Birthday Blowout Bonanza

Two days after Ava's birthday was Memorial Day, the day set aside for Dan's birthday request--a visit to Royal Gorge Bridge, home to the tallest bridge in the United States.  It was the tallest in the world, until China one upped us.  

A couple of years ago, it fell victim to a horrible forest fire.  Many buildings were burned, but luckily only a few slats of the bridge.  Rebuilding has begun, but we were told it's not like it used to be.  

Hey, Everybody! Look right here!

Or not.

The Gondola is nice and new.

As the ride began, Finn reached over and intertwined our fingers all by himself.  I couldn't complain, it was a long way down!

Once we were safely on the other side of the gorge, we went to an aerial and magic show. 

It began with this lady dressed in her janitor costume, trying to get the silks down.  She chose Luke from the audience to assist her.  

Once they were successful, she handed him this Mr. VIP sign and told him he would get a special reward.  

She then came out dressed like Marilyn Monroe and sang him "Happy Birthday".  He was so, so embarrassed.  She performed the rest of her show on the silks and winked and pointed at him the whole time.  

It was too dark in there to get a picture to accurately illustrate the blush on that boy's cheeks.

After the show, we walked across the actual bridge.  It was less scary than I thought it would be.

We have state identity issues.  Without much thought we took our picture in front of the Texas flag.  

And then we remembered that we live in Colorado now.  Unfortunately, the Colorado flag was at the far end of the bridge and by the time we got there,

The kid's were too hungry to stop for another picture.

The cracks were a little creepy.

The three black dots in the sky, is the gondola we rode.

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch before heading home.

Jack maintained his usual position. 

Hey, Everybody! Look right here!

Friday I set up a birthday scavenger hunt for Dan.  The prize at the end was dinner that night at our favorite, Perry's.  

I think if I lightened this picture it could be a contender for his calendar.

And then, because you can never have too much birthday, the next day we hosted Luke's birthday party at the bowling alley again, a month early, in hopes of catching his friends before they went on summer vacation.  It back fired a little, because it was the last week of school and everyone was insanely busy.

But we still had a really fun time with the kids who could come.  

My kids are the ones laying down.

We'll celebrate again on his actual birthday at the end of June.

Of course we still hadn't had Dan's birthday dinner and cake with the family and since my parents were passing through that Sunday, the day after bowling, we did it with them.

And I don't know that there's anything to say about Dan that I haven't already said.  I feel like we both grew up a lot this year.  Life kind of kicked our booty's the last 12 months.  But Dan keeps on.  He does what he does, and then he does a little more.  Always conscientious about work and his family.  Always looking forward to something. And always my favorite!  Happy Birthday, Baby!

Ava Girl is Growing Up

It's sad but true, now that we've moved away from our beloved babysitting co-op in Flower Mound, the frequency of our dates has declined big time.

It doesn't help that there are just so many kids.  And while the big ones are generally well behaved, Finn sometimes isn't and Jack, well Jack is just a huge wild card.

We have gone out a few times and the usual protocol is to put all the kids to bed before we leave, except Ava, and then she and the babysitter can watch a movie before Ava goes to sleep.  Honestly, I think it might be a babysitter's dream.

But a few weeks ago, we really wanted to go to dinner with some friends. (Have I ever mentioned that our old friends from college, Reid and Emily, welcomed us to Colorado by moving to a house just 10 minutes away? Well, they did and we have been all the happier for it!)   And since most people like to eat dinner before 8:30pm, we needed a different plan of attack.

So I called in the big guns.  I arranged for two 15 year old girls to tag team.  And since bedtime has the potential to be a genuine crisis, we got them a movie and told them to keep everyone up until we got home at 9pm.  I did tell them they could put Jack to bed at 8pm because he lays down easy.

We went to dinner.  It was wonderful.  We agreed that we should eat dinner at a more appropriate hour more often.

We returned a bit past 9pm.  And I will forever remember the scene that awaited us when we walked in the house.

As we entered, we could hear Jack is fussing.  We walked down the hall and it was clear, between the lack of other noise and the dim lights, that perhaps bedtime had commenced after all.  But through the open french doors of Jack's room, I peered through the dark and saw Ava, bouncing on the bed with a fussy Jack, as a babysitter stood helplessly looking on from each side.


The big boys had gone to bed after the movie finished.

Ava had already put Finn to bed.

And now Jack would only quiet when Ava bounced him.


I know from experience that fussy babies are not much fun, but really, the other babysitter's dream scenario is the one where the oldest child you're watching does all the dirty work.

You know what this did? It gave us the tiniest taste of the built-in-babysitter days that await us!

But mostly it revealed how grown up and responsible our little girl has become and how grateful we both are for her.  She is so special to us.

A few weeks later she just went and turned 10.

She wanted a horse party at home. She planned the entire thing.  That's a mom's birthday party dream.  Honestly, she had the guest list, the food, the games, the favors, the schedule, everything planned out to the minute.

It was great and she was very happy with it, though all the party pics are on Dan's phone.

And then this morning, Ava got in the van with my parents and rode away. They had stopped over on their way west and we loved getting to see them even if it was just for a day.

 I was left in the driveway wondering what just happened.  12 hours before, this was not in the plans. That left very little time for me to come to terms with the idea that she is old enough to go away without me.  I started wondering if I was old enough for her to go away without me.  But she came up with a pretty good plan last night as she watched her grandparents pack up for their drive the next morning.

She could ride with them to Idaho and spend time with her cousins, and meet back up with me when I came for my nephew's wedding next weekend.  Her original plan included staying with her cousins another week and meeting back up with us in South Dakota at our family reunion the following weekend.  Two weeks was too much for me, and she doesn't know it, but it would have been too much for her as well.  Instead, I was able to buy her a fairly inexpensive ticket on my flight back to Denver after the wedding.  Thus, Ava's idea made a lot of sense and forced me to be a big girl and let my big girl have an adventure.

All I know is that I missed her before she even left, but I'm pretty sure she's gonna have a great time.

Finn's 2 Year Pictures

If Ava turned 10 a week ago, which she did, that means Finn turned two, two  months ago.

And I can't take one child's birthday pictures while the previous child's remains undone.

Today was Finny's day.

The other day he came to me and said,

"Big."

"Big?" I replied.

"Big." he confirmed

"Big?" I asked again, hoping to gain some insight into what he wanted to say.

"Big."  he said again.

"Big...what?" I asked

"Big. Pay. Football." was his reply this time.

"When you get big, you want to play football?"

"Yesssssss." he said and went on his way.

 He's trying really hard to be big right now.

He desperately wants to do all of the same things the other kids do.

But I refuse to let him grow up any faster than absolutely necessary.

I'd have no problem waving goodbye to his crazy tantrums.

But right now, his little laugh and "I you, Mommy"'s are balm on my slightly exhausted mother heart.

Oh No He Didn't!

Yes, yes he did. My little Max graduated from preschool today.

He's all ready for kindergarten now.


Why does this stuff keep happening?

Nobody even asked me if this was okay. Probably because they knew the answer would have been, "No!"


They just keep getting bigger and older. And my husband has cut me off from any future babies.  Do you know what this means?


Soon, I am going to run out of babies.


I ruminate on this subject often enough that Max knows exactly what to say to make me feel better.

He tells me every time, "But I'll still be your baby! I'll always be your baby!"


His teachers adored him. And we both adored his teachers. They informed me that he is the class heartthrob, which isn't hard for me to imagine.  When he feels like it, he really knows how to turn on the charm. He's been in the same class for the past year and a half, so it felt extra hard to say goodbye today.

I am nothing if not terribly sentimental.  And you know what's been getting to me these past few  months?  This song.  The lyrics apply to all of my children, but these lyrics also apply so specifically to my Max.

And I try real hard no to cry when I hear it on my way to Walmart.

Little Boy, when you speak

I can't help but kiss your cheeks

I love the way you grab my hands

and tell me all about your plans

 Rockets high, comets fly

You and I could hitch a ride

And fly away to Neverland

And give our best to Peter Pan

When you reach for the stars

Don't forget who you are

And please don't turn around and grow up way to fast

See the sand in my grasp

From the first to the last

Every grain becomes a memory of the past

Oh, life's an hourglass

Life's an hour glass

Stories read, prayer is said

Close your eyes, Sleepyhead

While angels linger in your dreams

And hold you in their feathered wings

Just like you, I was small

Not that long ago at all

I wish you all the happiness 

That God gives freely if you ask

When you reach for the stars

Don't forget who you are

And please don't turn around and grow up way to fast

See the sand in my grasp

From the first to the last

Every grain becomes a memory of the past

Oh, life's an hourglass

Life's an hour glass