“alive” shows

newsies

We got to spend an evening with Ryan and Reagan while their parents were in Hawaii. We had tickets to see Newsies and luckily were able to add two additional seats. We all had a great time at the show. It wasn’t one of my favorites before, but redeemed itself for me this evening. I really enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for some good tap dancing. 

gator breakfast and little mermaid

Rise and shine – it’s swim team picture time! 
Bright and early this morning the girls the were summoned to the pool for their team picture and and treated to a pancake breakfast. 
It was so very, very sunny! The kids were positioned for the picture at the edge of the pool, facing right into the sun. Oh man, they were not happy and the photo was full of squints. I kinda giggled while snapping a few pictures, but I think I was the only one entertained. 
After the group picture I snapped a few of my girls and their sweet friend Molly. The sun was still pretty brutal reflecting off the water and they were annoyed with me as they watched the line for pancakes starting to form. 
After swimming, Gwyneth went to VBS camp which she has been attending all week. She goes from 9 – 12 am and absolutely loves it. She has been having a blast with her friends and has already said she will be so sad when it ends. 
Annabelle and Molly went to a pasta making camp at the Kitchen and then Gwyneth joined them in the afternoon for a Greatest Showman themed camp. 
We ended the day with a live performance of Little Mermaid at BDT Stage.  B is not a fan of Disney shows, so the girls were thrilled that Yaya was here to go with us. The show was wonderful! The costumes, stage design, and music were all top notch. 
We all started to get a bit sleepy after intermission. The 2nd half was a bit long and we were all so tired after a busy, busy day. We didn’t head home until 10:30 and were all eager to climb into bed.
A big thank you to my mom who helped me drive kids around all day. I was double, triple booked at times and couldn’t be everywhere I needed to be without her!

violent femmes

What a night! 
We received a membership to the Botanic Gardens for Christmas and with that membership came early access to the summer concerts. I was beyond excited to get tickets for B and I to the Violent Femmes. I’ve been a fan for years and years and B actually saw them in Denver when he was 17. Now, 20 + years later I finally got to see them and they were awesome!
We skipped the openers and were  a little worried about finding seats. We find these off to the side which didn’t seem great when sitting down. 
But they were perfect when the show started and everyone stood! 
The show lived up to all my expectations and it was a perfect night out. Annabelle was a bit irritated we went without her. She’s quite a fan herself. 
“My parents went to the concert and all I got was this crummy t-shirt”. 

school of rock

Home at last…and right back in the swing of things!
We received tickets for Christmas to see School of Rock. I liked the movie, but the girls had never seen it. The show was great! It was a lot of fun and the kids performing were pretty remarkable. Everyone was pretty happy with the show and we vowed to watch the movie together at home. 
The show was a matinee and we were all dressed up downtown at dinner time. What to do??? Yes, Mortons! We grabbed dinner in the bar area and it was a pretty perfect day! 

legorado and rockies game

We started summer break off with a trip to the Colorado History museum. We were pretty excited for the exhibit cleverly named LEGOrado. 
We explored the main floor exhibits before heading upstairs. 

There was some pretty cool artwork on the walls for the event. Many of our sports favorites. 

The exhibit definitely had some cool pieces and it was fun to check them out but overwall it was pretty underwhelming.I would feel bad saying that but the clerk at the front desk said the same thing. There was just one big table of displays and then a small area for building your own. It just didn’t meet our expectations. On a positive note, here’s a few of our favorites:

Casa Bonita

It only took us about 20 minutes and we had planned most of our day to spend at the museum. Hmmm….

Lucky for us the “Play Ball” exhibit was still open and it did NOT disappoint. It was awesome! The lighting wasn’t very conducive with picture taking so I didn’t’ snap as many pictures as normal, but there was so much amazing memorabilia! 

After the museum we met friends for pre-game drinks at The Pig and the Sprout. It was our first visit and the food was great. The drinks were even better. I had a bacon bourbon and it was delish!

Our friends, the Geyers, are visiting from Kansas and were attending the Taylor Swift concert tonight. Their twins didn’t want to go so they spent the evening with us at the baseball game. It was their first MLB game so that was pretty exciting.

Frozen yogurt time!

The kiddos became fast friends! They have met before, but it’s been a few years. 

We headed back to the house and the kids played hide and seek and board games until it was finally time for them to get some sleep. The kids slept over and were ready to play again in the morning!

the who’s tommy

We received tickets for Christmas to see The Who’s Tommy.  I was beyond excited for this show. I remember my parents going to see it when I was a kid and I’ve been waiting all these years to see it myself. 
The show was an hour earlier than normal so we were a bit pressed for time. We were able to grab a few appetizers and delicious cocktails at Oceannaire before the show. They really do have the best Old Fashion in town…I fancy myself an Old Fashion connoisseur. 
The theater was small and intimate. The cast and set were wonderful. The music hit a nostalgic nerve for me and was great. The production was well done, but it just wasn’t my favorite show. Maybe I built it up too much? The kid had a creepy Shining-esque quality which freaked me out.  I just didn’t love it but B did and we had a great conversation about it afterwards. Another great night out with that husband.

jurassic park

oh. my. goodness! I was so flippin’ excited for our night out at the Symphony. We watched the movie Jurassic Park while the symphony played the soundtrack. It was AMAZING! I love, love, love Jurassic Park. It is one of my true guilty pleasures. If its on tv when I’m flipping through I HAVE to watch. I LOVE it. Love, love, love! I know it’s cheesy, but it’s fabulous! 
B is not as big of a fan, but he played along with me tonight. He’s a good sport and I don’t even mind that he was laughing at my enthusiasm. It was a perfect night out for just the two of us and I’m so grateful he humors me in such silly things. 

rockies game #2

Two Rockies game in one week….not too shabby!
I joined the girls on their school field trip to Coors Field today. We were bummed that B couldn’t make it too. It was a Wednesday and that is always a super, super busy day at the kitchen for him. 
Our morning kicked off with the Weather and Science day presentations. I gotta be honest here….it was a little weak. They did some cool stuff with liquid nitrogen, but the hot air balloon didn’t rise and all the other experiments were kind of a bust. There were tons and tons of kids there and it was really loud and they were just not grabbing and keeping their attention. About 30 minutes into the presentation we decided to ditch the madness and grab lunch with friends. 

We feasted on stadium food – hot dogs and nachos all around – and then hit the ramps to find our seats for the game. As Annabelle’s teacher said “We’ll see you in the nosebleeds”. We were in fact quite near the top, but the view were outstanding! I love Coors Field and the areas surrounding it. All the surrounding rooftops were filling up for game time. It was a beautiful day, although a bit chilly. Nothing a beer on a rooftop couldn’t help though! 
We joined the girls’ friends and classmates for the game and had a great time. Slowly people started to leave and I waited for the girls to ask to go too. We made it to the end of the game and we were the last ones there from school! It was well worth it as we saw the Rockies pull off a win and the girls declared themselves the Rockies’ good luck charms. 
It was a great day for a baseball game!

rockies game #1

Miss Annabelle had a bit of a rough afternoon. Both girls had dentist appointments, but Annabelle had 2 teeth pulled. She was pretty sore and quite a bit grumpy. We had tickets for the Rockies game tonight and we gave her the option of whether we all go or stay home. We were happy to stay home with her and let her rest, but she wanted to go! That girl is such a trooper

We had dinner at the Denver Chophouse before the game and she feasted on mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. All soft foods and no straws for that girl tonight.

As we ate dinner the rain started but it managed to dry up a bit as we headed over for the game. We were feeling like good luck charms at the game – the Rockies were up by 1 run. We had to leave early since it was a school night and by the time we got home the tide had changed for the Rockies. It was a pretty ugly ending and the Rockies lost 13 to 5.

We purchased a ten game pack for this season so we’re looking forward to many more games!

aladdin

Many, many months ago I received an email with a special offer for Aladdin tickets. The girls had just attended an Aladdin drama camp and were very excited to see the show. B wasn’t as eager. He’s not much of a Disney fan so he opted out for this one.
I jumped at the offer and bought tickets for us girls. And then I kinda forgot about it. 
Month went by and the night was finally here. Before the show we had dinner at Oceannaire which is conveniently located across from the theater. I love this restaurant. The food is delicious and they have $10 valet parking which is valid through out the show. It’s pretty fabulous after the show when you can just walk across the street and your car is waiting for you. No more fighting crowds to get out of the parking garage.

Although the parking is a great deal, I suppose we make up for it with Gwyneth’s love of lobster. That girl has expensive fine dining tastes. She is certainly not timid in her ordering either. “I’ll have the 2 lb lobster please….oh yes, cracked tableside please” Oh my!  

Annabelle is always happy with a bowl of clam chowder. It’s one of her absolute favorite meals.

Off to the show we go…

I didn’t remember what seats we had, I just knew we got a good deal. The girls were beyond thrilled when they sat us in a box. The seats were amazing!

This is the second time now that B has opted out of a show and I absolutely loved it. (the last time was Sound of Music).  I have to say it was one of the best I have ever seen. The songs, dancing, costumes, and sets were all brilliant. We laughed our way through the show. The genie cracked us up! If Aladdin every makes its way back to Denver, we’re going to have to drag B along with us for the encore.