princess

art and basketball

The weather cleared up after the blizzard, as it does in Colorado and we were off for another adventure. Gwyneth’s request was to visit the Denver Art Museum so we hopped in the car and fought through a few rough patches of snow in our neighborhood and headed downtown. 
Gwyneth loves art and she loves the interactive studio at the museum. They change the exhibit often and this time the girls were able to experiment with different pigments and painting techniques. I especially enjoyed them painting with non-traditional items including toothbrushes, salad spinners, and potato mashers. 
What the heck? 

What do you need when its cold and snowy? Ice cream, naturally! 

Annabelle’s request for the afternoon was to play basketball. We stopped by our rec center and had a great time shooting hoops and practicing passes. We tried to get a little game going but Gwyneth wasn’t really having it. She mostly skipped around the gym being her silly self while Annabelle took her practice very, very seriously. She could have stayed all day. This girl loves basketball.

Love the victory celebration after a good shot!

And this girl. Such a character. 

blizzard

Colorado weather is bipolar! 
There is no other explanation for this crazy spring weather. Tuesday we enjoyed 70 degrees and sunshine and Wednesday we played in two feet of snow. It put a swift end to our plans for the day. I was expecting a few inches, but we were snowed in! 

B decided to head in to the Kitchen which was absolutely bonkers. The entire city was shutting down and the snow projections were coming in with high winds and inches and inches of snow. I texted and texted and texted him begging him to come home so he didn’t get stuck at the kitchen for the night. And then we waited…

And we decided to decorate Easter eggs. I didn’t stock up for much at the store the previous day because they weren’t projecting this much snow. I did manage to pick up “eggs” and dyes and the girls each picked out their own perfect kit. 
Gwyneth went with glitter eggs which is not at all surprising. 
I bought fake eggs to decorate because I wanted to take them to the hotel with us. They weren’t quite heavy enough though and floated on top of the dye. The girls had to keep spinning them and pushing them down and they ended up with stained finger tips but didn’t seem to mind at all. I’m not sure I would recommend it, but they did make for good travel. 

Our view dying eggs. 

B left the Kitchen at 1:00 and finally made in to our garage around 3:00 p.m. Keep in mind he works about 10 minutes from our house. He made it to our street before getting stuck. Our neighbors (who you can see behind Annabelle below) got stuck on the street also. The dads had to shovel the cars off the street and made a path down the road with their snowblowers for the rest of the neighbors.

We were so thankful that B made it home in this weather and we were able to enjoy the beautiful snowfall together.

Annabelle decorated snazzy mustache and top hat eggs. Very dapper. 
Glitter eggs

I use to think I was the only one who enjoyed all this Colorado snowfall, but my little ladies love it too. I don’t think B dislikes it — at least not as much since he got a snowblower!

spring break: choose your own adventure

Remember when I said here that we didn’t have any plans for spring break and I might have been freaking out about it? Around midnight on Monday, I decided that would just never do and came up with this plan.

Post its of activities: 
Grid of dates (including guidance for weather for those pesky snow days)

 I can’t just wait around. I can’t just play it by ear. I can’t. I can’t. I had to get some fun on the calendar. It may not be pinterest worthy but a few post it notes sure got us motivated.

When the girls woke up Tuesday morning they were so excited to pick activities for the week.

I told them their plans were quite aggressive and they assured me that if we ran out of time we could just skip what they had picked for me and their dad. B was more kind and said that he would pick up my slack at the Kitchen so I could take the girls for some fun this week.

We started our beautiful Tuesday by heading down to the zoo…along with every other family off school for spring break. The parking lot was full and there were about 10 school buses of field trips as well. Heck no! We don’t dig a crowd so we quickly changed up the plan. The girls were hungry so we stopped off at Steubens to come up with a new plan.

Cheers ladies!

Annabelle had never been to the Denver Botanic Gardens and Gwyneth was eager to show it off to her. It was just a few minutes from Steubens and we nearly had the place to ourselves. It was a gorgeous spring day, the views spectacular and the flowers in bloom.

We first discovered the children’s garden. These little ladies were happy to just be outside soaking up the sunshine.

Such theatrics: 

We ventured over to the main gardens:

pensive little lady
On to the Japanese Gardens. 
My favorite and now the girls’ favorite too. Happy to share that with them. 
There were many paths and I gave the girls a bit of freedom to explore. 
Tough for a momma but good for the soul. 

The girls have declared the gardens one of their new favorite places and can’t wait to return. We don’t have a membership but when our zoo membership expires we may just have to switch.

We agreed that if the school buses were gone when we drove past the zoo we would venture in for a bit. As luck would have it, the buses were leaving as we were heading in and it seemed many families were leaving for the afternoon. It was much less crowded (still more than the gardens), but we thought we would give it a try.

The highlight of the zoo had to be the rogue goose that attacked a woman just passing by our table as we sat enjoying an afternoon snack. She was just walking along, minding her own business when a goose swooped in and bit her right on the back of the head. The goose then proceeded to squawk and nip at the other geese roaming around the tables. We took this as a gentle nudge to move along and Gwyneth has soundly added geese to her “I’m not a big fan of those…let’s run!” list.

Think I wore these ladies out yet? Yeah, I had hoped so, but nope! They were ready for some mini golf at Boondocks.

Annabelle and I both each got a hole in one and Gwyneth was pleased when she kept her ball on our green instead of in the rocks. Actually, she wasn’t happy because these girls are fiercely competitive, but she held it together and didn’t throw or whack anyone with her club. Victory? I’ll take it.

We ended the day with dinner and a movie, Zootopia, at Cinebarre. 
Now, that’s a day. That’s a busy, busy day even for an ol’ planner like myself. 

spring break: boulder

Spring Break is officially underway. This break is a lot different than years past. I’m a planner, an organizer, I love to be on the go. This week was different. We worked and we didn’t really have a plan and we were at the mercy of other people’s schedules (more on that another time…) and I didn’t freak out. 
Ok, maybe I freaked out a little, just a little. 
Ok, maybe I was anxious most of the week. Just a bit, just little bit. 
Ok, maybe if we’re being honest, I totally freaked out and was uber anxious the entire week.
Maybe now is not the time to go ruining things with honesty!
I’m not one of those fun “let’s just play it by ear…” kind of gals. Sometimes I wish I was, but mostly I’m glad that I’m an organizing fool. I’m glad that I keep a meticulous calendar and I don’t miss deadlines, and I remember dates and times and obligations, and hopefully people aren’t waiting around for me too often, and I plan really fun stuff for my family. 
I think my family likes it too. They like the shows, and the museums, and the trips. It makes the snuggling time on the couch that much more special. At least I hope so. Who knows….maybe they’ll eventually revolt against me and block my access to my google calendar and we’ll just do nothing…forever! {shiver!}
Sunday night we had no plans and no school the next day and no bedtimes. We took advantage of the cool but beautiful night and headed up to Boulder. We had no dinner plans and no reservations and we waited for 25 minutes for a table. It’s like I don’t even recognize myself anymore….
And it was all lovely and fun…until someone got hangry. But then we ate. And it was all lovely and fun again. 

Let the shenanigans begin…

vet hospital and roller skating

Annabelle’s troop went on a field trip of a local Vet hospital. The vet tech gave the girls an amazing tour including mock xrays and surgeries. They learned so much and many of these girls have expressed interest in becoming vets. It was a great experience for them. 

The tech gave Annabelle her stethoscope and she wore it for the rest of the tour.

Practicing surgery on a stuffed duck

Unfortunately Annabelle’s friend Sofia developed an ear infection and they had to cancel their evening together. They had planned on roller skating and don’t get to see each other as often since Annabelle switched schools. She was bummed but went with the flow.

Gwyneth and Ella roller skating
The girls played hard! 

happy birthday: B

Oh Lordy, look who’s forty!
I was lucky enough to meet this guy when I was 16 and he’s been making me so happy ever since. I really wanted to celebrate B’s 40th birthday in a big way, but in his typical fashion he wasn’t having it. He didn’t want a big party or for anyone to make a fuss. He requested dinner with just me and the girls and a stay downtown. 
Naturally the girls and I got a hold of that plan and tried to make it a little more fabulous for him. (He agreed to all of it before hand — he hates surprises!)  
We booked a limo to pick B and I up at the house and enjoyed a glass of bubbly on the way to pick the girls up from school. B looked so happy to pick the girls up from school in a limo. Even on HIS birthday he cares more about others and is such an amazing dad. 

We stopped at Dairy Queen for a special treat for the girls to enjoy on our way downtown.

The limo took us to the Ritz where we all got dolled up for dinner.

Our final stop was Morton’s. We had a delicious dinner and desserts and a wonderful time celebrating this amazing guy!
We stayed both Friday and Saturday downtown and took B to a Globetrotters game. None of us had ever been before and we had a blast! 

It was a wonderful weekend to celebrate an amazing husband and dad. We are quite lucky to have this guy and love him so much. 

colorado springs revisited

We have been making our way around resorts in Colorado Springs. We tried another called the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. This one was just minutes away from the zoo which we have been very eager to check out. We had a great time, but I preferred the Garden of the Gods resort. 
We waited out the rain playing cards. We taught the girls Gin Rummy. Annabelle loved it, Gwyneth played one hand and asked if she could color instead. 
Fierce!
What a view!
The hotel had a smores bar….Gwyneth went for the standard chocolate bars and Annabelle and I added Reeces Peanut Butter cups. 
We finally got to visit the zoo. I had heard so much about it, but have never been. It was just as amazing as everyone described! 
Feeding the giraffes. B was the most adventurous of the group. 
After our zoo trip, we had pizza in Manitou Springs. 
Next stop: the top of Pikes Peak!

garden of the gods and renaissance festival

I may be in love with Colorado Springs. It’s not that far from us, but this weekend we made a trip of it and stayed overnight. We stayed at the gorgeous Garden of the Gods Resort. The views from our balcony were amazing and we were just a quick drive to the Garden of the Gods park. 
We had grand plans to go explore, but ended up snacking at the resort and swimming and relaxing on our balcony. I’m a planner, uber-planner really, so downtime is not something I always allocate time for, but this peaceful family time was just what we all needed! 
Wedding Crashers!
How gorgeous is this view???
Annabelle loved the vanity in the bathroom. So, so girly. 
Afternoon snacks. Perfection!
The girls hit the pool and Annabelle took her first jump off a diving board. One hop in and she was hooked!
We had dinner at the golf club and enjoyed a beautiful Colorado evening with fantastic views and weather. 
Kissing Camels
We surprised the girls with room-service breakfast on our patio.
We finally had to drag ourselves from the resort (we could have stayed a few more days and enjoyed that view and the laziness). We ventured over to Garden of the Gods and the girls fell in love. We could barely keep up with Gwyneth. Even in a dress and crocs, she was all over the rocks. 
We finished up our weekend with a trip to the Renaissance Festival. This has become quite a tradition with Gus and Misti. This year Abe and Wendi joined us too. It was cooler than most years and we had a lovely time eating crazy fair foods and enjoying cold beers. The girls still love the fairies best and Misti made their day buying them special “fairy dust”. I can’t compete with that. 
Corn on the cob and fried mac and cheese….is that what they really ate during the renaissance period? I’m pretty sure they didn’t have Coors light either, so I’m going to let it lie..
Our rag tag crew. Very fun day!

bmk: my love monsters

I have been hosting a series of classes called Little Books and Cooks at the Kitchen. I absolutely love it. The kids classes are my favorite. They are so much fun to work with and I can be silly and creative. 
I hosted a class on Saturday so my girls could join also. We read Love Monster and then made delicious cookies. We’ve had such an outpouring of support from friends and the girls’ friends from dance and school. More friends joined them today. I look forward to adding more of these events to the calendar. 
Ready to decorate some cookies: 

We had a late night, an early morning and then a few snowflakes. That was enough to send us straight back to the couch for the snuggles. We abandoned all afternoon plans. B had an event to cater that evening so we were extra lazy lounging on the couch watching movies waiting for him to get home to snuggle with us. These moments make for some of the very best Saturdays.

bmk: christmas cookie decorating

I hosted my first cookie decorating event at the Kitchen. It turned out great. So many sweet, sweet kids. We made so many cookies and played games and did crafts. I tell ya, this is the absolute best job I’ve ever had. The behind the scenes work involves long hours and lots and lots of work, but the hosting part is a lot of fun. I’m lucky when my friends bring in their cute, fabulous kids. Life ain’t bad.