Oh September

Well September kicked my butt.
I told my mom that if we have another child with a September birthday, I'm going to just throw in the towel.
Caleb and Blake's birthdays are just a little over a week apart.
Her due date was the day before Caleb's birthday so I really should stop my grumbling.
It could have been a lot worse.

What did I do for my dear sweet husband you might ask?
Well, I sent my big tough cop of a hubs on a scavenger hunt for his present!
It was awesome!!  
He walked around trying to act so put out that his wife was making him hunt for his presents.
Oh it was great!  (and a great peek into our relationship dynamic)

Little Miss delivered the first clue and since I am a nerd and love to write, each clue was a little rhyme as to where the next clue would be.

And then off he went, to Blake's playhouse, the mailbox, the basement, the backyard
(Note:  Huskies love clues too and might demolish anything left within their reach)

 And then he had to call my Mom for his final clue...  this is his I'm excited but trying to act tough face.

Which lead him to............ THIS!

Yep it's an iPad-  this little sucker took me quite awhile to save up for without him noticing.

He forgave me for the hunt once he opened his present!  :)

Happy Birthday, babe!  Your girls love you!!!

Whoooooo Lives in a Pinapple Under the Sea???

I guess when you have a girl, you envision, princess parties, complete with pink, ruffles and tutus.
Never in a million years would I have dreamed that we would have had a Spongebob Birthday for the Big #2!

Now you might be saying, "Hey Jami, you do have control here...."  You are right I do.  But when you see this girls face light up when anything Spongebob crosses her path, you only want to make her face light up even more with a Spongebob overload party!

Well, then came the challenge of creating a girly Spongebob birthday.  I mean, go look, everything SB related is all blue and boyish.  Definitely not ok for a 2 year old girl... so I knew I had my work cut out for me.  After multiple trips to any and every craft store in town, and any and every party store in the world, here is a sneak peek into Blake's special day.

(birthday table)  

(birthday banner)

(breakfast muffins)

Then came the friend party at the park.

All of her little friends came to play and I had one table to decorate at this party.

(i didn't get a totally done picture but here is the in progress one)

(this cake was a HUGE hit and she got to keep all the toys and the house)

(thank you, Target, for carrying this awesome cake)

Our house is still recovering from the overload of Spongebob, but she couldn't get enough.

I think it was a success and I'm so glad that it is finally over.  

Here are some more pictures for enjoyment.

 

Thank you to everyone who made this such a special day!!!

My One Minute Half Time Show

A couple of weeks ago, the hubs and I got free tickets the the Bronco Pre-season game.

The Broncos gave tickets to all of the first responders at the Aurora Movie Theater shooting.

Before the game all of the victims of the shooting got to walk onto the field while the crowd gave them a standing ovation.  It was a pretty moving site to see.

Next came the intro of the Broncos with our new quarterback that ALL of Denver is thrilled about, Peyton Manning.  This was his first appearance at a game so once again the crowd went wild.

We went with one of our favorite couples, Jason and Ashley.  (and their new baby boy!)  

Yeah Caleb and Jason are pretty close- a little to close sometimes!  :)

Good thing I love Ashley just as much.  If not we'd be in big trouble.  

My all time favorite date!

Then came one of the craziest moments of my life.  I got to be apart of the half time show.  At first I refused- until I discovered I'd be in a huge Bud Lite Platinum bottle and no one would see my face.  (I have a weird fear of being in front of crowds of people)

So I raced  waddled my way through our relay race, and lost miserably.  But hey it was fun and I impressed my husband.  I'm not just a lame mom, I can race in a bottle on the Bronco's football field....  not well, but I can do it!  :)

Ignore my husband's ever supportive commentary!  :)  

I'm the orange bottle that comes in very last!

Zoo Fun

So if anyone is ever in Denver you MUST and I mean MUST check out the Denver Zoo.
I mean, Wow!!

They have done a whole lot of upgrades to this place and it's pretty dang cool.
They just put in a new "Asian Tropics" with a luxury hotel for the elephants.
Ok not really a hotel but if I was an elephant I would LOVE to live here.

And of course I couldn't resist this picture perfect moment with Little Miss.  She was a little scared of the elephants, but she found the elephant ears pretty hilarious.

Now I don't know about you but my kid is pretty obsessed with anything water related.  Swimming, fountains, puddles... it just makes her little day complete.  Well, the zoo just put in the cutest little water park by the seals and polar bears!   It's so fun!

It's just way to much fun to see the zoo through the eyes of an almost 2 year old.
And after a long day of checking out these Denver animals and playing in the water, we were pretty exhausted.  So of course our only option is a girl's slumber party.   I mean of course!!!!

So we grabbed our new best friend baby and put on a little Spongebob and had a great night relaxing.

Excuse our blurry self portrait here.... we just had to document the end to our fun little day!

Mother Nature, I Love You!

I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks.

Trust me, I've thought about it, but I've been a little busy!

Ya know, just hanging out with my family, pestering my little bro, enjoying my mom and discovering even MORE amazing places in Colorado.

Allow me to introduce you to Glenwood Springs!

It is the coolest mountain town.

I couldn't get bored in this small town if I tried!

Seriously!

It's about 3 1/2 hours away from Denver and well worth the trip.

We might have just enjoyed some crazy fun White Water Rafting, might have eaten at some pretty cool little restaurants, and maybe just maybe discovered one of the world's prettiest places.

The mountains always nourish my soul.

God definitely speaks through his beauty.

It's so nice to be away and "disconnect" for a little while.

So I hope these pictures also give you a little sense of awe!!

And if your in Colorado, please trust me and check this place out!

Glenwood Canyon

Hanging Lake

If this doesn't relax you, I don't know what will. 

These little chipmunks make you feel like a Disney Princess, they'll hang out with you and eat right out of your hand.... say it with me now... "AWWWWW"

Excuse the random girl in my picture... she wouldn't get off the dang log!  :)

Ignore my stupid hair/bangs in this picture and maybe admire the hotness of my hubby instead.

And hopefully we convinced this guy to move out here next year.

Love this Little Brother of mine!

Well there you go... did I convince you?

Tough Mudder

A few weeks ago we took a family trip to Beaver Creek so Caleb could run the Tough Mudder race.

It was so much fun and I just have to share!

If you haven't heard of the Tough Mudder here is a brief snapshot of what all it entails.

It's pretty intense.  

And it's super hard here in Colorado because you have to factor in the altitude.

Trust me... it does make a difference.

I played the "I have to watch the kid" card so only hubby got to run it with his team.

Ahh shucks!  :)

So while they were getting muddy and sore and electrocuted (yes that is right) and dunked in ice cold water... well here is what Blake and I did.

Yep, we picked flowers and enjoyed a peaceful time on the mountain!  :)

We got to hang out with our little friend, Alyssa, and I think Little Miss enjoyed having a friend for the day.  We rode the gondola, played with horses, played on the playground and topped it off with a picnic at the top of the mountain.

That sure beats running the race... if you ask me!  :)

Not to thrilled to be held by muddy daddy!  :)  

But she was super proud of him... promise.

We had a great time.

Caleb did awesome, and is even trying to convince me to run it with him next year!

So looks like I'll start training right now if that's going to happen.  

Either that or get pregnant.  We'll see!  :)

After quite the eventful day, I drove us all down the mountain, back home.

And here is what my car looked like for most of the way home.

So peaceful aren't they??

Anyone want to run it next year?  You know you do!!!  :)