peacock

emoji movie

We’ve seen lots of movies this summer, but the Emoji movie has been on the top of Annabelle’s to see list. She is an emoji lover! They are her absolute favorite thing right now.
I didn’t think the movie was terrible. Annabelle liked it. Gwyneth said it was ok. B slept. Ha! 
I read the reviews afterwards and it is being called the absolute worst movie of the year. Yikes! I don’t think it was really that bad. That seems a bit harsh….I mean I saw Captain Underpants and that was a real stinker. 
I chuckled along with Annabelle at poop emoji jokes, but I’d wait for video or commit to a nap like B if you are heading to the theater if you are seeing this gem.  
Annabelle’s room. Emoji obsessed!

basement sleepover | casa bonita

We are in the process of upgrading our basement. Nothing too serious. No major construction. Just moving some things around, throwing out a lot (I love a good purge – I’m not a very good hoarder), and getting a new couch. B has always hated the couch in the basement and I’m almost certain that’s why we don’t spend very much time down there anymore. The basement is intended to be our comfortable place and if the couch isn’t comfy than that will never do. 
We moved spaces around and now we just wait for our new couch to be delivered. I will post pics when it’s complete. 
For now, we have a big open space in the basement which makes for an awesome sleepover space. The girls each had a friend over and B set up air mattresses for them and they had a pretty great movie night. That B sure is a great dad and knows how to make a sleepover extra fun. I think the girls are going to be sad when the couch arrives and they don’t have that big open space for air mattresses and cartwheels. 
Annabelle’s friend Molly recently moved to Colorado and we couldn’t resist introducing her to Casa Bonita. 
We had a great table with the ultimate view of the divers. They climbed right up the cliffs by our table to do the dives. It was pretty spectacular and the girls were definitely wowed. 
The sopapillas are the big hit on the menu.
That face! Oh, that B. Not sure if he frowning about his obstructed view, eating at Casa Bonita, or all of the above. 
We all survived and no one got sick (that is not always the case when eating here). We can cross that off our summer to do list and give our stomachs a break until next year. 

adams county museum | pancake wars

I was a working fool today and my girls tagged along for many an errand. They never complained. They just took it all in stride and were pretty sweet. They read their books in the car and didn’t fight and that is a victory. 
Or last stop on the errand list was to check out the Adams County Museum. I had driven by before and thought it might be a great outing for Girl Scouts. We checked it out and it will be perfect. We set up our field trip that day. 

Look at that sky. What a gorgeous day. 
Those precious little feet and their favorite footwear. Isn’t it funny how our shoes can define you?

That evening Gwyneth’s friend and family joined her at Blue Mountain Kitchen for a Pancake Wars party. She came up with the idea all on her own. B helped them make basic pancakes and they were able to add special ingredients to flavor them and make their pancakes unique. They came up some interesting combinations.

Gwyneth and her girls. She really does have the most wonderful group of friends. Not just these ladies, but all of them that came to celebrate with us tonight. 
Instead of cake she wanted a big ol’ stack of pancakes. I love it! She got one of each pancake that each of the kiddos made. What a variety! She is definitely our breakfast lover and I can’t imagine a better party for her. 
After pancakes all the kids painted donut banks. 
Present time. Her friends asked her to open their gifts. She was pretty pleased. 
The whole gang. 
Much to her dad’s dismay, she always seems to be surrounded by some cute little boys…
Even her Godfather came our to celebrate with her. 
Happiest of birthdays to our sweet little Gwyneth. We just love you so much and hope you had the best birthday celebration. Welcome to nine!

gators banquet

We made it home from Colorado Springs just in time for the Gators Banquet. The girls were so exited to receive their ribbons and trophies. They did great this season and we are so excited to see where their next journey in swimming takes us. 
For the summer they ended up with the following ribbons: 
SEVEN First places
THREE 2nd places
THREE 3rd places
FIVE 4th places
TWO 5th places
They managed to place in every single race. Wowsa! I’m so, so proud of these girls for working hard and pushing themselves. 

happy birthday gwyneth | great wolf lodge

Gwyneth really wanted to celebrate her birthday at Great Wolf Lodge so off we went! 
Thanks to a 50% coupon we were able to stay for a couple nights for a slightly reasonable price. It’s all a bit overpriced but the coupon does help. 
I think this may be the girls’ happy place. They love to swim and just love everything about this place. We stayed 3 night which wasn’t enough for them. I think two is probably good for me and 1 is probably good for B. Ha! 
Let’s get in the pool!
And off they went. Sunday night they shut it down. They were so happy to swim, swim, swim. 
Silly sisters!
Monday we were right back at it. Bright and early. We were at the water park when it opened at 9 am. Took breaks for meals but didn’t leave until 8 pm that evening Now, that is a day of swimming!
This is one of my favorites shots of Gwyneth!
 Annabelle snapped it of her dancing underwater. Fabulous!
And just like that our baby is NINE!! Love that bed head.
Gwyneth ran the show for the day and she wanted to start the day with a big breakfast. Absolutely no surprise there. 
Next stop mini-golf. Miss Annabelle was pretty pleased with her hole-in-one!
And then the ropes course. G didn’t have tennis shoes but that didn’t stop her. of course she climbed in ruby slippers. That’s how this girl rolls. 
And then bowling!
Gwyneth’s buddy Ruby was there for the night as well. They have been friends since kindergarten and share the same birthday. What a fun birthday coincidence to be there at the same time. 
We hit the waterpark after lunch and spent a few hours. Unfortunately B had to head home and get some work done, but we had a great time all together. 
After dinner the girls talked me into playing Magiquest. I didn’t know much about it, but the girls were eager to check it out. They got a wand and got right down to it. I still don’t know much about it but it involves finding clues through the resort and it kept them entertained for hours. 
While they were exploring and waving those magic wands, I sat and read an entire book and had a glass of wine. I can’t complain, but I wish B would have been there to enjoy that glass of wine with me. 
Our last day we hit the water park one last time. Lots of water slides and time in the wave pool. We definitely made the most of our opportunity. 
We finished off the trip with pedicures and ice cream. Gwyneth’s dream. She loves the scoops spa and it was the perfect ending to a fabulous birthday trip!
Happiest birthday to our fierce, funny, loving, smart, beautiful baby. We love this girl so, so much!
These girls have ticklish feet. She reminds me so much of my sister, Stacy in these pictures. 

renaissance festival

We sure have been visiting the renaissance festival for a long time now. I took a trip back down memory lane and checked our posts from our prior visits. My, oh my have our babies grown.  Here are the prior year’s visits:
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
This year we got a later start than usual. Poor G woke up with a migraine. The only cure for that is sleep (and she typically throws up!). She woke up at 5 am with a smashing headache, threw up and then slept again until about 10. When she woke up again she was all smiles and ready to conquer the day. The girls is fierce! 
We headed down to Larkspur to check out the craziness that is the Renaissance Festival.  It is always quite a spectacle. The people watching is AMAZING! They have the most elaborate costumes. I’ll never understand how they can be dressed head to toe in those garments in the sweltering heat. That is dedication! 
This year was hot, hot, hot and crowded. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people there. It was difficult to navigate and the lines were long. We managed to get some snacks and found a great little bench for people watching. 
The girls road a few rides and we had some treats. 
And then before we all thoroughly melted, we decided to call it a day. I’m not sure we can call it a success because we didn’t see Twig the fairy or get a pickle. The girls said they absolutely loved it though so the day was not a loss. 

vivian’s wedding

What a day! B joined us for the swim meet  and then was a cooking fool with two catering events this evening. One of the catering events was Vivian’s wedding. Our entire family was invited to the wedding and we were so happy to celebrate this beautiful day with them. We were also pretty excited that we got to eat B’s food which was absolutely delicious. 
A few of my favorite wedding pictures below: 
Vivian, or Baby Carrots as my girls like to call her, was a beautiful bride
This is real life, folks…real life…

swim meet | alligators at northglen

Final swim meet of the summer. I’m glad they are over and we get our mornings back – Gwyneth and I sure do love our sleep in the mornings – but I’ll be sad to not see these little swimmers in action. 
They have decided to try out for the competitive swim team in our town which practices year round. Try outs are in September. Until then we enjoy where we are…
Sweet sisters. 
This meet was run beautifully. It was just two teams and the event was very organized. The girls swam well and again, snagged themselves a few blue ribbons. 
We celebrate aftewards with Koana Ice
So proud of our ladies. Good swim, girls!!

elitch gardens

Annabelle and I spent a very warm Friday at Elitch Gardens. This girl is a roller coaster junkie! We went on one after another. We took a little break for the tea cups and then it was back to the roller coasters. 
We wore ourselves out. It was a such a thrill filled day. I am going to be very sad when my gals head back to school, because we’ve had so much fun together this summer. 

science museum | camp sleepover

While Gwyneth attended Girl Scout Camp, Annabelle and I explored the science museum. It is still one of my favorites. I love it and I’m always intrigued by the special exhibits. 
The special exhibit this visit was Nature’s Amazing Machines. It was amazing. We saw an actual giraffe heart which was super grody and awesome. Annabelle didn’t think it was so cool and I’ve spared you a photo of it here. It was huge! 
Annabelle was rocking some pretty rad pink hair today. She wants to dye her hair permanently pink but we’ve compromised on the chalk dye for now. It washes out but I do have to admit she looks pretty punk with it and she absolutely owns it. 
Taking a trip on the rock wall…in flip flops.
I had a great day with my girl. She entertains me with her stories of friendships and her take on the world. She is a funny girl and keeps me on my toes. 
Where did my baby go?
We scooped up and B headed up to Boulder to tuck Gwyneth in at her camp sleepover. The girl scouts do little skits and show us their sleeping arrangements. No nerves for our girl this evening. She was ready to hang out with friends. The sleepover part of the camp seems to be her favorite part. 
Monkey had to join in on the fun. 
Skit time:
It was quite silly and involved jumping/getting thrown out of an airplane:
Gwyneth was in her element and laughed her way through the entire skit. 
Bed buddies. They set up sleeping bags right next to each other. These two are inseparable. 
Sweet friends from kindergarten. I love watching them all grow up together.