We dragged Grandpa to an 8-year-old’s roller skating birthday party. You KNOW he loved it <3
It’s almost the end of February, friends!
To be honest, January flew by (because we spent every single weekend in the mountains, so that helped), while February has felt somewhat slow. Having Grandpa visit us from New York for the past week has been a blast, though, and helped us break up those mid-winter (I mean, WHERE IS OUR COLORADO WINTER, THOUGH?) blues.
Here’s a bit of what we got up to!
We went to check out the “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” exhibit at Center for the Arts Evergreen, and although I wasn’t sure what to expect, it was fantastic! (And free!)I definitely wanted to buy this Berthoud Pass painting!We ate lunch at Willow Creek Restaurant at Evergreen Lake afterwards, and it was the cutest spot with the most delicious food. I will be back, for sure.I mean … right?!Chris & I snuck out for a date night on Friday to Ash’Kara, a three-time Michelin Bib Gourmand award winner in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood. It was the hummus dinner of my dreams. The big girls started their ice skating lessons at the Apex Center on Saturday, which was so fun to watch!Grandpa was served up a heavy dose of Instagram advertising on the Museum of Illusions in Denver, so we went! It’s super creepy that our phones are spying on us, but also super helpful when they actually suggest fun things to do. It’s basically 50/50. I’d say plan for about 45 minutes to an hour, but it’s on the 16th Street Mall, so it’s a really fun spot to check out if you’re with visitors, anyway.Half Lotte, half Grace … full creepy!We ate at Sam’s No. 3 after the museum, which has basically every single food item that has ever been invented on the menu, as well as Bloody Mary’s the size of my head, so that was a lot of fun. The main reason Robert flew out was to watch Lotte perform the Star-Spangled Banner with her choir at the CU Women’s Basketball game on Saturday night. It was SO SWEET (and emotional for me!), and the game was so much fun, too!Makin’ friends everywhere she goes 😉We had so much fun at a birthday party for one of Gracie’s little friends at Skate City! Chris finally got to use the roller blades he begged his parents to bring with them from Australia about a million years ago, so that alone made it worth it. Emilia skipped school on Monday to hang with Grandpa at the Denver Zoo. Hey, you know when’s the best time to visit the zoo? When everyone else is at school. The new art installations they’re putting up all around the zoo are incredible!
Thanks for helping us get rid of our winter blues, Grandpa! Next up … spring break!
Lotte performed the National Anthem at a CU Boulder women’s basketball game with her school choir!
And lots of cuddles and love, of course 😉
Brought these cuties to the airport with me to pick everyone up. We took our welcoming committee duties very seriously <3Love my sisterrrrrrrrrrrrr !And Grandpa, of course 😉Lyle the Crocodile at the Arvada Center was so cute! The play was adorable, and they had a little “how we make it come together” session afterwards with two of the actresses, and then they answered questions, too. Lotte & Grace got picked to ask questions and theirs were very good ones … if I do say so myself 😉Sunday was Rosalie’s birthday, and we had a Wicked-themed party that was so fun!Emilia couldn’t come with us to the Bubble Planet because she had ski lessons at A-Basin, but she made her own fun on the bunny hill 😉The Bubble Planet was great! The girls tore quickly through it, but it was still a really fun way to spend an hour on a cold day.Grandpa, takin’ one for the team!I’m a very cool aunt. This was probably our most favorite room.To infinity and beyond with this girl <3Trippy!Lots of love in this pic. They ended with a $10/person VR experience, which was sort of annoying. But Lotte, Rosalie, Grace & Grandpa really enjoyed it!Afterwards we went swimming at the Apex Center to say farewell to swim before Rosalie and Lotte got their ears pierced on Monday. It was SO BUSY, but the girls had a blast.This ropes course in the water was a particular hit 😉We ended the big birthday with a screening of Wicked in our movie theater room. The perfect topper!Lotte, Ro and my sis got their ears pierced on Monday! To be honest … Lotte was terrified 😉 She needed lots of pep talks and cuddles, but eventually, she did it!We requested to have it done at the same time. I wasn’t sure if she had one ear done at a time that she would actually get them both pierced!I was so proud of her for working through her fears! (Ro didn’t even flinch, hah!)Just a couple of pierced ear ladies <3Paddington (which was very cute) to celebrate!
The girls went back to school on Tuesday, but after we picked up Emilia from her half-day preschool class, Rosalie, Steph, Grandpa, Emilia & I headed back to Denver and to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
I’m glad that Emilia & Rosalie got to spend a little one-on-one time together while the big girls were in school <3The Science Museum is always a blast!The ladybug was of course a hit.We stopped by the new In-N-Out on the way home, too!Grandpa said it was only so-so 😉A quick hair salon sesh at night and that was it!
Rosalie and Steph left early Wednesday (tears), but Grandpa hung out one more day to catch Lotte sing the National Anthem with her elementary school choir at the CU basketball game!
So proud of these cuties!Jumbotron cuteness!
And now, it’s back to just us. Wah wahh. We miss our family, but so glad to have these memories.
I have a secret to share, friends … I’ve never really been a huge fan of summer.
There, I said it. Anyone who actually knows me is rolling their eyes right now and thinking, “Duh, who doesn’t know that?” but to others, this might come as a surprise. As a curly headed woman who didn’t grow up near water but did grow up in a home without air conditioning for the longest time, the only things I had to look forward to when the weather got warmer was frizzy hair (okay, I admit, that was a year-round problem) and just the most awful humidity. These days, though, I’m making a concerted effort to change my ways … for the girls.
