wizard of oz

Our day started with an American Girl doll tea party at the Kitchen. My gals missed the last one and were so excited to join this time around. We made lots of delicious mini-food and the party was a hit.

Gwyneth invited a few friends to see Wizard of Oz with us at the Candlelight Playhouse. She had grand plans for her friends and found these shoes on sale at Walmart. What a fun little take away!

She was joined by a fabulous group of girls. I couldn’t ask for sweeter friends for her. Annabelle has so much fun with them all as well. My heart is full.

Friends since they were three…

friends since kindergarten…

besties! These two are inseparable.

girl scout friends and neighbors.

sisters!

love those shoes!

The girls were wonderful at the show. So much kindness and their best manners. They had front row seats and a table all to themselves. Living the dream!

All the girls stayed over and were up until about midnight. They started the next day with donuts. Yum!

zoo

The girls are attending Creative Writing Camp for the next two Wednesdays at Blue Sky Creativity. They love writing stories and this camp was right up their alley. They created their journals this week and will finish up their stories next week. I can’t wait to read what they came up with…

After camp, we took a little trip downtown to the zoo. Oh boy, was it hot! We didn’t stay long, but had plenty of time to drink LOTS and LOTS of water, enjoy ice cream, take a train ride, cruise around on the carousel, and oh yeah, see a few animals.

After dinner I pulled out my sewing machine to help a friend with a project. It was just sitting on the table and Gwyneth couldn’t resist. She made a yellow brick road sleeping bag for her American Girl doll. This girl could sew all day. She has even started a “clothes binder” which holds all her drawings of dresses and outfits. I would find the drawings all over the house so I got her a binder and I love to flip through and see all her creations.

My friend, Senecca asked me to help her to turn a pair of pj pants into a pillow. I was quite nervous about this project because the pants belonged to her sister, Ashton who passed away last year at the age of 29. Her other sister is pregnant and she wants to give this pillow to her as a baby shower gift. It’s such a personal gift and my heart swelled helping her to make it. I was so nervous tearing the pants apart for fabric, but we were able to get enough material for the pillow and we even re-used the draw-string waistband for an accent. We spent the night cutting, sewing, drinking wine, and catching up. It was such a lovely time and I couldn’t be happier with how the pillow turned out. I hope her sister loves it!

cinderella

Cinderella joined us for a tea party at the Kitchen. It was quite magical and the girls were all star-struck. Annabelle was feeling a bit too old for princesses, but she got in on the fun and was a really good helper. Gwyneth soaked up the princess time and was all smiles.

After two parties at the Kitchen, we headed downtown to celebrate Gus’ birthday. We had dinner with Gus, Misti, Sheila and Lance at Mellow Mushroom. We sure do love their pizza.

We headed to 1-Up, which is a bar/arcade with lots of old school games including tetris, donkey kong, pac man, ski ball, and much more. We had a blast playing games.

We ended the night with cocktails at the View House. As the name suggests, it’s an upstairs patio with an amazing view of the Denver skyline. What a night of celebration with pretty amazing peeps.

happy birthday, gwyneth

Gwyneth is EIGHT!!

Gwyneth was so excited for her birthday. She kept saying the day before was the longest day of her life. She had grand plans for her birthday and we were thrilled to celebrate with her. Gwyneth is one of the silliest, kindest people I have ever known. She is beautiful from her sweet, sweet smile to her delicate little soul. I’m so grateful to be her mom.

By request we started off the day with gifts. She received so many packages from family and friends in the mail. Such a lucky little lady.

Gwyneth loves breakfast and is quite the little foodie. Her birthday celebration was centered around where we would be dining for each meal. Birthday breakfast at Le Peep:

She had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket so we took a trip to the American Girl doll store.

The girls got their dolls’ hair done, finger nails painted and ears pierced.

Gwyneth paid for it all with her own money. She even bought Annabelle an outfit for her doll. I offered to pay for at least Annabelle’s portion and she wouldn’t have it. She wanted to spend her money treating her and Annabelle that day. I tell ya, this girl is good stuff. She has a heart of gold.

They both left the store with two very pampered dolls (is that even possible??) and a new outfit for their dolls (those giant bags are deceiving).

Birthday Girl

2nd meal request: BBQ ribs with baby dolls

The restaurant across the way has doll chairs and the girls love it.

Our little foodie ordered an appetizer of shrimp cocktail. I love how adventurous she is and is willing to try anything. By the way, she loved the shrimp and is becoming impossibly expensive to dine with.

Still more to do on her birthday agenda. Paint Pottery! She received a gift card for Christmas and has been saving it for a very special occasion.

My favorite picture of the day:

She wanted spaghetti from Ragazzi’s for dinner. Monday night is all you can eat spaghetti. They have delicious homemade noodles and bread. This girl knows her food. After a very full day, we finally made it home for some cupcakes and snuggles!

Happy, happy birthday to this fabulous eight year old!

among the pines

This week was all about Girl Scout camp for the girls. They attended Among the Pines camp which was a five day camp that included a sleepover on Thursday night. Annabelle attended last year and loved the adventure. Gwyneth was old enough to join her this year too and couldn’t wait. They were both so excited.

They came home very tired each night so we didn’t plan much for our evenings. We did manage to escape for some ice cream Tuesday night.

My little ladies were joined by a great group of girls. Annabelle was in a group of her own for fourth graders and I am so proud of her for being brave and making new friends. The rest of the girls were in a group of 3rd graders and all the moms took turns car pooling. My days to pick up were Wednesday and Friday. The Wednesday drive home was happiness. The girls were tired, but were all giggles and camp songs the entire ride.

The Fridayafternoon ride was a little different story. There were some tears and a little sleep and the girls were so exhausted from their camp out the night before. They were all very kind to each other, but these girls just wanted to see their mommas after a long few days of camp and my Gwyneth really needed sleep. Annabelle was doing just fine. She is our little night owl and was still all smiles and singing on the way home. Even with the exhaustion, the girls had so much fun and can’t wait to go back again next year.

Snaps from the sleepover on Thursday:

So many crafts from camp:

Friday night we had dinner with the Conleys and I held baby Kyla for a few hours. That’s what I do. I’m a bit of a baby hog. We stayed at a local hotel for a mini staycation and the girls were able to swim for a while. Friday night the pool was quite crowded and G was so tired from camp, but Saturday morning they had the pool all to themselves.

We have been in a little family cocoon this summer, spending a lot of time together. The girls attended a roller skating party for Ellie, Gwyneth’s classmate, Saturday afternoon. It was really nice to see so many school friends and families. We’ve missed them this summer.

This girl loves to roller skate especially on these old wood floors.

Annabelle talked us into giving Gwyneth an early birthday gift. I’m usually pretty good about waiting but these girls wore me down. Annabelle picked it out…

and Gwyneth loved it!!

We wrapped up a busy weekend seeing Footloose at BDT Stage. It was a little more PG-13 than we had realized (oops!) but I’m hopeful most of that went over the girls’ heads. They liked the music and the dancing and thought it was quite silly that it would be illegal to dance. We also told the theater that Gwyneth’s birthday was tomorrow and she received a shout out which made her day.

cake boss: annabelle style

Annabelle is our best saleswoman for Blue Mountain Kitchen. She is always so proud of the Kitchen and tells everyone she knows to come on in and give us a try. She’s an amazing helper also. She does dishes, bakes, cleans, and I’m certain she could run most of the classes and parties on her own already.

She asked to host a Cake Boss party at the Kitchen for her friends and we couldn’t refuse. We found an open evening a bit after her birthday and let her schedule her event. She came up with the ideas for the cakes and was so helpful to everyone she invited.

I have to admit: I find this age challenging. Nine. Wow. She’s not a baby anymore, but is she really a tween? (As the urban dictionary describes it – “ages 9 – 14… too old for toys, too young for boys”. My heart just died a little right there) She’s changing so much, testing us, and emotional. So, so emotional. She’s also pretty darn amazing and we have great conversations and she’s very passionate and opinionated.

Just as we are starting to figure this whole nine year old thing out, we got a whole Kitchen full of nine year olds. Her friends all came for her party and they are tweens (I enjoy this new label for her and her crew). They are all changing so much and are a bit goofy. They are trying to be mature, maybe a little too mature at times, but they still have those great giggles and can still be silly. They hug and laugh and they are all starting to be a bit more insecure and they hang on to each other a little more. I’m glad she has some dear friends that she has known for ages and made some new friends from her new school. She’s fiercely independent, but also a really, really great friend. Nine is an interesting new age and I sure do love her.

We made little treat bags for her friends. The bags included a spatula, chocolate chip muffin mix and a birthday cake sucker.

Ready to party

Our cake boss:

I couldn’t take pictures during the party because these kiddos kept me on my toes. I did get manage to get a few of Annabelle with each group and their cakes.

Annabelle’s crew. Four gals, four different schools, but the sweetest of friends. I really enjoy these ladies. She has known them for years and they have great families and are good friends to her. My only sadness is that Olivia lives so far away – only about 25 minutes or so but they almost bought the house right next to us. Could you imagine??? Even with the distance, they fall right back in step together and I just couldn’t be happier. We try and get them together as much as possible over the summer.

The girls made a Harry Styles/One Direction cake. Annabelle’s cousin, Madison would be so proud.

Annabelle and the boys. They made a Denver Nuggets cake! Nat is from school and Rhys and Wyatt are her camping partners in crime.

The beach, swimming team. Annabelle’s friends from school and girl scouts. She was so happy to see these gals.

The emoji cake. Yes, that’s a big poo emoji right in the middle of that cake. I just couldn’t be more proud.

The emoji cake was the winner. Of course, what kid isn’t going to vote for a poo emoji?

Singing happy birthday to this creative, organized, fantastic 9 year old.

Kyla came for the party too and Annabelle just couldn’t have been happier to hold her. She waited all night to ask and then didn’t want to put her down. She could hold Miss Kyla all day long.

Gwyneth and Bella showed up with matching braids. Great minds…

secret life of pets

We had a girl night at the movies tonight. I picked up Bella and we had dinner at Red Robin and then went to see The Secret Life of Pets. B met friends for a beer, which was good because he would not have enjoyed this film. I thought it was cute and loved the Snowball character voiced by Kevin Hart. The girls all loved it and had a blast together. All giggles and happiness.

It’s a rough, rough life I tell ya!

Hard to believe these girlies have known each other for almost 8 years.

sprinklers

We had a very quiet weekend. Gwyneth woke up Friday morning throwing up and with a fever. She spent the entire day in bed. Poor G.

Saturday was a beautiful day, quite hot and Annabelle requested a run through the sprinkler. Gwyneth couldn’t help herself and joined in also. The rest of the weekend was spent in pj’s, watching movies and doing crafts. We don’t have many weekends like this, but it was relaxing and just what Gwyneth needed to feel better.

into the woods

Off to the theater!

Annabelle invited her friends Olivia, Sofia, and Makayla and Gwyneth invited Ella to join us for a night of Into the Woods. The show was at the Candlelight dinner theater which is fun, but not my favorite. The girls love it though. They enjoy the food and the ice cream and being able to sit in the very front row.

Annabelle is nine and finding her independence. We booked two tables next to each other and Annabelle and her friends got their own table. She informed me that was “very, very cool”.

The first half of the show was great, but the second was a bit long. I didn’t love this show, but the girls really enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed the company.

Annabelle and I put together little favors for her friends:

Oh my Gwyneth is going through quite the growth spurt. Her and her friend Ella are just too stinkin’ cute together.

Annabelle and her girls

Waiting for the show to start:

Ready for dinner:

Ice Cream time:

independence day…and beyond

I’m a midwest gal and grew up on marshmellowy, fruit salad goodness. The girls like to ask about my childhood and this fruit salad my mom makes came to mind. We went to the grocery store and got the ingredients and it was a fabulous blast from the past.

We were ~~impatiently~~ eagerly awaiting our friends’ arrival for the weekend so we went to look at houses (more on that later, maybe) and then stopped in for a snack and beverage at Lazy Dog. B ordered the star spangled margarita and took one sip of that syrupy sweet treat. It looked pretty!

Finally, our friend arrived from Missouri! We were so excited to see them. We were able to visit, have dinner at our house and then head downtown to see the Lacrosse game. I’m not a huge fan of lacrosse, but they have the most amazing firework show after the game. We joined our friends The Tylers, Gus, and Misti for a fun evening. I can’t take my camera in to the game and I’m not good about taking pictures with my phone so I was only able to capture a few…

First time trying cotton candy. Now, that’s a vacation!

The next day we grabbed lunch at Oscar Blues and the girls were so sad to say goodbye to Felix. They had such a fun visit. It was great to catch up with our friends, Erica and Curtis too and I hope that we will be able to get out to visit them much sooner than later!

The rest of our day was filled with friends. I had hoped to get some work done but the girls each had a friend over and the house was filled with fun and laughter which is the absolute best kind of distraction.

Annabelle has been asking to hang out with her friend Olivia all summer and were were finally able to make it work. These two fall right back into their friendship even after spending so much time apart. I adore them!

Gwyneth and Ella. Such sweet little souls.

They talked me into a trip to the pool. I’m a sucker for these girls. There’s no doubt about that.

Gwyneth and Ella switched up their bathing suits. They had us cracking up and were quite pleased with themselves.