aquarium

Our to-do list for Lily’s visit was long! This morning we checked off another adventure by visiting the aquarium.

We had lunch with the mermaids at the aquarium restaurant. We haven’t been in ages and it brought back such wonderful memories of my gals when they were little and loved to see those mermaids.

Lily ordered a slushy the size of her head in the ridiculous Sharkey bottle because she’s with her aunt and that’s what aunts do.

Mermaid time

After lunch the girls messed around in the Sharkey Fun Zone. It was really silly and Annabelle was in rare form. She was cracking me up! She was jumping around and creating quite a commotion…and the other kids there thought it was riot. I was sad to leave because this girl had me in stitches.

breakfast with santa

We opted for a new breakfast with Santa this year. We usually head to the aquarium, but gave the Hard Rock Cafe a try this season. It seemed a bit more mature, at least from the advertisements.

There were still lots of little kids there and since it was their first attempt the event wasn’t super crowded. Annabelle was a little weary, or perhaps it was just visiting Santa for a 10 year old. Gwyneth was as giddy as ever.

Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by our table before story time.

Our table was upstairs but we had a great view of story time from the balcony. The girls headed downstairs, but B and I took in the views from above.

I love that these girls humored me and sat on Santa’s lap.

Annabelle asked for a laptop. Gwyneth asked for money. Oh my! When asked how much money, she replied “it doesn’t matter. I just like to save”. What a character.

It was really quite cold this morning, a stark contrast to our previous adventure downtown. The carousel was right outside the restaurant entrance and they gave us a hand full of passes when we left.

Looking a little chilly on their ride.

Those faces had me cracking up

A pretty, but cold Colorado morning.

We made our way down South and filled our commute with many stops meetings friends and having lots of fun along the way. We were able to meet Don and Lisa at Parkway for a quick snack.(the food wasn’t fab at the Hard Rock Cafe and everyone was a bit hungry. Let’s be honest though, we are high maintenance when it comes to buffets.)

Don is the photographer but I never seem to get any pictures of the adults when we are together. It was so great to see the Hales’ before the holidays and of course we managed to make a little plan for Lisa’s birthday which is in just a few short weeks. I can hardly wait!

Next stop was the Boondocks in Parker. We met up with Gus’ crew and the kids bowled and played games while the adults had a brew and caught up.

We finally arrived in Highlands Ranch to celebrate Christmas with the Meyer family. B’s sister, Jen hosted and the kids were all happy to be together. We had dinner and opened gifts and had a lovely time.

Phew what a day! It was a whirlwind of celebrations.

take your daughter to play

Today was take your daughter to work day.

Let’s be honest here. Everyday at our house is take your daughter to work day. They spend countless hours at the kitchen with B or at the paint studio with me. They spent a great deal of their spring break in my kiln room (proof of that here) and they can expect a lot more where that comes from this summer.

Last night while the girls were getting ready for bed B and I talked about what we had going on the next day at work and who should go with who and how everyday they watch and learn about taxes, scheduling, supply ordering and inventory, deliveries, revenue, costs, budgeting, cash flow projections and on and on and on. This is their every day.

We quickly declared today to be TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO PLAY DAY.

I made arrangements to have the studio covered for the day and we gave them the option to pick whatever they wanted to do. They were so excited! They asked to go for Jamba Juice and then play at the Children’s Museum. I agreed to all of the above. I also stressed that since we were playing hookey today they had to bank this work day for the summer when I needed their patience and help when my business was hectic and the days felt too short. They agreed. We shook on it.

Off for our adventure. 1st stop: Jamba Juice

We pulled up to the Children’s Museum to find a few buses and a very full parking lot. I’m not one for a crowd. Without prompting the girls asked if we could explore the aquarium and have lunch there while the crowds hopefully died down at the museum. Fabulous idea!

We had perfect timing at the aquarium. We were sat at a table right by the tank and as we finished up our lunch the mermaid show started.

The girls used their allowance to buy these stuffed seals (seals right? I’m not sure about all these stuffed animals)

We headed over to the Children’s Museum and again the timing was perfect. The buses cleared out and it seems the younger kiddos were heading home to nap. The girls were able to explore everything!

Snack time

After checking out the exhibits inside we headed outside. There is so much to do and I should have allotted more time for it.

They could have spent hours on the zip line and with no one else in line they got to take plenty of turns.

I told them it was time to wrap it up and head home. How could I say no to just a few more minutes?

This is definitely the way to spend a day!

Love this!

We took a little rest on the chair lift before heading out.

Oh and then had to stop at the park on the way to the car before truly heading home.

It was such a great day. I hope when we are feeling overworked and overtired and over-scheduled this summer we will remember this peaceful play day we had together.

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.