april highlights

How is it May today? I am having some serious issues over here--wasn't it just Christmas? April was a good month, even if I'm in denial that it's already passed. Highlights!

 The science museum is always a good idea

 Tessa's eating adventures continue

 Tessa modeling Rhett's basketball shorts--so proud of herself!

 Rhett and I got passes to Elitch's for the summer and plan to go to the amusement park all the time. The day to pick up our passes and get some freebies happened to be freezing and rain/snowing, but we went anyway! (What won't we do for a freebie?) We rode some rides and had a great time, but we came home freezing and looking like drowned rats! 

 Tessa is on the move! She loves exploring the library

Rhett's story made of emojis...something about an octopus that went on an adventure?

We went to Utah for Chelsea's graduation. The BYU baseball game was a highlight--both kids loved meeting Cosmo!

Cousins at the park. Can't want to see what trouble these girls get into together in a few years!

spring is here!

Spring is Colorado is super unpredictable. One day it will be gorgeous and sunny, and the next it will be cold and snowy. I've learned to not tempt fate by putting the cold weather clothes away.
But we've had a pretty good string of nice weather and have been soaking up the sun. Rhett loves afternoons spent playing soccer in the backyard while Tessa cheers.

 We scored front row seats for a concert and story time by Eric Litwin, author of the Pete the Cat and Groovy Joe books. We're big fans, and we all loved it. 

 Picnic at the park! It ended up being super windy, but I was determined to make the picnic happen, so we did. 

 Park playdate with friends! These boys have so much fun together. 

 Back at the mall play place! We hadn't been since we moved last year, and Rhett was loving it. 

 Even Tessa got in on the action! I have a picture of Rhett on the same play place toy when he was about the same age. 

wrapping up march

Spring is in full bloom over here! (Except for our plants, which we think may have died). The weather is getting warmer, and we are loving it! Here are some of the un-blogged highlights from the month. 

 Repping our teams on Opening Day! Rhett was wearing his Rockies shirt, but he didn't want to be photographed that day. Tessa was a willing subject. 

 St. Patricks Day! We made a leprechaun trap but didn't catch anything. Rhett was pretty excited when a leprechaun came to preschool and flipped a table over and peed green in the toilet. 

 Andre scored some chicken wings from the Amazon Treasure Truck and set out to make the best BBQ wings ever. They were so good we forgot to take a picture until all that was left was the sauce and bone. If the lawyer thing doesn't work out, he could always go into the BBQ business

Rhett's teacher sent me this cute picture of the day the chicks came to school. 

 Free cone day at DQ!

 Tessa's eating adventures continue. This girl will eat anything!

 A trip to the train museum. Rhett is obsessed with the garden trains. 

 Cutest train kids!

 Guess what happened right after this picture was taken? A face plant in the wood chips. Don't worry, she's fine. 

 Lots of sunny afternoons cheering Rhett on as he plays soccer in the backyard.

Easter 2018

We kept our Easter pretty simple this year, and I loved how it turned out. We tried to focus more on the true reason for the holiday instead of all the fluff and candy. We also gave up on community Easter egg hunts--there's a part of me that really wants to do them because those types of events are totally my jam, but the parents are just so crazy and it's a madhouse. So we didn't do it. And we still had a great time. I'm learning that sometimes simple is better, as long as there's good food and good people around.

We did most of our Easter Bunny festivities on Saturday. On Sunday we had the missionaries and Grandma over to watch conference and eat all the Easter foods and somehow I didn't take any pictures, but it was a peaceful, beautiful day. 

 Dying Easter eggs. Rhett loved watching the transformation. And yes, we're totally in the forced smile phase....

 The Easter Bunny came!

 A small egg hunt in the backyard, with Rhett in his Halloween pajamas--typical. Rhett was so sweet and left some of the eggs for Tessa to find. 

 Bunny pancakes

We went to a community Easter festival that was fun, free, and calm. Tessa was the star of the show in her bunny ears. 

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!

Easter 2017

Between the hopeful messages, flowers, and chocolate, Easter is a fabulous, rejuvinating holiday. We spread out the celebration this year so Rhett was a little confused when actual Easter rolled around, but I think he loved it and got it this year. 

I heard about Easter Bunny story time at the mall. Turns out it is just one of the photographers reading a single Easter book next to the bunny, who stopped interacting with us after he realized we were going to shell out the $30 for an official picture. At least Rhett loved it. 

Play group Easter egg hunt where somehow we didn't get any pictures of all the kids together. It was a little crazy, but so fun to watch the kids scamper and get all the eggs. 

Dying Easter eggs. If we look a little concerned, it's because the egg was falling off the holder and crashed right after the picture. 

Stuff came up and we missed the big egg hunts, so we did a little one at home instead. It was a little spontaneous, hence the mismatched pajamas and cowboy hat. Cowboy Rhett waits in anticipation.

The loot.

 The best picture I could get of Rhett before church. $1 bowtie from China, Grandpa's hat from when he was little, and his new Easter dog named "Beast"...pretty typical. 

Matching blue ties after eating alll the Easter foods.