Grandma's 66th Birthday!

For her birthday celebration, Grandma decided she wanted to go to Biaggi's for dinner for some good old fashioned Italian food.  We met her at the restaurant and had the hostess take her birthday cake to the kitchen so we could surprise her with it after dinner. 

Of course, all three girls fought over who got to sit next to her at dinner.  They decided to all scrunch together on the same side of the bench, rather than solve it with a fist fight or pushing each other off the seat.  Nice choice, girlies!

 

While waiting for our dinner, Rian entertained us with her spoon trick. 

After dinner, Grandma opened her gift (a Pandora bracelet with a couple of charms) and we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed some cake.  Happy Birthday, Grandma!

 

Sunflower Farm 2013

Every year we make a trip to Sunflower Farm in Longmont, CO.  This year we were excited to have our good friends, Kristin and Spence come too, along with their kids: Carter, Calvin, Lena and Lauren.  It was rainy and cold the previous day, so we were thrilled when we woke up to sunshine and clear skies.  After a quick stop for breakfast burritos on the way, it was time to explore the land. 

 

The weather was perfect and the kids all got along great.  There is always so much to do that we run out of time before we see it all, but the kids had a great time enjoying the freedom to roam.  We didn't see much of Hayden, Carter and Lena, as they were always off crawling through bushes looking for chicken eggs or climbing trees. 

Lauren had fun pushing Hayden and Jess on the hammock swing.

 

You would have never known looking at this photo that so much of the surrounding area had been devastated by the worst floods in Colorado history only two weeks prior. 

Hayden had a whole collection of feathers by the day's end:  turkey, bird, chicken and peacock.  (Let's just say mom made her use quite a bit of hand sanitizer by the time she was through.)

 

 

A lot of the birds and fowl were nesting so we were able to see quite a few of their babies. 

 

Everyone took a turn on the zipline. 

 

And the horse-tire swing.

 

There are so many neat tree forts and suspension bridges made out of rope that the kids never got tired of it. 

Calvin kept trying to freak me out with the dung beetle he befriended and carried around with him for two hours. 

The peacocks enjoyed hanging out on the roof of this barn and also on the branches of the tree above!

 

 

 

Jessie had a particularly good time playing in the giant sand pit and making pretend food to feed the family.

These cows had the longest "hair" I had ever seen. 

Lauren and Jessie. 

Three teachers to a classroom????

Climbing on all the antique tractors and pretending to drive is always a big hit.  It was a great day spent with friends and enjoying the outdoors.  Happy Fall!!!

All About Me

I could hardly believe my youngest daughter was in Kindergarten, let alone ready to do her "All About Me" presentation in front of the class.  It seems like only yesterday Hayden was sitting on that same chair sharing about her family. 

Jessie was lucky because Ms. Themm got a SmartBoard in her classroom this year.  So Jessie was able to project the images from her book up on the large screen for the class to see.  Though she barely spoke above a whisper the whole time, she did great sharing her work with the class. 

She was proud to share a picture of her good pals, Shane and Ava, from Vietnam.

Here she is taking Questions and Compliments from the class at the end.  Proud of you, J.!

It's My Party.......

We were so lucky we had scheduled Rian's party for two weeks after her actual birthday.  Right after her birthday was when we were hit with the worst floods in Colorado history.  But on the morning of the party, the skies were clear and the sun was shining. 

Rian decided she wanted a zebra-themed pizza making party. So we bought pink chefs hats and aprons for the girls to decorate and Hayden spent all morning hanging pink, white and black streamers all over the house.   

All set and ready to go.

 

Pre-party jitters were lessoned with a few snuggles from the cat.

You can't see Rian's skirt, but she too is wearing white, black and pink.

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Sage.

Jasmine!

Rian.

Ella F.

Olivia

 

The girls had fun designing their aprons and hats and took their time creating some really cute pictures and designs.

 

Ready to roll!

Everyone made their own personal size pizza with their favorite toppings and then we went outside to play some party games while Dad baked the pizzas for everyone.

The girls had to move the hula hoop around the entire circle while holding hands and not letting go. 

The mummy-wrap game was a big hit.  In teams of two, the girls had to run to the other side of the yard, and one of the girls had to "dress" the other team member up as a mummy using an entire roll of toilet paper before running back to the finish line.

Jaz and Rian made great partners. 

Ella F. and Sarah.

Ella R. with Kaylee.

 

 

After the girls were done, they came inside to eat their creations!

And open presents. 

And have some zebra brownies.

Towards the end of the party, we went out front and played several games with water balloons. (Most of which ended up as water balloon fights!) .

The favorite game of the day was the Donut-on-a-String game where two girls competed against each other at a time to see who could finish their donut the fastest (without using their hands). 

 

There were lots of giggles and powdered sugar noses during this game!

It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to be able to throw Rian a birthday party for her and her closest friends.