chef

los angeles

We left Palm Springs bright and early to head for LA. It’s a good thing we did because there was tons of traffic (of course!) when we hit the city. 
We purchased tickets to the Warner Brothers Studio tour. I think the girls were pretty indifferent at first but once we got into it they were pretty impressed. 
Where they filmed Jurassic Park. You know I was out of mind on this one! 
B and I are big fans of Shameless so the set for Patsy’s Pies was a hit for us. 
The stage for Friends
Batmobile
Joker’s car
Game of thrones
We toured the set shop and B pointed out the vast selection of bongs on the wall. Ha!
Central Perk from Friends
Screenwriting exhbit
Set of Friends
The tour was great and took almost 3 hours. We hopped back in the car and headed to Grauman’s Chinese Theater. It was so, so crowded so we didn’t last very long but I’m glad the girls go to see it. 
Annabelle was pretty excited for the La La Land foot prints.
Jimmy Kimmel was filming across the street. 
Gwyneth found a few stars that she really liked.
Found another Gwyneth and was thrilled! 
Again, we hopped back in the car and were ready to embrace LA traffic. Man, I really forgot about how bad that is! It was worth it get back to our beloved Redondo Beach.

final palm springs day

It was another beautiful day in Palm Springs. We lounged by the pool all day. We played lime putting and I sunk a hole in one! I earned us BOGO margaritas. Just what we needed! 🙂
We swam, we relaxed, we hung out with friends and had a truly wonderful day! I’m so, so grateful for this time we had and hope we will plan another trip together soon. 

palm springs | tie dye and build a buddy

Gwyneth and I got up early and went to the archery class at the hotel. It was just the two of us which was really fun and it was early enough that the heat had not fully hit yet. 

Lots of fun with my little lady!

Then it was back to the pool. 
We splurged and got rafts for the girls too so we’d have more pool toys to play with. They were all lots of fun and provided hours of entertainment. 
We had the pool to ourselves most of our visit. It was wonderful!
Gwyneth and Sarah took a break in the afternoon to make tie dye shirts. 
silly girls!
the view from the pool. We fell in love with all those palm trees. 
the shirts turned out great! 
Annabelle took a little break for lunch. The heat was a lot to take but she kept on laughing…
After even more swimming, all the girls took a break to build a buddy. Those suckers were fully stuffed! 
We had dinner at Las Casuelas  and it may have been my favorite the entire trip. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals and fancy drinks. It was a great choice!
So thankful to Connie and Mitch for such a fun vacation. 
I sure do like this guy.
The whole crew!
After dinner we headed back to the hotel for an attempt at the escape room. The girls were really eager to find clues. We found all the clues and keys and managed to escape!

welcome to palm springs

Our dear friends, the Tendlers, invited us to join them for a vacation in Palm Springs. What a treat! We were so excited to get away and looked forward to time with friends. 
Here we go….
We arrived just in time for dinner and the Tendlers picked out a great Mexican restaurant for us. We met at Los Arcos and felt like vacation was officially underway! After dinner we hit the pool and I don’t think the girls dried off for 4 days straight!
The three girls played beautifully together the entire trip. I was so grateful for that and it made for the most relaxing trip. Connie and Mitch are super relaxed and have the same love of dining out that we do so we all meshed easily. 

2018 summer bucket list

We are back at it again this summer! This is our 5th summer with our silly little bucket list. I still love it. I love putting the list together and checking off each adventure over the summer. Like most things I do, it’s over the top and I get a bit obsessive. 
The list has evolved from a list of fun things to do to almost a photography challenge. The girls know the clip doesn’t come off the board until I get a photo I like…which may be even more challenging than doing 100 fun things over the summer. 
At the end of the summer I make a chatbook and we have great memento of all our fun little adventures. The summer buckets lists from years past are here.  
Here we go….
Last Day of School
 LEGOrado @ Colorado History Museum
Rockies vs Reds @ Coors Field
Boondocks
Welcome to Palm Springs
Pizza Night in Palm Springs
Tie Dye
Build a Buddy
Archery
Ice Cream Sundae Bar
Palm Springs Pool Party
Warner Brothers Studio Tour
 Hollywood
Redondo Beach Pier
Redondo Beach
Long Beach
Long Beach Aquarium
 Queen Mary
 Downtown Disney
Disney Character Dining
California Adventures
 Disneyland
School of Rock
Morton’s
 Mount Evans
Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace
Vacation Bible School
Dance Rehearsal
Swim Team Pancake Breakfast
The Greatest Showman Camp
The Little Mermaid at Boulder Dinner Theater
Dance Recital
Greek Festival
 Father’s Day
Incredibles 2
Glenwood Springs
Strawberry Festival
Glenwood Hot Springs
Painting with Bubbles
Cupcake Wars at BMK
Swim Meet #1/ My Birthday
Annabelle is 11!
Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour
Grease at the IMAX
Jurassic World
Kitchen Day with Dad
Painting with Tape
Newsies at Candlelight
Cousins Lunch @ 5280 Burger Bar
Staycation @ DIA
Rigazzi’s in St. Louis
Swimming in St. Louis
The Arch
Botanic Gardens in St. Louis
Pabst Museum (Milwaukee)
Discovery World (Milwaukee)
Mader’s Restaurant (Milwaukee)
Cousins! (Milwaukee)
Brewers Game (Milwaukee)
Amtrak Train Ride (Milwaukee to Chicago) 
Dinner at Ditka’s (Chicago)
Chicago Art Museum
Giordano’s Chicago Style Pizza
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
98th floor of the Hancock Tower (Chicago)
Carson’s Ribs (Chicago)
The Bean (Chicago)
Navy Pier (Chicago)
Botanic Gardens (Chicago)
Sweets Ice Cream
Painting with sponges
Rockies vs Diamondbacks
BMK Jumangi Camp
Swim Meet #2
Sunflower Art Camp (Boulder)
Hotel Transylvania 3
Swim Meet #3
 Alligator Spirit Night
 Ant Man and Wasp Girl
 Swim Banquet
 Sushi for Gwyneth’s 10th birthday!
 American Girl Doll Store
 Digital Photography Class
 Cake Boss
 Painting with Crystals
 Bowling
 Sewing Class
The Samples Concert
 Art Camp at the Arvada Center
 Elitch’s
 Mid Air Adventures
BMK Fairy Tale Treats Camp
 Great Wolf Lodge
 Water Park
 Water Slides
 Broncos vs Bears
And just like that, it’s the first day of 5th and 6th grade!

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 #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!

eltich gardens passes

We woke up to a little spring snow, but that wouldn’t deter us from getting our summer Elitch Garden passes. It worked out quite well actually. Not many people were nutty enough to stand out in the cold and snow for their passes (let’s be honest, it really wasn’t that cold). We arrived when the gates opened and didn’t even have to stand in line. Usually the lines are wrapped around the parking lot and the wait can be several hours. I think we were all pretty grateful for those snow flurries. 
Unfortunately the snow did keep us from riding the rides. All the rides were closed when we arrived. We have our season passes in hand along with our drink cups and friend passes so we are all set for warmer weather! 

We had planned to meet up with Kierra and her family at Elitchs but since the weather didn’t cooperate she came over to play for the afternoon. They may have been a bit disappointed the amusement park didn’t work out, but they were all giggles playing together in the basement.

breckenridge

We took advantage of a small break from school and were able to head up to the mountains. B was able to get away for the weekend and Don and Lisa joined us for a night as well. We didn’t have much planned just a few days of relaxing. I really enjoy the down time playing games. It’s such a wonderful treat. 
B had to head back down Sunday night for work, but I was able to work from the mountains and enjoy the Monday and Tuesday the girls had off school. 
We played around town and then I spent Tuesday morning picking up the house to head back home. I took a little too long and we left about an hour too late. It started to snow and by the time we made it to Silverthorne I was very uncomfortable with the limited visability. We got a little nervous and turned back. We stayed an extra night and the next morning was all sunshine making it much easier to get home.  
A lovely day in Breck

We grabbed lunch at Empire Burger and then wandered around town. It was a beautiful day.  

Our lunch spot
The girls requested a crafty afternoon. Annabelle decided to try her hand at canvas painting. 

Gwyneth and I gave mosaics a try. 

Annabelle did a great job on her painting and left it as a gift for my dad and Melissa. 

The mosaics were really fun. Gwyneth and I loved our pieces (after they were cleaned up). We’re eager to try it again and I’m trying to figure out if I can offer it at my studio.

We spent our night playing games and watching movies. Our favorite game these days is Farkle. I’m a risk taker in that game and it never seems to work out for me. The girls beat me every single time.

Tuesday morning started off gorgeous. A bright sunny day….who would have though we would end up snowed in!

We grabbed lunch at Eric’s and then played around town.

And then it started to snow. Just nice fluffy flakes at first. I love snow! I just don’t love driving in it.

This cracks me up! Gwyneth was loving the snow and Annabelle was counting down the days until she moves to California.

Annabelle really hates the snow. She is our beach babe! 

Luckily my dad and Melissa didn’t mind us staying another night in Breckenridge. We went back to the house and snuggled up. Sadly I had tossed out all our food because I thought we were heading home. We didn’t have much with us so we braved the weather for dinner at Breckenridge Brewery. The rest of the night we laid low, watching movies, and playing games. 

happy birthday, B

Our second day of adventures started with a quiet breakfast in the room. I grabbed bagels from downstairs and the girls watched the runners take off for the Runnin’ of the Green. The starting line was right outside our hotel. It made for a little madness in the morning but the girls had front row seats. 
Our hotel was hoppin’ in the morning. It’s such a beautiful, grand hotel right in my favorite part of the city. 
Enjoying the views
We walked on over to the Hungry Lion for lunch but we were all still feeling breakfast. Luckily they had a sensational brunch menu.

What could be better on your birthday than Kegs and Eggs?
After lunch we had a few hours to hang out before the Nuggets game. We explored Union Station, checked out books at Tattered Cover and the girls got a free ice cream at the Milkbox. When you stay at the Crawford each guest gets one free ice cream each day which may have been the absolute high point for Gwyneth.
The hotel offers a free car service. We rode to the Nuggets game in style. The girls are certain we should trade in B’s Jeep for Tesla now. 
We were so lucky to have a weekend full of great games. The Nuggets pulled off a win and we had so much fun cheering for our home team. 
Annabelle decided she could eat all of these plain…
She changed her mind after ONE! 
B’s sister, Jen, and her family were at the game also. We were able to meet up for a half time beer. 
We had a little time to kill before dinner so we checked out the Crawford bar. It sits above the terminal with great views of the mountains and the city. You have to stay at the hotel to access this bar so it was far less crowded than downstairs. Although quite beautiful it was a bit stuffy for our liking. 
We grabbed B’s birthday dinner at Mercantile. We had been so eager to try this hot spot but we were a little underwhelmed. The food was ok and the service was pretty rotten. We are glad we tried it, but we can’t see a return visit anytime soon. 
We had two fun-filled days celebrating B’s birthday. He’s a great dad and husband and we love him dearly!
I can’t get these pictures to flip but wanted to keep the memories.