I never claimed to be normal, so why should my kids be any different?

B knew she looked cute and hammed it up for a good 30 minutes. Any guesses as to what she is saying? "CHEESE!"

Piper:  Mommy, mommy look at me!  What am I ?
Any guesses as to what she is? "STARFISH"

 I can't be in bad mood for long or wear a frown on my face when I'm surrounded by this loony crew.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Earlier this month I had a birthday and from this point forward I will be 25 until I can't pass for 25.  For my birthday, I celebrated with a birthday dinner at Lupe's Tortilla with my favorite crew:  Piper, Brynnie, and Bobby.  Brynnie loves Mexican food and Bob and I love Lupe's fajitas- win win! I got a new headlamp for running (not jogging) in the dark.  The following day my friend Latsamy, or Ms. L for short,treated me to a pedicure and then we went to the movies and saw Pitch Perfect (hilarious). What a wonderful "25th"birthday!

Hocus Pocus Pops

I'm seriously not sure if anyone is ready for the awesomeness that is this year's costumes, but you've been warned:

"Blue" the Macaw like the one from Rio except she says her beak doesn't look too Macaw-ish.  Wha???

and yes, I did make the entire costume in all it's feathery goodness.  Just call me  AWESOME!  Piper's favorite part were her wings followed by the not too Macaw-ish beak.

Holy Heck, have you seen a cuter witch?  You can't see the costume very well, but she's wearing a tutu with an overlay  and a little caplet that I painstakingly sewed.

Boo!  Ha, ha, ha (insert a witch's cackle)

"Blue" and "Little Witch"

I had to  hurry this year to make these costumes before the annual Hocus Pocus Pops concert featuring the Houston Symphony.  We showed up on-time and didn't sign up fast enough for the costume parade, but next year we know to be first in line.  The place was packed and it was hot. There were booths set up for the kids to do things like decorate pumpkins, face painting, spooky pictures, and an instrument petting zoo.  But it was super crazy with people clamoring for first in line and I lost Brynnie in the crowd.   I wasn't feeling very well and suddenly became super lame...er...grumpy.  We left before the free concert- LAME-O.  I heard it was fantastic and now we know for next year.  And lastly, I'm hoping that next year Piper gives me a less conceptual costume to make- who am I kidding, next year she's probably going to want to be "Winter"  from the movie Dolphin Tale (look up the movie and then you'll see why this costume would not translate well).   At least Brynn is still young enough to let me make what ever I want.

Sisters and Snapshots

I'm convinced that Colorado has the best sunshine for outdoor pictures and it doesn't hurt that my MIL's garden rivals all gardens and it also doesn't hurt that I'm snapping pure cuteness.  It's the trifecta of perfection!

Finding Nemo 3D

My favorite pic of these girls!

A few weeks ago, my friend and I took our girls to see Finding Nemo 3D.  Piper LOVES Finding Nemo so we thought she'd enjoy seeing it in 3D and Brynnie...Brynnie got to see her very first movie in the movie theatre.  The girls had so much fun eating popcorn and watching the movie.  Surprisingly, everyone kept their glasses on.  Brynnie had to step out for a few minutes, but did very well for a first-timer. 

3D glasses and a cup of popcorn- seasoned movie goer already

Hey!  there's a SHARK behind you!

Love seeing their friendship blossom

Denver Zoo and Children's Museum

While Bobby was attending his conference in the city, the girls, Oma, and I headed out to the museum and zoo for some fun.  The museum had lots of fun areas that both girls enjoyed.  Brynn discovered the Bubble Room where she could make bubbles and try to catch bubbles.  She had fun splashing in the bubble solution and became one big soapy mess.  Piper discovered a Forest Adventure Room where she collected every stuffed bird and placed them in a "nest".  The following day, we took a trip to the zoo to meet up with our friends from Bloomington, Chelsea and her 2 kids Weston and Livia.  It was fun watching the kids play together after not seeing eachother for a year.  We spent far too long in the Rainforest habitat and somehow missed every animal (there were no animals out in any of the exhibits, it was kinda weird).

I see you!

Making bubbles with Piper

Bubble Brynnie

One of the few occasions where Piper let me take a picture of her

Hanging with her buddy Weston

Too much cuteness!

The kids enjoying a tootsie pop...except for poor Brynnie

Buddies

So good to see an old friend!

 

Bear Lake and Alberta Falls

On our second day in Colorado, we decided to drive up to the Rocky Mountain National Park/Estes Park area and go hiking.  Due to construction, we had to take a bus to some of the trail heads   The bus did not agree with Brynnie and she screamed the entire time.  I was ready to leave her for the bears.  When we finally arrived at Bear Lake, Brynnie was in better spirits.

Happy smiles now that we're off that bus!

We hiked around Bear Lake and enjoyed the views of Lone Peak and then we took a longer hike up to Alberta Falls.  In all, we hiked 2.5 miles.  I wore Brynn in the hiking carrier up and Bobby wore her down and Piper hiked the entire way!  She did really well for a little girl whose favorite phrase is, "I can't walk foreber!"  One way we distracted her from the length of the hike and the chill in the air, was to let her collect leaves along the way.  She had so much fun collecting leaves.

this pic is getting blown up and put in our living room-  LOVE IT!

Bear Lake

Hey there's a baby in a backpack!

Piper had fun sharing her hike with her Oma and Opa

Alberta Falls

This mom always stays "in the picture"!

Oma and Opa

The Aspen were turning and were absolutely gorgeous

Once we made it back to the bus stop, we were all extremely tired and thankfully Brynn did not scream the entire way back.  We spotted lots of elk on our drive back to the car.  Piper was super excited and exclaimed, "they look like horses!"  I couldn't figure out how to describe them and she nailed it- big horses with antlers.  We stopped at shop in Estes Park to pick up some postcards and then headed home after a long day.

Colorado Springs

 Our first day in Colorado, Bob and I took Brynn to Colorado Springs to see the "Garden of the Gods".  Piper stayed home and hung out with her Oma and cousin.  The weather was slightly overcast  and I was worried that the wildfires from the summer might make for a less than impressive view.  I was wrong-  the "gardens"  were beautiful and majestic.  I'm glad that someone took a look at these random rock outcroppings and saw enough beauty in them to keep it safe from developers.  

the view of the "Gardens"

Suiting up for the hike

the face of this rock had been weathered to look like heart

Bobby was lucky to have such cute kid strapped to his back-  I couldn't resist taking a bunch of pictures

the red rocks and green  trees reminded me of Zion's National Park

 

Is that a rock or a hat?  

The weather kept changing from sunny to cloudy to rainy, so we opted to skip strolling around the town of Manitou Springs and take a "quick" drive into the mountains.  The "quick" drive turned into 2 hours of being lost and driving on a dirt road.  It was beautiful, remote, and allowed Brynn to take a much needed nap; however, as the sun was quickly setting behind the mountains, I got a bit nervous that we wouldn't find our way to paved civilization.  Luckily, we did and made it home by 7.  Whew...