south dakota!

Our Spring Break trip this year was the stuff that makes my history-loving heart happy. When I learned Mount Rushmore is only six hours from Denver (it just feels so much further away), I knew we had to get on that. Well, the trip finally happened! We went for a long weekend, and while not everything was open for busy summer season and the kids got a little tired of the car, we had a ton of fun and enjoyed seeing the sights without all the crowds.

Mount Rushmore! All my elementary school dreams came true. I actually got chills when we came around a turn in the road and saw the side of Abe Lincoln's face in the distance. Rhett was talking about seeing the "faces on the mountain" for weeks before our trip. We ate ice cream from Thomas Jefferson's original recipe and Rhett got his first Junior Ranger badge, so everybody won!

 Reptile Gardens was a big surprise. It had great reviews but we were still a little skeptical. It ended up being awesome. There were tons of lizards, snakes, birds, alligators, and bugs, plus giant tortises, prairie dogs, and a bald eagle.

 Psalm Sunday in Rapid City. Tessa killed me in her Easter dress.

We visited Custer State Park and drove the Wildlife Loop, where we saw tons of deer and an entire herd of buffalo just chilling next to the road. The picture above isn't zoomed in! 

We drove the Needles Highway through amazing rock formations and tight tunnels and ended at Sylvan Lake. The entire thing was frozen, and the hike around it was amazing! We ended up on the ice, where Rhett was in awe that we were actually standing on the lake. 

Rhett's second favorite part of the trip was Dinosaur Park, which is just a park on the hill with huge dinosaur sculptures. The simplest things are the biggest hits with kids. 

Another favorite part of the trip was hotel breakfast. Rhett made a nest in his bed of pillows every night.

I couldn't find an Airbnb that I liked, so we ended up scoring a great deal at an extended stay hotel with two bedrooms and a living area and kitchenette. It was awesome--all the perks of a hotel with the comfort of an apartment.

All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks for the memories, presidential faces!

friday favorites

It's been a while, so here are some of the things we've been loving lately:

Crystal Light. In my ever-constant attempt to drink more water, I've turned to mixing up the taste. The individual serving Crystal Light packs are the best (esp. strawberry) and help my chug more water.

Spring time! Spring is here, and it feels so good to have the windows open and not have to bundle up every time we leave the house! We're also gearing up for a fun summer and lots of house projects, so hello adventure and goodbye money!

Family runs. Andre and I signed up for the Bolder Boulder, and then some friends convinced me to run a triathalon in July, so we definitely have some running to do. We've been going out a few times a week with Andre and I running, Tessa in the stroller, and Rhett on his bike, and it's just so much fun. The other night Rhett wanted to run too and he did more than a mile! We're obviously signing him up for track this summer.

Designated Survivor. We signed up for a free Hulu trial to finish Bones, but then we got sucked into Designated Survivor and played right into Hulu's hands. There are plot holes for sure, but I'm also super intrigued and love sharing my conspiracy theories with Andre. Who bombed the Capitol?

3 in 30 Podcast. There are so many good mom podcasts out there that I'm just getting into, but this one is my favorite so far. The idea is to get 3 real takeaways in 30 minutes. I love that the episodes are short and meant to help you improve your life/momming. The host is a little monotone, but the guests are just normal people for the most part, so I just feel like I'm just talking to a really smart/interesting friend.

Happy Sitter phase. Tessa is in my very favorite part of baby-hood where she can sit but not move. She loves watching what's going on and can roll and reach for things to make her happy, but she's not crawling and causing destruction yet.

The Greatest Showman Soundtrack. We're the only people on earth who haven't seen the movie, but I still listen to the soundtrack because I want to fit in and because my pilates class uses like 3 of the songs. Even Rhett loves to sing along. Maybe someday we'll even see the movie and the music will actually make sense.

book chat again

More books! I started a book club in January, and it's been so fun to have a good book/life discussion every month. The first two months ended up being books I suggested, but it was good to try something new for March.
Andre has already read like 20 books this year, so I've got to do my job to keep up with him!

What Alice Forgot

I started this book years ago, had to return it, and ended up accidentally checking out "Still Alice" when I went to find it again. [I actually loved Still Alice, too. Two good books about Alices losing their memory]. In this book, Alice has a crash during spin class and can't remember the last decade. I love this book. The characters are so real, and I totally saw myself in Alice--good and bad. We had a great discussion about this book at book club, and it's such a good reminder to prioritize the relationships that really matter.

Shoe Dog

I've never owned a pair of Nikes and knew very little about the company before, but now I want to talk Nike with everyone! This book was fascinating, and I kept stopping to share tidbits with Andre. I'm basically a running shoe expert now. The book covers the beginning of Nike until it went public. I like Phil's attitude and the honesty from his story--there are some gray areas in making the right business decision, but he was open about the ups and downs. Fascinating and a great conversation book.

the hate u give

This book kept popping up on best of 2017 lists, so I had to try it. It's unlike anything I've ever read before--a black teenage girl is the only witness when her friend gets killed by a police officer--but it was an interesting look at a new perspective on current events and racial issues. The language is horrible, but also maybe necessary and accurate to the setting of the book. A good read, but I'm careful about who I recommend it to because of the content and language, but it was definitely eye-opening.

counting by 7s

This book was March's book club read, and I breezed through it in just a few days. A quirky genius tween's parents are killed in a car crash, and this book covers the aftermath and her custody issues. That makes it sound really depressing, but it actually has a lot of hope and real-ness. I loved the perspective of Willow and her relationships with the other characters. I actually finished it while Rhett was playing at the museum today, and being in public was probably the only reason I didn't cry at the end.

Big Little Lies

Oh, Liane Moriarty, you Australian goddess. Another book with lots of hype, and another good read. The characters were fascinating, and I totally didn't see the twist coming at the end. It was a little draggy at some points, but I kept plugging along because I had to know who died! I was excited to watch the miniseries that has won allll the awards, but then I watched a trailer and the language was so bad that I'll have to pass. I liked What Alice Forgot better, but this book definitely makes me glad my life is drama-free.

little moments: february 2018

Ok, what happened to February? I swear we were just cleaning up Christmas and setting New Year's Resolutions.
But it was a good month! I've been trying to be more intentional and also have more fun with the kids, which means separating mom and work and just being in the moment. That's to say we had lots of routines and also lots of fun this month. Highlights!

Open play at the indoor soccer field. Rhett was in heaven to be able to play with a real goal while our backyard is covered in snow (He asks every day if the snow is melted so he can play soccer. Luckily now it is). 

Tessa and her cucumber. 

 Sunday naptime...usually I can get her to sleep in my arms during sunday school, but one day I had to hide in the mother's lounge. She finally fell asleep on me so I couldn't move.

 "Mom, take a picture of me with the Easter Bunny"

 We scored a deal on a sleeping bag for Rhett in anticipation of all the camping we plan to do this summer. Naturally, he had to "camp" for a few days in the living room. 

 Rhett made a zebra pasture for him and Tessa one morning. They were the zebras inside. 

 So obsessed with this girl and her giant bows. 

 Tessa goes to the science museum 

 Frog Tessa after a bath. Those eyes kill me!

 Ok, this needs some serious explanation. Rhett calls his stuffed animals his "team". He's their leader and they fight crime together and save the day. Each stuffy has a huge back story and big personality (Toadie the frog has a credit card and has been to Paris, for example. He's currently reading the third Harry Potter book). Some kids have imaginary friends, Rhett has his stuffed animal team that he trains and has made up stuff about. Anyway, one morning we were getting ready for church when Rhett said it was team picture day and we needed a picture of all of us. This kid. 

 Tessa is turning into a park fiend to match her brother. I love it! These two playing together is my favorite thing. 

Our downtown adventure to the firefighter museum put us a few blocks from Andre's office, so we stopped by. Rhett loves Dad's comfy work chair.