chef

minneapolis

We used the girls’ fall break to visit B’s sister, Christi. Christi and her family live in Northern Wisconsin, in a very small town (8,000 people) so we had to get creative on our travel out there. We flew to Minneapolis and spent the night at the Mall of American before heading out on the next leg of our journey. We had never been to Minnesota and we’re always up for an adventure so here we go…
We got to the airport early and had a lovely lunch at Root Down. 
American Girl dolls joined us for our journey:
Oh, these two:
I’m always the one behind the camera but trying to be better about that: 
We arrived to Minneapolis just in time to grab a quick snack at our hotel…
…and then off toNickelodeon Universe in the Mall. 
That is one crazy mall and we are not big shoppers, but the indoor amusement park was pretty great. It was a Thursday night and we had the place nearly to ourselves. We rode all the rides and never had to wait in line. 
And off they go: 
hilarious!
Annabelle is our thrill seeker. She loves all the rides. Gwyneth not so much. This was the ride that did her in. We went as a family and she hated it. She was tough though and didn’t cry, but I think she really wanted to. After this we split up. B and I each took turns going on roller coasters with Annabelle and then some of the more gently, swing kind of rides with Gwyneth. 
This is more up Gwyneth’s alley…
We took advantage of the after 5 deal at the park and stayed until closing time. We rode all the rides and had a blast! 
The next morning we packed up our rental car and went for lunch in downtown Minneapolis. We received a great recommendation for Hell’s Kitchen. The food was delicious and we got our first sampling of cheese curds (the first of many on our trip). 
I enjoyed Minneapolis. I loved all the walkaways connecting the buildings so you don’t freeze in the winter. It was a very fun first stop on our trip. 

renaissance fair

We took our yearly trip down to Larkspur to visit the Renaissance Festival. We almost missed it this year, but made it the very last day of the fair. The girls love it. They still look forward to seeing the fairies, the rides and all the food. 
We stay a few hours and I get my fill. The people watching is always quite interesting.   This year we got lucky with cooler weather which was glorious (about 20 degrees cooler than normal!). 
Off to the fair
getting a toe ring. 
her tiara and princess license

golden, colorado

Our friend, Dan, came to visit from Phoenix. We have been friends since Freshman year in college and what a treat to get our kiddos together. They were all staying with his dad, but we got to sneak in some time and met up in Golden. We had lunch at Table Mountain Inn which is absolutely delicious and it was so great to catch up with Dan. 
After lunch we went on the short tour of the Coors Brewery. My gals have been asking to go but when we got there all the kiddos held their noses from the smell of the hops. We decided the short tour was better than the long tour (and saved ourselves about 1 1/2 hours). The kids enjoyed root beers and we got to sip on free beers. It was a fun afternoon and we’re so glad we got the opportunity to meet up. 

georgetown loop

We woke up bright and early to a beautiful, sunny Colorado morning. Everyone was slightly tired; we woke up a few times from the thunderstorms overnight. We were happy to be warm and dry and ready for a new day. 
These girls don’t look sad, huh?
We wished we could stay just a little bit longer, but we packed up our gear and called our first camping trip a success. We learned a lot this trip and we know we’ll be planning a lot more trips. Look out Colorado!
On our way down the hill we stopped in Georgetown to take the train ride. We took Annabelle when she was a tiny baby, but this was a first for Gwyneth and honestly a first for Annabelle since she doesn’t really remember her previous ride. 
Again, spectacular Colorado views. 
Annabelle has developed a fear of heights, but luckily she had her dad to hang on to. 
Heading over Devil’s Gate Bridge
Annabelle was not loving that bridge
Gwyneth’s photog skills:
Annabelle’s photog skills:
We stopped in Idaho Springs for lunch and then drove the rest of the way down the mountain. I love these Colorado experiences and I feel so lucky to live in this beautiful place with this great family of mine. 

camping in frisco

I baked and frosted 1,150 cupcakes!
It was a crazy-big order for a Jeep Jamboree in Empire, Colorado. It took me two days and I had a bit of a hook-hand from piping, but I did it! I tried to get it all done in one day, but after many hours and still about 150 more cupcakes left to frost I just couldn’t. I had tears in my eyes (quite dramatic) and my hand was aching from frosting and B convinced me to just finish it up the next day. He’s a good one, because the next morning I was fully charged and cranked them out in no time. 
We drove up to Empire to deliver the cupcakes and I have never seen so many Jeeps. It was pretty cool. It was raining and overcast and those Jeeps were muddy! We swung in and delivered those cupcakes and I was so relieved and ready to relax. 

We drove the rest of the way up to Frisco for our first tent camping adventure. We could only stay one night but we wanted to give it a try. It’s a lot of work for one night, but it was amazing!! The views were spectacular, our camp site was gorgeous, and we were all eager to enjoy this new experience.

We had a few set backs, the biggest being the downpours that happened. We knew the forecast called for rain but we were optimistic. We were not quite so lucky and it poured on us. A few times. The sun would pop out of the clouds and tease us and then it would start raining again. We are now certain our tent is waterproof and we can withstand the cold, wind and rain. It’s probably not the most ideal weather for a camping trip, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It was a night for the books and I’ll never forget it.

How’s that for a view? 
My goodness, Colorado is a little bit of heaven. 
Our “villa”. 

Our tent is roomy (slight understatement) which came in handy when we were all waiting out the storm inside together. I think it may be a bit obnoxious, but it’s easy up and easy down and has plenty of room. I see this picture and can’t wait to get back in the mountains in this thing.

We were just a 5 – 10 minute drive from Frisco but it felt like we were miles and miles away. It was so peaceful .

Mountain life does her well. 
Even the girl with California aspirations can enjoy this life. 
This is my happy place!
After the first of the rain storms passed we came out of our tent to find these views:
Gwyneth said her favorite part was being so high in the mountains we could touch the clouds. 
Yes! Yes, indeed! 
We got a fire going and made smores. We explored and we sat and we ate up the view. 

While B and Annabelle worked on the fire Gwyneth and I explored some more: 

Happy, happy place!
In case it’s not obvious, I’m hooked on camping which I never would have expected in my wildest dreams. 

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.

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.

Swimming with the mermaids…as one does! 

cooking, cornhole and camping

We hosted a little cooks and books party at the Kitchen called Seussical Cooking. We read lots of Seuss stories and made whimsical snacks. We had a great turn out and all the kids did a great job. It was a busy catering day also the Kitchen was hopping. 

On Saturday morning we hosted a cookie decorating event which is a lovely time for parents to drop off the kiddos for two hours and have a nice break over the long weekend. They decorated LOTS of cookies, we ate pizza and played games. Smashing success.

The girls were so happy to see their friend Clara. We haven’t been able to meet up over this hectic summer so they were thrilled to have the time with her.

We went to a BBQ and cornhole tournament on Saturday afternoon. There were 19 teams and it was an absolute blast. B was pretty good and I was absolutely terrible. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t trade me in for a better partner next year (he really should, except I’m so much fun!).

There was tons of food and drinks. It was a great shin ding. There were rows and rows of coolers. I checked them out and told the girls the front row was for kids (non-alcoholic) and they could help themselves. I turned around to find this…

uh, no! no, no, no! like this girl needs a mountain freakin’ dew!
She found this instead. I don’t know what to do with her…
Let the tourney begin.
What’s wrong with our faces?
Having fun with Mona and Missi

The girls have been begging, so we set up our tent in the basement. We wanted to have a backyard camp out but the pesky dogs next door and the haphazard fireworks being shot off around our neighborhood were not a winning combination. We set up the basement campout and we had some very, very happy girls. This tent may or not be the size of my first apartment…

annabelle is nine

Annabelle is nine! 
We celebrated the beginning of her last year of single digits today. How is that even possible? Time really does seem to fly when you are having fun. 
She received the new American Girl doll, Lea from my mom. Yaya knows just what to get these gals!
Annabelle does not like breakfast so she requested a smoothie from Jamba Juice instead. 
We wanted to check out a new water park for her birthday and found the Brighton Oasis Water Park. It had great water slides, a lazy river, wave pool, rock climbing wall and water basketball. The girls did the water slides a few times but wanted to spend most of their day in the lazy river which is my favorite part too. 
It was an interesting park, cheap admission, a bit crowded (I would recommend getting there early), but the perfect day for our birthday girl. She was all smiles and splashes!
We headed home to clean up and told this girl she could have anything at all that she wanted for dinner. She requested Dave and Busters and a Dr Pepper (is she like her YaYa or what?). We shared a few snacks and meals, because let’s be honest we’re not there for the fine cuisine. We are here to play some games! The girls are always super lucky and hit jackpots and score tons of tickets. 
Enjoying her birthday Dr Pepper: 
B and the Birthday Girl!
Me and the G:
We told the waiter it was her birthday and she got this whipped cream, brownie monstrosity that she happily shared: 
Deciding on the perfect birthday wish:
Playing games and hitting the 1,000 ticket bonus:
Annabelle shared the secret and Gwyneth hit the bonus too!
They combined their tickets and got walkie talkies to share. Annabelle got an emoji pillow and Gwyneth got three little Shopkins stuffies. I love that they share tickets, they get what they want, and don’t worry about “fair” or how many points the other spends. They are good sisters. 
Annabelle had requested lemon blueberry cupcakes so of course, I made them and even though we were all full from the dessert at dinner we had to sing Happy Birthday to this girl and let her make one last birthday wish. 
We had a lovely day and I couldn’t be more grateful for our family time and this sweet girl. 
Happy, happy birthday Annabelle!

jellystone

I don’t particularly enjoy my birthday…especially now that I’m getting even closer to 40. It doesn’t really bother me that I’m getting older. Not everyone gets to age, so in fact I appreciate it. I just don’t really need to celebrate it. 
I am very appreciative of this little family of mine and I was glad we got to spend the weekend together. We booked a cabin at Jellystone Park in Estes Park. We headed up for some “glamping” with friends for the weekend. 
Our first stop was for lunch at Oscar Blues in Lyons. We enjoyed their microbrews, root beers, and fried green tomatoes. 
Then we checked in to our cabin for the weekend. We reserved one of the last spots and there were only two cabins left. One for us; one for Gus and Misti. Our cabin was in a great location, right in the heart of the camp grounds and overlooking the pool. It was one room with a bathroom, a full size bed and a bunk bed.  It was charming and cozy and our weekend was off to a great start.
We indulged ourselves and rented a golf cart for the weekend. The one downside was that we didn’t hike as much as we had planned, but we spent the weekend zipping around the camp. It was the girls’ favorite part! We cruised around and talked and it created a lot of special one on one moments with my ladies and special memories. 
Our cabin had a deck with a picnic table and a spectacular view. You just have to love Colorado. There is no better place.
Our camping crew, minus Misti who seemed to have wondered off just when were taking the picture. I tell ya, it’s like herding cats. 
The Tyler’s
Gus and Misti and our little rascals
The chefs for the weekend. 
B prepared a delicious feast for Friday night of ribs, beans, and coleslaw and Sheila made dinner Saturday night with burgers and hot dogs. Yum! We were all feeling quite spoiled. 
This little face…
Annabelle ran off with the boys to explore. Gwyneth stuck around for a bit to give me extra birthday hugs. 
Sheila had the most delicious carrot cake made for my birthday. It was perfection! I do love me some carrot cake. This cake pleased our sweet tooth the entire weekend. 
Now, that’s a cake!
Smores by the campfire with great friends. What a birthday!
The next morning we enjoyed the french toast breakfast provided by the campgrounds. You know Gwyneth liked that! 
Then the girls panned for minerals
Then they went for a dip in the pool
Those would be Annabelle’s legs. She’s the queen of the pool handstand. 
Annabelle showing off her mad skillz. She’s mastered the cannonball and is now working on some fancy twists and turns. With this beautiful backdrop, I could have sat and watched her jump all day! 
Then it was time to paint pottery
Then it was time for cotton candy
Then they went on a tractor ride with Yogi Bear
There were more treats and visits to the arcade and then more treats and more time playing with friends. Our kids fell in love with Jellystone Park! 
Our adorable little cabin. 

Unfortunately B got quite sick the last night of our trip. He missed the final campfire and smores and went straight to bed. He was sick most of the night and took the rest of the weekend to recover. Luckily no one else got the bug, but we are sad that he missed the last night of shenanigans. That only means we have to head back up again sooner than later…

Goodbye Jellystone. It was a blast!