A Victorian Tea Party

We wanted to make sure Maddie's 9th birthday was a little extra special. It would be her last birthday right before saying good-bye to all her friends and moving across the country. She wanted a fancy tea party birthday, and since our house was in the process of being packed up and filled with boxes, we thought it would be nice to have the party somewhere else.

 

We decided on the Tea Room in Port Gamble, and it was so much fun. The girls got to dress up in fancy dresses and hats, learn some proper tea time etiquette, and then have their very own grown-up tea party. The little tea sandwiches and finger foods were a hit, and the birthday cake was beautiful. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Maddie's birthday, and also a nice way to spend time with some dear friends before our big move.    

Pumpkin Time!

Nothing says fall quite like an assortment of pumpkins!


Big pumpkins...


Little pumpkins...

We all enjoyed pumpkin painting this year!


And then we got to cap it off trick-or-treating!

The girls dressed in matching Wyoming cheerleader outfits courtesy of Pa and Grammy. A few of our Pacific Northwest friends and neighbors even recognized them as Wyoming uniforms, and I got to be proud of my alma mater. Go Cowboys! 

The only downside was leaving Jay at home. His knee surgery was just a few days before Halloween and he wasn't in prime walking condition yet. Not to worry though, the girls took good care of him and shared lots of their Halloween candy!

A Celebration Fit for the First Day of School!

At our house, we love school! And the first day of the new school year is cause for celebration! All of us, old and young alike look forward to it with loads of anticipation and excitement. For me, part of the joy is remembering back to my own school years and how much I loved practically everything about it: the new school supplies, new teachers, new lessons, and especially new books to read. Now the girls have the opportunity to experience these same things, and it's so fun to realize they are getting just as much joy from it as I used to.  

Everybody ready to head to the bus stop

Big smiles for the first day!

First Day of Third Grade

Good ol' Bus #59

After the girls got back home we all sat down to a delicious little meal. We even broke out the fancy glasses, bought some flowers, and made up place cards. And we enjoyed hearing the complete rundown of the first day back at school. This year it was a little poignant, knowing that this would be the last few months at their school in Washington before we moved. But the extra time we took to celebrate the day made it feel all the more special.  

Enjoying some of our favorite fancy brunch food

Here's to another great year!

Broncos Stadium... Entering the Land of Tebow

During our trip to Denver this summer we ventured to Broncos Stadium. We had never been there before so it was all new to us. Truth be told, we're not big followers of the NFL, and this was back before the giant Tebow craze that swept the country this football season, so it was more like a tour for some uninitiated newbies. On the plus side, this meant we were more apt to be impressed by everything. 

Part of the tour included the
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
The girls had fun dressing up in all
the sports related regala.

The giant skis were cute...


...especially on Ellie!


Maddie as a rough'n tough hockey player


Kate checking out the sweet box seats.
If I could watch a game from here,
I'm sure it would be much more enjoyable!
The view + the comfort = unbelievable!


The girls were fascinated by the logo in the seats, particularly the horse's eye seat. Maddie said that's where she would like to sit. As for me, I'd much prefer those sweet box seats we saw earlier on the tour!
GO BRONCOS!!

A Trip to the Zoo...Don't Mind If We Do

 This past summer I went to the Denver Zoo for the first time. We were invited by some dear friends who were visiting family in Wyoming just like we were, and my mom got to come along too which made it even more fun. It was a hot, sticky day, but we sure enjoyed ourselves, and saw a lot of neat animals. 

Slap on some SPF and a sunhat, and fun can be had even on the hottest day!


Kate and Ellie are my elephant lovers. Ellie loved checking out the pretty pachyderms with Grammy!

It's so much fun when a carousel has a whole menagerie to choose from!


Kate had to ride on the elephant of course


Ellie was excited to be such a big girl, riding just like her sisters

Sum, Sum, Summertime...in Wyoming!

We were lucky enough to spend most of July and August in Wyoming again this year. Wyoming happens to be my girls' favorite place in the world. You may have heard that Disney World is the "happiest place on earth," but for them, good ol' Wyoming is right up there, maybe even tops. I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the grandparents and the amount of spoiling that goes on there either...  



The "little" swingset grandma and grandpa
put in for the grandkids, then of course,
we had to rig it up as a waterslide 

It gets hot in Wyoming

Kate dressed for the fun in her "googles"

Ellie didn't hesitate for a second.
She climbed right up there to try out the slide.

It turned out to be lots of fun!

Kate thought so too!

(one of my favorite things this summer was her new gappy smile)

Barefeet, summertime, relaxing in the swing...
what could be better?

This is fun!

Ellie loves playing with her big sisters. Dress up is especially entertaining!

This is fun! Right, Maddie?

Isn't this so much fun, Kate?

Yep! Most fun ever!

Batter Up!

Oh, the fun to be had with a bat and some balls! We were looking for something fun to do one day this past spring, so we got the girls a bat and a tee and it was game time. Batter up!! My absolute favorite part was how almost every picture I took showed the girls closing their eyes at the moment of impact. So much for "keeping your eye on the ball." Now I can't wait until Ellie is big enough to take a crack at it too!