hours getting through the tests. My heart was breaking for her. She’s a tough girl and I hate watching her go through this.
We made it home in time for the 2nd half of the Broncos game. I ended up falling asleep on the couch for about 45 minutes…I can’t remember the last time I took a nap! It was an emotional day and the rest was needed. We told Gwyneth she could have anything she wanted for dinner. She requested “cook on the table”and everyone happily obliged. Anything to brighten this girl’s day. 

symphony | sinatra and fitzgerald tribute

B and I had a wonderful night at the symphony. We started our evening at Corinne’s which is not far at all from the theater. The restaurant was across the street from the Convention center which was hosting the Great American Beer Fest. There were crazy drunk people everywhere! We escaped the madness in the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. We shared buffalo cauliflower, salmon and a portabello mushroom sandwich. So, so good. I would highly recommend this place. 

We definitely brought the average age of the crowd down a few decades at the symphony.  B and I both truly loved the show. The music was amazing and I adore the symphony. We purchased season tickets and have many more trips – date nights and family nights – ahead of us! 

juniors gardener badge

Gwyneth and I joined her girl scout troop for a day at the Botanic Gardens. It was a beautiful, warm, Colorado day! The girls had to complete a booklet of activities in order to earn their gardeners badge. It took them several hours to complete all their tasks, but they were all really into it and they had a great time.