peacock

take your daughter to work day

Gwyneth had an appointment with specialists again this morning (more to come on that later). My manager is on vacation at my Aurora studio so I had to cover the afternoon there. I didn’t have time to take her back to school and get back to work on-time so Miss G joined me for the afternoon. I always have momma guilt when stuff like this happens, but she loved it. 
She got to pick lunch and asked for Chinese food. I don’t know many places in Aurora anymore, but we settled on PF Changs. 
This girl loves Chinese food! 
Feeling optimistic about our fortunes. 
I told Gwyneth she could paint, but she got right to work. She unloaded inventory for me.
She input customer orders in the point of sale. 
She checked on customers and changed out water bowls. 
This girls is amazing! I found my next store manager. 

zoo edventure

It was a beautiful day at the zoo!
The girls had a field trip for school today and I volunteered to chaperone. It turned out to be quite a warm day. It really doesn’t feel like fall around here yet. I’m ready for sweaters and boots! The sunshine was lovely for a walk around the zoo though.
Giraffes are always the first stop and we met up with a big group of their friends there. 
They had an assignment that involved animal names and they snapped a few pictures on their phones to study when we got home. 
The sun was bright!
Ran into more friends
It was so great to spend time with these wonderful little ladies. 
It wouldn’t be a trip to the zoo without a cold, sweet treat. 
I sure do love these little ladies!

corn maze and pumpkin patch

I do not love Halloween. I like fall and pumpkins and sweaters, but I am not a fan of Halloween. I hate to be scared. I’m a big chicken! 
We joined Gwyneth’s girl scout troop at the pumpkin patch for an adventure through the corn mazes. This was a big leap for me because I have a ton of anxiety about corn mazes. Annabelle wasn’t super eager to go either. We got over our nerves and we did it! It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t the worst either. 
I really did enjoy our time in the pumpkin patch though and we got some great pumpkins to transform into jack-o-lanterns. 

health fair and mamma mia

Our family volunteered at the 9Health Fair and we had to be there bright and early. B left the house at 4:30 and the girls and I left around 6:30. B provided breakfast for all the volunteers and worked the check out table. I was tasked with form checking. 
Annabelle was a greeter at the front door. 
Gwyneth ran the kids table
These kids did a great job. I was really proud of them. 
It was a cold, early morning and as soon as we got home G jammed up. 
After a restful afternoon we went to the Arvada Center to see Mamma Mia. The girls are hooked on these movies right now. They loved the show! 

vra photo shoot

I was asked to do a photo shoot at the girls’ school for some upcoming marketing materials. They are redoing their website and brochures and asked me to take the pictures. I felt pretty honored because I really do love taking pictures. It is one of my absolute favorite hobbies and although I’m still pretty insecure about my abilities I love it and I get really excited when people ask me for pictures. 
I took tons of pictures and won’t share many of them because they are of other people’s kids. I did manage to embarrass my children in front of their friends so I feel the day was a success. 

mri | take two

Gwyneth and I had to be at Children’s hospital this morning at 8:15 am. After seeing the specialist a few weeks ago they requested a second round of testing. 
The hospital was so quiet. I was surprised that they scheduled us for a Sunday morning but we were happy to have the peace and quiet and I was glad Gwyneth didn’t have to miss school. 
Gwyneth had a really tough time today. She had a bad reaction to the dye in her IV. She started crying and then had a difficult time laying still for the MRI. She was pretty upset and it was a long couple of hours getting through the tests. My heart was breaking for her. She’s a tough girl and I hate watching her go through this.
We made it home in time for the 2nd half of the Broncos game. I ended up falling asleep on the couch for about 45 minutes…I can’t remember the last time I took a nap! It was an emotional day and the rest was needed. We told Gwyneth she could have anything she wanted for dinner. She requested “cook on the table”and everyone happily obliged. Anything to brighten this girl’s day. 

juniors gardener badge

Gwyneth and I joined her girl scout troop for a day at the Botanic Gardens. It was a beautiful, warm, Colorado day! The girls had to complete a booklet of activities in order to earn their gardeners badge. It took them several hours to complete all their tasks, but they were all really into it and they had a great time. 

juniors | girl scout way

Tonight was the first meeting of Gwyneth’s new girl scout troop. She joined a new troop with just one friend from her old troop. She was kind of nervous although she does know a few of the girls from her old school. It’s always tough going into a new situation and I was really proud of her. I agreed to stay on as a co-leader so we’re in it together.
B was awesome and made us minestrone from scratch for dinner. It was amazing. It might just be the best soup I have ever had. He made us a lot so when the girl scouts arrived they ate some up too. 

New group of girl scout friends. 

broncos vs raiders

Are you ready for some football???
We are having a blast with our Bronco season tickets this year! First stop was brunch at Public School. I have been wanting to try this restaurant for ages and I’m so glad we finally made it. It was delicious! We loved everything we ordered (pizza, salads, pancakes, etc). The blueberry pancakes were so good the girls ordered a second plate of them. I also wasn’t sad to order a spicy pumpkin ale. I’m ready for fall!
Off we headed to the Bronco game! I was a bit nervous about the Raiders fans, because my experience has always been that they are NUTS! It was pretty tame. Everyone was just ready to watch some good football. 
Seriously, how awesome are these Broncos fans?
It was another nail-biter for the Broncos but they pulled off the win! What a game!

colorado history museum

My dad and Melissa drove down from Breck to spend the day with us downtown. Poor B had to work but he was able to meet us for dinner that evening. 
I had a free hotel room on hotels.com and we were heading to the Bronco game the following day so we decided to stay downtown. Oh, I do love a little staycation – especially downtown. It reminds me so much of the times we lived in the city. I love being able to give the girls even just a little taste of that (just a tiny nibble really). 
We’ve become big fans of the Denver Born Hotel. They have lovely rooms, great location, and  excellent amenities including free rides in a Tesla to the Bronco stadium. 
We spent most of our afternoon at the Colorado History Museum. I can not get enough of that museum, it’s one of my favorites in the city. I highly recommend it to anyone. I thought we’d spend an hour or two but we spent much longer! It’s a hit with everyone. 
My dad and Melissa are big baseball fans and I wanted them to see the Play Ball exhibit! It didn’t disappoint. 
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We met up with B and his dad for dinner at Morton’s. I’m so glad B was able to make it down, but of course I didn’t get any pictures at dinner. I really do love taking pictures but I’m always nervous about annoying everyone with my camera. I need to get over that because the pictures are worth a little annoyance right?
We had a great visit with my dad and Melissa!