summer break

We are officially in summer mode! No more uniforms or homework or bedtimes. Yep, it’s chaos. 
My goal this summer was less hustle, fewer schedules and camps, and more family time. It’s week one and we’re happy. Check back in with us in a few…
Remember those pesky schedules I gave up? Sometimes those are good. We zipped up to Boulder to get my flat tire repaired at the dealership, got a lovely ice cream snack and then I dropped the girls off at dance….an hour early! The holiday weekend got me all out of whack and I thought it was Monday instead of Tuesday and dropped them off for dance an hour early. I’m really winning at this mom thing. 
The girls didn’t care one bit. When they were picked up from dance they laughed and said they got to watch the other class for an hour. No biggie. Oh boy, we sure are starting this summer off with a bang. 

I don’t even….I have no words…

memorial day weekend

We had a weekend full of dance classes and birthday parties, but squeezed in a little time in Boulder and had some friends over for a cookout. 
I picked the girls up from dance and surprised them with a trip to 7-11 for slurpees. I even let them get coke slurpees. I may be setting the bar too high these days. 
Movie night. Malificent, popcorn and cream sodas…and stuffies. Lots of stuffies and snuggles. 

Mountain pie at Beau Jo’s. Yum, yum, yum!
Water balloon fight with friends:

last day of school

The school year ended with a talent show. I was so proud of the girls for signing up and trying out for the show. They did their tap dance and were absolutely fantastic. It took a lot of courage to get up there and perform in front of their peers. I had a blast watching them and everyone else who participated. The show was about 2 hours and then it was time to say goodbye to school friends and say hello to summer! 
Rocking the stage: 
Goodbye 2nd and 3rd grade!
We jumped right into summer.  I don’t think it’s bad to be bored — in fact, I think its quite good. Some of our best moments come from boredom and imagination. 
I like to be busy though and I like to set goals. The girls and I love to create our summer bucket list (although I’m certain it gives the husband a great deal of anxiety). We created our list of places to go and things to do this summer and we got right to it. 
The girls enjoyed the freedom of summer and road bikes and hung out while waiting for their dad to get home from work. 
We took off for the aquarium where we had a snack and explored the exhibits. It was super crowded so I’m glad we snuck this one in early this summer. I’m sure we’ll back though – we have our season passes and these girls are suckers for a mermaid. 

crazy hair day

The last day of 2nd and 3rd grade and this is how I send them off into the world: 

The girls fully embraced crazy, hair day. They did this to themselves (minus the upside down braid in Annabelle’s hair – I may have had a small part in that).

They teased their hair and sure made a mess of it. 
And they absolutely loved it. They thought it was hilarious! 

pink and blue day

The last week of school has arrived! The girls couldn’t be more excited for summer. To keep their interest there seems to something fun planned everyday this week. We’re doing our best to keep up and enjoy the adventure!
Each class picked a color and the girls picked their close. Gwyneth’s class chose Blue and Annabelle’s class chose Pink. 
Annabelle was pink from head to toe
Gwyneth wanted to be “fancy”
Gwyneth’s class wrote books and today they shared them with the class. 
Her teacher planned a little party for the writers and invited all the parents.
Gwyneth was so brave and sweet and gave her book summary to the group. She’s so stinkin’ cute. 
She’s made some great friends at her new school. She has plenty of girl friends but when my camera comes out all the boys seem to gather around her. Oh boy!
Look at that face!
She received the “Skittles” award for her colorful ideas. 
I surprised Annabelle and took her out for lunch. I told her she could go anywhere….anywhere that she wanted. She chose Jack in the Box. I fear we may have failed this child. I don’t know where we went wrong. 

tomahawk camp

Right after Annabelle’s Spring Party, we dropped Gwyneth at the Kitchen with her dad and Annabelle and took off for the mountains. We joined Annabelle’s girl scout troop for a mother daughter weekend at Camp Tomahawk. 
We were one of the firsts to arrive and Annabelle claimed her top bunk. The weekend was full of activities. We hiked, played games, made smores, the girls did crafts, and we visited the barn — although only temporarily for Miss Annabelle. She proclaimed the farm animals were not her thing so we got out of there and explored the camp by ourselves for a bit. 
I really appreciated the time with Annabelle. She is growing up so fast and these moments are precious. She’s adventurous, brave, and funny and I value the time we get together. 
My bunk mate: 
gathered around the campfire:

morning hike:

the moms: 
when the girls get the cameras:

jerky tasting. I believe this was ostrich (bwahahaha!)

Annabelle gave the farm a try, but it was not her thing (in her own words)

while the others hung out on the farm, I got some special Annabelle time. We hiked around and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Craft time: 

checking out the local wildlife:

smores time: 

spring party: 3rd grade

I signed up to help with Annabelle’s spring party. One of the other parents took the reigns and planned everything….and it was fabulous. I arrived a bit early to help set up and brought some bottles of water. And that was it. The other parent did a great job planning food and games and activities. It was a fun party and I just got to enjoy the time with my girl. As the year comes to an end and feel increasingly busy, that’s all a momma can really ask for.
I can hardly believe this one will be in 4th grade. She still seems so little to me. There’s a big, beautiful personality in that little body. 
game time:

school birthday: annabelle

We celebrated Annabelle’s summer birthday with her class today. They are a nutty bunch and it’s always interesting with that crew. Annabelle wanted bomb pops like her sister and her teacher was brilliant to let them have their sugar in the sun and then run around for a bit before the day ended. 
This girl is going to be 9, very soon. Still hard to believe. 

school birthday: gwyneth

Here’s how this went down…
Me:     “Miss G, we are celebrating your birthday with your class this week at school. Would you like me to make cupcakes?” 
G:       “ooooo, how about popsicles?”
Me:      “I can make popsicles, but I can bake a really mean cupcake!”
G:         “what are those popsicles from the store called that are the different colors?”
Me:       “You know, I’ve hosted hundred of cupcake wars parties and made thousands of cupcakes. Some may even call me a professional cupcake maker! I could make chocolate, chocolate with extra chocolate just like the way you like them…”
G:         “Bomb pops! Let’s get bomb pops! My friends will think those are The BOMB!” 
Me:        ” uh ……   “
G:          walks away laughing hysterically at her superb sense of humor. 
Her friend, Dylan loved this picture because he said it looked like he was eating her head. 
That’s a lot of boys around that little girl. 
Yep, her celebration was “The Bomb”. 
My little baker may not appreciate cupcakes, but she sure does like bread. Tonight she made a blueberry loaf. Yum!

spring party: 2nd grade

And so it begins…
The end of the school year is drawing near. There is an event/celebration on the calendar every day until the last day of school. Let the partying begin! 
Today was the 2nd grade spring party. All the classes have their parties on different days which is helpful because I don’t have to split my time between the girls’ classes. 
2nd graders got tattoos, had snacks, got chalk coloring in their hair and did some karaoke. Great party for a great group of kids. 
This was the best picture I could get of them all together.