peacock

awards

This feels like a braggy post, but I just want to record this moment and how proud I am of my amazing daughters. 
I nearly missed the award ceremony this morning, because I had work to do and I wasn’t even sure what it was all about. I thought it was for awards from the fun run. My girls had a blast at the run but didn’t set any records for laps or fundraising and didn’t seem all that excited for me to attend. 
That morning I decided with only a few days left of school I wanted to soak it all in and I was going to attend that awards ceremony anyway. I am sure glad I did!
The very first award given that morning was for values and it was the “Heroism” award. Gwyneth was so surprised (and embarrased) when her name was called. She won for doing brave things! Reading to her peers when it’s not always easy for her, standing up for for anyone she sees being picked one, being kind and honest when that’s not always the easiest choice. 
I could have not been more proud of that girl! She has a heart of gold and she is brave even (especially) when it’s hard. 

Each student in the school earns an award. Some earn mulitiple awards. Each and every one of them  knows on this day that they have a talent and they are special. The sap in me loved it and I had to choke back tears watching these kids so proudly receive their awards and cheer for each other.

The girls’ friend Kierra won an award for best speller and I wanted to snap this photo for her mom who couldn’t be there.

Gwyneth won “Top Performer” in her class! They don’t do honor roll in 4th grade, but she had the best performance of all the kiddos in her grade for the entire year across all subjects. This was an amazing accomplishment for a little lady who has to overcome so many challenges in her studies and never stops working her tail off!

Annabelle won two awards –  the 4Q honor roll award and Top Performer for her class! She was the only student in 5th grade to maintain a 4.0 the entire year. She is very driven and positive enforcement goes a long way with her. Her teacher challenged her this year and got her very best. So proud of her. Annabelle makes it all look easy so we don’t always give her enough credit for her hard work. Today was a wonderful reminder this young ladies intelligence, strength, drive, focus and success. So very, very proud of her.

Receiving the 4Q honor roll awards
I’m so proud of these little ladies. They worked hard this year and have grown so much! 
Annabelle and her teacher. Love them both. We couldn’t have hoped for better! 

tea with annabelle and billera celebration

Annabelle and I had a special afternoon planned with her girl scout troop. We attended a mother daughter tea party at the Huckleberry. They do a simple and casual afternoon tea with tasty tea cakes, scones, and sandwiches. 
Before setting off Annabelle asked me to give her some “beachy waves” in her hair. It was my first attempt with a new curling gadget we purchased. It took a few tries and there’s room for improvement, but I thought she looked fabulous! Very beachy indeed! She was full of confidence with that head full of curls.
Off to brunch we go! 
In addition to meeting the ladies from girl scouts, we ran into a friend from Ananbelle’s class and our former neighbors. Who knew The Huckleberry was the place to be on a Saturday afternoon?!

After tea, we headed over to meet up with Gwyneth. She spent the afternoon with her friend Ruby. We joined up with the Billera’s and many friends to celebrate Peter’s election win. He is now on the North Metro Fire Rescue Board. We are very happy for him and were thrilled to celebrate his accomplishment!
Chloe, Gwyneth, and Annabelle enjoying root beer floats!

lunch with gwyneth

Gwyneth asked for a packed lunch today and I just really, really didn’t feel like packing it. Nor did I feel like going to the grocery to buy acceptable lunch foods. The end of school year drag is real! Ha! We are at the end of the school year;  just counting down the days until we have summer freedom. I know most moms feel this way at the end of the school year. Those packed lunches and reading logs suck my will and some days I just have to throw in the white flag. Today was one of those days. 
I asked Gwyneth if we could skip the packed lunch and I would just take her out. She was thrilled! I picked her up for a special lunch and she requested Panera. That girl loves bread and soup!
I asked Annabelle if she wanted to join us and she said no! She said she didn’t want to miss even a minute of school. I love both of their reactions to my request!

mckay lake

I woke up bright and early Sunday morning and was ready for our family hike. It was going to be a warm day so I wanted to get an early start. Most of my family did not agree with me. 
B and Annabelle passed on the walk, but Gwyneth hopped right up. This was quite a surprise, because Gwyneth is my sleeper and rarely passes a chance to lounge in her bed. It’s undoubtedly her favorite place on earth. 
We set off for a hike, after picking up a few bagels of course. The only thing Gwyneth may like as much as sleep is breakfast. We walked around the lake which is about 1.5 miles. Gwyneth was great and never fussed. It was a pretty easy walk compared to yesterday. 
Once we finished the McKay trail we decided to try some trails near our house. Unfortunately the bugs were so bad we could barely keep our eyes open. It was pretty gross and I don’t expect we will be hitting this trail again anytime soon. Besides that little hiccup we had a really wonderful time together. Although we missed having B and Annabelle with us, the one on one quality time is so special. 

girl scouts | tea party with gwyneth

This afternoon we met with Gwyneth’s troop for our final meeting. We have been going strong for the past five years and I feel so fortunate to have been the troop leader. We’ve gone from kindergarten to fourth grade and oh my how these girls have grown. 
Schedules have become quite full and more demanding. It has become difficult to find times for us all to meet up. We ended the year with bang, for the girls who could attend with a tea party in Boulder. It was a wonderful ending to a great year with these gals! 
Gwyneth LOVES to get dressed up. She is so very, very fancy. She found this dress weeks ago and had to have it for the tea party. She’s been counting down the days until she was able to wear it. 
The girls looked so lovely for tea! 
The Boulder Tea House is gorgeous! The girls were in awe of the beautifully decorated ceilings. 
time for tea
amuse bouche | phyllo dough with cinnamon apples and brie. yum, yum, yum!
our tray of treats
We had one girl cancel and since we had to prepay for the event Annabelle agreed to join us. 
I’d say the treats were a hit…
so much cake, so little time…
being this fancy is hard work!
After tea we explored the gardens. It was a beautiful day and these girls were good sports when I asked to snap a few more pictures. 
I was feeling nostalgic when I got home and had to go back and find the pictures from the day these little ladies became Daisies. My goodness so much has changed! 

anthem hike

After the fun run yesterday Annabelle took off to a party and then ended up having a sleepover. She stayed up most of the night and came home quite tired. She was not at all pleased with me when I told her Gwyneth and I were planning a hike and that she needed to go with us. I should have left her home to nap, but it was such a beautiful day and I thought the fresh air and exercise would do her some good. 
Gwyneth was in heaven hiking around our neighborhood. Annabelle was a good sport. We ended up walking about 2 miles for lunch and then another 2 miles home. It felt great to get out and enjoy that warm Colorado weather and you just can’t beat the mountain views from our little neighborhood. 
Off we go! 
Annabelle wouldn’t walk with us before lunch. She was either a few paces ahead or behind. Did I mention she wasn’t very happy with me?
She got in to the swing of things and was climbing and exploring in no time. 
A well needed rest after that 4 mile walk!

fun run

It has been raining and dreary here for the past week. The skies dried up and the sun came shining down this Friday. We had perfect weather for the school fun run. 
The girls had gathered donations from friends and family and raised money for a new playground at their school. They each ran over 3 miles today! The both had a blast with friends and were worn out. I’m so proud of them for giving their all and I love the memories they are making. I couldn’t have asked for a better school for them. 
Some good stretches before running…
Best buds. Love these three together. They are just the sweetest of friends!
Soaking wet after running through the sprinklers!

happy birthday, ryan

We gathered with B’s family to celebrate Ryan’s 13th birthday. The cousins were very happy to be together for the evening and B made us a delicious dinner. 
Before family arrived I sweet-talked the girls into letting me take some pictures of them. They were both dolled up and looking quite grow up. I didn’t want to miss a chance to snap some shots of them. 
I was trying to get one of them together and B walked in the garage to throw out some trash. This is not staged…they are just nosey! Ha!
I love a great posed shot, but this is the real Gwyneth and I think I like these photos most of all. 
I swear this wasn’t posed either. I sure got lucky with the photos today. 
The cousins arrived and I was able to convince them to let me take a few pictures also. I’m not sure if they were happy about it, but they did manage to have a little fun. 
Happy 13th to this guy!
Look at all that curly hair! Reagan sure has come a long way in the past year. 

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!