peacock

road trip | albquerque

We started our summer off with a road trip. We decided to head south and show the girls where we went to school. We made a grand trip out of it and although we were in the car for quite some time, we had a wonderful time!
I really didn’t think I was a big fan of road trips, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It was quite relaxing and we didn’t stick to a schedule. We just went were we wanted and did what we wanted. As a planner that really goes against my nature, but honestly I had the best time.
The first leg of our trip took us through Southern Colorado and these girls were great sports. 
Gwyneth read books the entire way while Annabelle slept. She made through two chapter books on the first day!
Annabelle had no trouble sleeping in the car. Getting comfy…
We stopped in Las Vegas, New Mexico for some junk food
When we were about an hour out of Albuquerque we decided we were done driving for the day and booked our hotel on my phone on hotels.com. I was so nervous about not having lodging booked all along our way, but it made it really easy to stop when we needed and we got exceptional last minute hotel deals. A little anxiety was well worth the fun.
B and I visited Albuquerque when we were in school, but we never explored historic old town. We stayed at the Hotel Albuquerque which had all the New Mexico character and charm that I love and have missed. 
We kicked off the weekend properly with New Mexican food, explored the town square, and the girls swam their little hearts out in the hotel pool. 
There were tv crews and equipment all around the square as they were taping an episode of Graves. We’ve never seen the show, but researched it and it looks right up our alley. 
The most familiar sites of New Mexico. 
After dinner we were pretty worn out, but the girls never miss an opportunity to swim. The hotel had a beautiful pool with an even better view. 
My little fish
B hung out with the girls while they swam and I explored the hotel. It had so much character and I fell in love with the chapel. Maybe we should renew our vows so we can go back?
View from the chapel:
The energy these two possess is unreal. 
They just swam and swam.
We all got a good night sleep and declared the first day of our adventure a success. 

3rd grade celebration

We have had a wonderful experience with the girls’ school, but many of the kiddos are moving on to new schools next year. We have really enjoyed getting to know these families and will be sad to see this great group of kids split up. 
We hosted an end of year 3rd grade celebration for Gwyneth’s class. Unfortunately not all the families could make it, but we had a pretty good turn out. It was so nice to have the opportunity to catch up with the parents and all the kids played so sweetly together. A good time was definitely had by all! 

mother’s day

I had the most lovely mother’s day. I feel very special to be spoiled by these lovely little ladies and one pretty fabulous husband. 
We hopped in a Lyft and headed downtown for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. After lunch we strolled over to Coors Field and watched the Rockies beat the Dodgers. It was an awesome game – high scoring and lots of cheering. We ended the evening with dinner at Morton’s. We ate in the bar which was a first for us at the new location.
We filled the day with fun and were all quite worn out when we returned home. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’m so grateful to have spent the day with with my amazing family! 

girl scouts | painting party

Tonight was the last night of Brownies! What a journey we have been on with these little ladies. We started as Daisies in kindergarten and now they are going to be in fourth grade and Juniors. It has certainly been an adventure. 
I asked around to see if anyone wanted to keep on going and we had just one girl drop out of the troop. Soooo, we celebrated tonight, we’re taking the summer off, and we’re going to start up again next year for our FIFTH year. I feel quite lucky to be a leader for this amazing troop of young ladies. 
We had our end of year celebration at Color Me Mine. I thought these ladies (especially mine) would be sick and tired of this place, but nope! They all still love to paint and throw in a little pizza and the night was a big ol’ hit. 

Not all the girls could make it tonight, but the ones who did brought along a few siblings (and a few sneaked away before I could get a group photo).

triathlon

The girls were pretty excited for the triathlon this year because they decided to be on a team! It gets pretty intense and can get very competitive, but they just take it all in stride. 
Annabelle did the swimming, Gwyneth did the biking, and their friend Karsen did the running.
Annabelle was nervous about swimming. She doesn’t realize how good she is. She was all nerves and chewing on her nails, but she hoped right in the pool for that race. 
There she goes.

She rocked it! She came in 2nd place and 3rd overall for the entire school. Her teacher came over and made a big point that the first two swimmers compete and practice several times a week so it was pretty darn good that she came in behind them by only seconds. I’m so impressed with this little lady! She has the swim bug and luckily we found a swim team for her this summer.

Gwyneth’s turn!

She did awesome. I didn’t take any more pictures, because kids were wiping out and the biking portion just gives me a ton of anxiety.

What I love most about watching Gwyneth is that she took is slow and steady and she never lost her smile. Her smile is contagious! I love watching these kids root for each other.

Gwyneth’s friends were showing off their injuries…and since Gwyneth didn’t have any she ate watermelon. 

Time for the running portion. My girls were happy their part of the triathlon was over and they could just cheer for their friends.

More watermelon
My little shorty pants and her buddies. 

The girls finished in 3rd place overall and were pretty pleased with themselves.

take your daughter to play

Today was take your daughter to work day. 
Let’s be honest here. Everyday at our house is take your daughter to work day. They spend countless hours at the kitchen with B or at the paint studio with me. They spent a great deal of their spring break in my kiln room (proof of that here) and they can expect a lot more where that comes from this summer. 
Last night while the girls were getting ready for bed B and I talked about what we had going on the next day at work and who should go with who and how everyday they watch and learn about taxes, scheduling, supply ordering and inventory, deliveries, revenue, costs, budgeting, cash flow projections and on and on and on. This is their every day.
We quickly declared today to be TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO PLAY DAY. 
I made arrangements to have the studio covered for the day and we gave them the option to pick whatever they wanted to do. They were so excited! They asked to go for Jamba Juice and then play at the Children’s Museum. I agreed to all of the above. I also stressed that since we were playing hookey today they had to bank this work day for the summer when I needed their patience and help when my business was hectic and the days felt too short. They agreed. We shook on it. 
Off for our adventure. 1st stop: Jamba Juice

We pulled up to the Children’s Museum to find a few buses and a very full parking lot. I’m not one for a crowd. Without prompting the girls asked if we could explore the aquarium and have lunch there while the crowds hopefully died down at the museum. Fabulous idea!

We had perfect timing at the aquarium. We were sat at a table right by the tank and as we finished up our lunch the mermaid show started.

The girls used their allowance to buy these stuffed seals (seals right? I’m not sure about all these stuffed animals)

We headed over to the Children’s Museum and again the timing was perfect. The buses cleared out and it seems the younger kiddos were heading home to nap. The girls were able to explore everything!

Snack time

After checking out the exhibits inside we headed outside. There is so much to do and I should have allotted more time for it.

They could have spent hours on the zip line and with no one else in line they got to take plenty of turns.

I told them it was time to wrap it up and head home. How could I say no to just a few more minutes?

This is definitely the way to spend a day!

Love this!

We took a little rest on the chair lift before heading out. 

Oh and then had to stop at the park on the way to the car before truly heading home. 

It was such a great day. I hope when we are feeling overworked and overtired and over-scheduled this summer we will remember this peaceful play day we had together.

happy easter from great wolf lodge

The girls had a three day weekend from school. We took advantage of the day off to head down to Colorado Springs. We spent two nights at Great Wolf Lodge including Easter which a night at hotel and swimming has been a great family tradition for us. 
I get asked a lot “is Great Wolf Lodge worth it?”. Well, it depends. Its crowded, overpriced and the food is absolutely horrible BUT our girls love it and we have a wonderful time together as a family. So for us, it’s worth it. It’s great. You just have to know what you are getting yourself into. 
Day One

After a morning of catering, we loaded up the car and headed down south. It’s not a bad drive at all and we made it in time for lunch. We were still a bit early and our room wasn’t quite ready so we played a round of mini golf. 

The girls did a scavenger hunt that took them all over the resort and they each won a little prize.

We finally got checked in to our room, swimsuits on and hit the water park. 

We spent the rest of the day in the wave pool, screaming our way down the water slides, and even convinced B to just eat pizza at the resort. The pizza isn’t terrible. We blame B for being the food snob picky eater in the family but none of like the other food options so we were happy to go out for the rest of our meals.

I didn’t take many pictures that first day because I was happily swimming with my little ladies. I did get a few shots of them in our room. They loved having the bunk room all to themselves.

We had a beautiful view from our patio. Great view of the Rockies and the Air Force stadium.

Day 2

Happy Easter! The bunny found us again. The girls left him a note asking him not to hide eggs because they didn’t want to waste any time searching when they could be at the pool. Annabelle received a new basketball and Gwyneth received a new robe which made them both very happy.

Some chocolate favorites from the candy shop

Off we went to the water park. We were one of the first there which was nice because the hotel was sold out for the evening and quite crowded.

We had a very full day of swimming! 

We left the resort for lunch (Cheddars – which is not good, but cheap and we could actually get a soup and salad). We also left again for dinner and ate at the Colorado Mountain Brewery. I would highly recommend this.

Have I mentioned that our kids don’t like to order off the kids menu anymore? They are not huge fans of mac and cheese and chicken tenders. This has become a bit expensive when we go out but it’s always worth it to watch them try new things. Annabelle ordered penned the Penne Bolognese with bison. She loved it!

We bowled a game (I won, just in case any one is keeping score. I have to gloat because I’m fairly certain that has never happened before). 
And then it was back in the water. The Meyers shut the place down!
These girls were not quite ready for bed. 
So we enjoyed some ice cream

And sat in the lobby and watched the dance party (they didn’t want to partake…they were worried we would embarrass them. We would), and made silly faces. It was a very full and fun day!

Day 3

We were up, packed and off to the pool bright and early. There are only 3 elevators so it can take some time to get down to the lobby. Add several bags of luggage and it could take 30 – 40 minutes. B was awesome, as usual, and offered to load up the car while I took the girls to swim. We spent hours at the water park again. I would definitely say these ladies got their money’s worth. 
A fun little surprise – we ran into a few friends that we didn’t know would be there that weekend. 
 We cleaned up, grabbed some pizza and got ready to head home….
 but not before surprising the girls with a trip to the Scoops salon. 

 Gwyneth had been dropping not-so-subtle hints about visiting the spa. They each got a manicure and pedicure and were deliciously spoiled! Gwyneth choice chocolate lotion for her hand massage and made us hungry the whole drive home.

 How cute and very, very pink!

It was a fun-filled weekend and even though we were just 1 1/2 hours away from home we really felt like we got to get away from it all!

spring break | santa cruz

The next morning we took off for the Santa Cruz boardwalk. I blamed B for this adventure, but it was really all me. I loved the movie Lost Boys when I was a teenager and I really wanted to go to the Boardwalk. Stacy and Carl have family passes for the rides and Annabelle never misses an opportunity to go on a roller coaster. It lived up to my all my teen expectations! (I thought I had been there before, but no, I hadn’t and I loved every minute of it)
I love these two together! They don’t get to hang much even though they are only 6 months apart and in the same grade. Gwyneth realized she has passed Maeva in height this trip and they had a good laugh about that. Maeva typically goes off to hang with Annabelle because they are both Queen Bees and both Eliana and Gabriela keep Gwyneth busy and feeling quite loved. It’s nice to see them together though and I think with time they will all come together even more. 
We took two cars to the boardwalk and I road with Stacy and these little monkeys:
I LOVE the pictures I snapped of my sister on the roller coaster. Makes my heart extremely happy. 
One of the few rides they all went on together. 
We checked out the beach while Stacy took Annabelle and Maeva on another roller coaster. Roller coasters are not Gwyneth’s thing. 
This was my favorite ride on the Boardwalk. It appears Gwyneth is running away in terror, but she actually went with me and loved it.
We headed back to Capitola for more beach time. The water was so, so cold, but they didn’t seem to mind one bit. 
Isn’t that a fabulous town? So colorful. 
Three of the sweetest little cousins.
We finished the night with dinner at the Britannia Arms Pub. We had very full days at the beach and were sad to say goodbye the next morning. 

paint night with g

Gwyneth and I met some friends at Color Me Mine for a special paint night. She painted a lovely Easter Egg plate and I painted a little spring plate. I’m painting more and more these days and I’m really enjoying the connection with my girls and to this little business. Couldn’t have asked for a better night with my littlest lady!

earrings

Last February Miss Annabelle got her ears pieced. Fast forward one year and Gwyneth decided it was her turn. I was pretty shocked because she has always said she would wait until she was 102 (G logic | “I will get them pierced when I am 102 because I will probably die when I am 103 and I want to enjoy them for a year.” Well, of course). 
She got up her nerve today (well, kind of…) and us Meyer gals headed to Claire’s. She wanted Annabelle there to hold her hand and reassure her. I honestly don’t think she could have done it without her big sister.
Before Pics: Lovely lobes still in tact. 
Here we go!
She started off a little nervous…and squeezed the heck out of Annabelle’s hand. 
Then she lost it. She said she really wanted it done but she was so afraid it was going to hurt. 
I wouldn’t let her continue unless she was absolutely certain this was what she wanted. She assured me she wanted her ears pierced but she planned to cry the entire time. I felt terrible for her and wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do. G is such a sensitive soul and I didn’t want this to be negative experience for her. 
She asked the tech if they could do both at the same time and they happily agreed. They told her they wouldn’t go until she said “ready”. They counted down 3, 2, 1….
and then I heard the sweetest little Gwyneth voice squeek “READY!”. 
And it was done! She did it!
I asked if it hurt and she said “Heck yes. It felt like they were putting staples through my head!” 
I went to check out and heard the girls having a lovely moment. 
Here’s a few things I heard:
Gwyneth: “I was always a little bit jealous that you had your ears pierced but I thought I would be too scared.”
Annabelle: “I’m so glad you did it. I’m proud of you.”
Gwyneth: “I never really liked my ears before, but now I LOVE them.”
Those girls!
Gwyneth threw on her shades and was ready to show off those earrings to the world. 
Ears pierced!
We had planned to go a movie tonight, but the girls wanted to stay home and organize their earrings!