Roomie Girl Weekend in Denver

I NEEDED THIS!!  I had the absolute BEST time with some of my best friends / college roommates in Denver, CO (we were missing Shannon and Suzi!).  We picked Denver because it was kind of in the middle of all of us and the hilarious "I Mom So Hard" ladies were also doing a comedy show there.  Sarah thought that we were attending a mom conference, but still agreed to come!!  She was pleasantly surprised when she found out we wouldn't be in class all day!  We did go to the comedy show, but it wasn't our favorite - it was a little too crude for our liking!  Their online videos aren't ever that crude, so we were a little surprised.  

We LOVED Denver!  What a fun little city and it was so fun that we were staying at the Kimpton Monaco hotel right in downtown, so we were able to walk to a lot of things.  We walked up 17th to the Highlands and walked the 16th Ave Mall.  We shared an Uber everywhere else - Paramount Theater, shopping at Cherry Creek, and out to Boulder to the Flatiron Mountains.  I LOVED hiking the flatirons with these women!  We spent 4 hours hiking to the arch and chatted the entire time!  

We ate the most delicious food - Marcella's, Hasha Sushi, Machete Tacos, Snooze, Linger & Little Man Ice Cream.  When we went shopping, I tried on my first pair of Lululemon leggings (amazing!) but couldn't bring myself to buy any because I had just bought two pairs of jeans at Madewell at $100/piece!! 

Basically, we just ate and talked and slept and talked and shopped and talked!  We shared our personal experiences and tried to be there to support one another as we discussed different challenges.  They are all amazing mothers and strong women that I feel very honored to know!  The last night we were there, I think we stayed up til 4am talking, but it was totally worth it.  

On the way home going through security at the airport, they did the most thorough job searching my top knot bun which was a pretty unique experience having them dig through my hair!  

I FREAKING LOVE THESE WOMEN!

Rachel's Cheer & Soccer Teams

Rachel stopped gymnastics at the end of 4th grade (after trying Patterson's all around, then AF Rec all around, then just tumbling at All American) to pursue cheerleading.  She was excited to cheer for the 5th grade tackle football team.  She got an official uniform and even got to be in a parade over the summer.  Once the games started in the fall, the excitement started to wear off a little bit.  She was "happy" to go since she chose to participate in this sport, but I could tell that her heart wasn't completely in it.  She said that the boys and the parents didn't even care that they were there cheering, and that the cheers started to get a little boring.  It was fun to cheer for one of cousin Mason's games though  (they cheered for 5th & 6th graders depending on the week)!

She also participated in fall soccer through AF Rec after taking a year off.  She LOVED soccer!  In fact, she was so sad when it ended that she shed a few tears, much our surprise!  I thought she was really pretty good at it and played more aggressively than I expected her to.  

In our family, mom and dad get to choose an after-school activity (always piano) and they get to choose one or two more depending on how busy they are.  This way, when they complain about piano, we can say, "We get to choose one activity and you get to choose one activity."  The kids pretty much run the show in deciding what after school activities to participate in and Rachel has been all over the board.  I'm just waiting for her to become passionate about something, and then we will help her dedicate more time and energy to whatever that she chooses.  

September Happenings

- Carson kicked my butt in the climbing department - he was seriously everywhere and doesn't have the balance or wisdom to know when he is in danger

- I am so grateful to have a year with Kendall and Carson home in the morning together

- Matching shirts for Rachel & Kynli!

- 5th grade maturation was seriously SO FUN - the lady had present did the most incredible job and then Rachel and I went to get a cupcake and ran into her her friend, Olivia

- The Worthen's invited us to his company's "Night at the Zoo" and it was fun to take Carson since he's at an age where he can recognize some of the animals that he is seeing

- Grandma Nancy retired from teaching/mentoring for Alpine School District and we checked the kids out of school to surprise her - she loved it!

- We got some overhead garage storage and got organized - we can even park both cars in the garage (only took us nearly 3 years)

- Motorcycle rides with Papa around the neighborhood

- Running around barefoot outside with neighbor friends

- My brother, Cade got engaged to Ally Taylor and they are getting married December 29th!!  He asked me to go and help him set some things up and take some pictures and it was so fun!  They are the cutest and I am happy to get another sister-in-law!

Yellowstone & Island Park

For Labor Day, Leslie and Morgan invited us and Chris & Kacie's family up to Leslie's family cabin in Island Park, WY.  The kids were so excited and Kennedy sent Rachel and Allie the cutest little packing list before we left. 

The cabin was unique and had lots of lofts and room for everyone to stay comfortably.  It was right on the lake and the weather was beautiful (a tad bit cold for some of the water activities, but it didn't stop us).  We went to a smaller reservoir one day with a rope swing and some paddle boats and creatures galore!  Chris & Morgan wore their speedos for the occasion, of course!  

Trying to go into Yellowstone on Sunday during the three-day weekend was a DISASTER!!  I can't even fully explain the terribleness, because I am still traumatized.  I will try ... basically, we drove 45 minutes to get there and then there was awful traffic getting to the pay booth in the park.  I want to say that after being in the car for nearly two hours, we had finally paid to get in but then had hit traffic again with NO END IN SIGHT!  Andrew was having major stomach/"labor" pains, and Brandon even pulled over in the park after getting through the entrance to let him try to poop in the trees - is that even allowed at Yellowstone?!  Doesn't matter, because nothing helped and he wasn't even able to go!  Carson was also being miserable, so we turned up and drove back to the cabin.  We did make it back into the park a little later that evening and we saw Old Faithful and a few bison and a couple other stops.  Then we sat in traffic to get out of the park for at least an hour and a half.  It was not that awesome.  It's just not very kid friendly, people!  You don't need to take children there.  Save yourself the headache and just go to Bear World outside of Rexburg - that is fun for kids!!  We stopped there on the way home, and it was SO awesome!  We saw all sorts of different animals and tons of bears from the car, and then played in a petting zoo for awhile.  

We did enjoy the time after the kids were asleep (with the help of melatonin) and the adults chatted and played games!!  Other highlights included the hugest moose I have ever seen walking right through the cabin property, the boys playing jet ski football (up until Morgan gouged his ankle), paddle boarding on the lake with Brandon, stopping at the fresh water spring to fill up all the water bottles, trip into town for ice cream and braiding hair with the moms. 

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