Hot Springs

We headed out yesterday around 5:00PM to head to Chalk Cliffs Hot Springs. Kim and Rachel and their families were already there waiting for us.

We ate dinner and then headed for the "hot pool" as Julia kept calling it. It was hot. Like really hot.
Julia lasted about half an hour and then we put her to bed.

The other kiddos went to bed around 10:00 and then we grown ups stayed out and stared at the stars in the hot spring. There were so many stars. I saw two shooting stars and a few airplanes that tricked me into thinking they might be more shooting stars. It was fun and relaxing.

The next morning, the kids were ready for the "hot pool" again, but we said that first there was to be some breakfast and some exploring of the acreage.




Elisabeth was in love with the "sea weed". She told Kim she liked how it sparkled.
Julia just wanted to dig and then throw rocks into the stream.

Rachel was the first one to cross the stream...of course.

Soon all the big kids were wading in the water with Rachel.

We started back to the house for one more dip in the hot spring.

Julia super loved swimming.

She wouldn't go away from the edge, but she'd blow bubbles and "float" and tell the older kids what to do. They adore her, so they entertained her.
The kids tried to talk us into moving all 3 of our families to this place. It was a fabulous idea, honestly.
We started packing up, but not before celebrating our beloved Kim's birthday.
Kim, Chris and Kayleigh were staying another night at the house, so we said good bye to them and thanked them for inviting us to share their weekend away. We said good by to this gorgeous view:
And decided that some people in the car could use a nap.
And headed home.
Thank you Kim and Chris for a fabulous weekend. We loved sharing it with you!!

I heart you sunshine and balmy temps.

The high today in lovely Colorado Springs is 61 degrees. I am so relieved for the sunlight and the chance to be outside. I believe a park day is in order.

We are leaving tonight to go to Chalk Cliffs Hot Springs. Our lovely friend Kim and her husband rented a house for the weekend to celebrate her birthday and they invited friends to come and stay Friday night with them. I will not lie, I am giddy with excitement. Kim has talked about this place before and how much her family loves it. We're bringing the kiddos and Rachel and her brood will be there too. Do not fear, I will totally have my camera fully charged.
I have been very bake-y lately. I'm in the mood to experiment with new recipes, so I'm slowly trying out new things. I should look into a part time job just to fund my bake-yness. Like a "Pantry Fund". Hm...that's not a bad idea. I could have endless rows of flour, sugar, canned tomatoes, vinegars and cooking wines, spices, broths...ooh...I like this idea.
July is creeping up on me. It's taunting me with thoughts like "You get to explore Texas soon!" and "You'll be leaving Colorado in a matter of months." July is being a bully about it. And, one of the major thoughts that keeps randomly popping into my head is "How in the world will the cats do on a two day trip?!?!". Obviously, that's a super pressing matter. Well, I guess it is for the cats, isn't it?

Virtual Coffee

I'll pour you a cup of virtual coffee today, but I have to warn you, I'm not great company today. I'm just feeling so...bleh. I don't know what it is, but I could curl back into bed and stay there all day today. No parenting. No reading. No cooking. No chatting.

Glad you stopped by, right?

I hate bleh days. The days when nothing sounds good, nothing fits right. Like you're a big blog of space just hovering, waiting for the day to end so you can start all over.
I am going to get out of the house today. That'll help. I'll do some grocery shopping, do some walking at the Y, etc. Try to encourage the feeling of blehness to leave the house while I'm gone.
I'm planning on seeing Black Swan tonight. I love me some Natalie Portman. I've heard the movie's terrible and I've heard it's fantastic. I'm definitely intrigued by the plot.
Since I'm not chatty today, I'll listen. What's new with you? What are you doing this weekend? Whatcha reading?
I'm glad you stopped by. Company that drinks coffee with me always makes me smile. I'll take that little bit of energy from you and go try to turn this day into a non-blehy day.

Make sure and say hi to Amy at Lucky Number 13, where there is bound to be conversations a bit more peppy than mine. Thanks for stopping by! See you next week!

Hair.

I am a mother of two girls and...

I hate doing hair.

There. I admitted it. I feel better. I feel cleansed.

I'm a firm believer that once the girls start voicing opinions about their hair, that they should be in charge of making decisions about how they wish to wear it.

Elisabeth started saying she didn't want to have bangs at around three and a half. So, I let her grow them out. We'd barrette them and head band them until they were long enough not to be in her face. When she wanted short hair, we'd go chop it off. When she wanted to grow her hair out and donate it to Locks of Love like her Aunt Terra, I supported her (and brushed that long, long hair).

Both girls love love love going to the hair salons and getting their hairs cut. Elisabeth gets a full shampoo and style. She yaps the hair dresser's ear off and will give her honest opinion at the end (which we've had to have the talk about being honest while not being rude). I always find it humorous when the hair dressers ask me what we're doing with Elisabeth's hair and I point to her and Ebeth spouts off what she wants done. They always seem surprised that 1.she gets to totally decide her hair cut and 2.she knows exactly what she wants. Hey, it's not my hair.

I remember being her age and not being allowed to have my hair cut. It was frustrating and I had headaches from the heaviness of my to-the-belt length hair. I was in 4th grade when my mom finally let me decide what I wanted to do with it. I chopped it to my ears and was the happiest child alive.

Currently, Elisabeth is growing it out again. She had bangs for a while (the sweeping kind) but she's decided she doesn't want them any longer either. So, she's in an awkward 8 year old hair phase.

I could be one of those moms who meticulously styles their daughter's hair every day. I've seen those little girls with their bows and their perfect curls and smooth tresses. But, I'm just not. I barely enjoy doing my own hair. I make sure it's combed, their parts are straight and they don't look like ragamuffins. But, Elisabeth has never, ever been able to keep hair things in for a full day without ripping them out, losing them or declaring they hurt her head. She does love when I straighten her hair, so I do that occasionally and she's thrilled.

Julia's still not old enough to decide. Recently (like 4 days ago) I decided that she should grow her bangs out. Her hair grows so fast that I can't keep up with trimming her bangs professionally. Plus, I want to see how long her hair can grow before she is old enough to decide to chop it off. So, for now, she is a barrette girl.
I think it's super cute.

Florida Cousins II

On Thursday, 2 of Evan's cousins from Florida (out of about 30 cousins total living everywhere, mind you) and their families were in Denver and wanted to meet us for dinner. They'd gone skiing Sunday-Thursday and were headed back to Florida the next day. You might remember last year when Travis and his family came to stay the night with us. Well, he was back with one of his brothers, Trent. Elisabeth was thrilled to see them all again. We headed out and this was our view:

These girls are so related. How cute are they?
How about now? Weirdos.
We hadn't seen Trent and Brooke's boys since January of 2008, so it was nice to see them again. They are much bigger and had never met Julia. Not that Julia was super friendly, of course. She did eventually warm up, though.
We ate at Breckenridge Brewery in Denver and the food was fantastic! I had a meatloaf sandwich that I took half home to eat later. We got there at 7 on a Thursday night and the place was not busy at all. They were having a trivia game and the kiddos decided that they should play. So, they'd frantically ask us adults the answers, write them down in their childish scribble and then run it up to the bar where the trivia guy was stationed. At around 9:00, the trivia guy called up all the kids to the bar because they'd won prizes for getting so many answers correct.
The kids were most excited. A patron of the bar (who'd had a few beers from the smell of him) commented to me, "Field trips sure have changed since I was a kid." Yeah...I guess 6 kids running around a bar at 9:00PM on a Thursday isn't quite normal. Not that anyone of us are ever normal when Evan's family gathers. :)
It was nice to see them all though, even if it was just for a couple of hours. I really wish we'd get stationed in Florida so we could see the kiddos more. Elisabeth's right in the middle of them and loves the kids endlessly. Julia took a liking to Travis and Trent. I think she thought they resembled her Daddy and Papa quite a bit and knew she didn't have to be so shy with them.

We were sad to have such a short visit, but it was so nice to see them. Hopefully we'll get to see more of them soon.

Completely random today.

Sometimes I walk into the Lego room (aka: my dining room) and I sigh at the mess, but I also look at the little creations the girls have made and say to myself, "What are the girls thinking when they put these together?" For example, what's this guy doing?

And, why is that crocodile hanging from the pirate ship by his tail? My kids are weird.
Last week, Evan and I tried a restaurant that we've always talked about going to but never have. It's called The Heart of Jerusalem Cafe.

Oh my goodness, that place was FANTASTIC! I had a groupon that was $7 for a $15 gift certificate. I am not kidding, that place was so so good. This is their tea and baklava for two:

Their baklava has crushed pistachios on top, which I am totally doing from now on when I make my own. Evan ate the Ultimate Sandwich, which had chicken, lamb and beef wrapped in a delicious grilled pita with a hummus and gazaziki sauce. It was heaven in a wrap. I had the veggie plate that had hummas and pita bread, falafel, tabouleh and dolmas. They were fantastic!!!

We're definitely going back soon and we're definitely going to be taking my in-laws when they visit us in March. If you live in Colorado Springs and have not eaten there, please go ASAP.

This month is Evan's half birthday. I need to show you the chocolate half birthday cake I made for him because it was one of the best cakes I've made while living in this damn high altitude. (seriously, I have made some super flat cakes because I forget to adjust the ingredients and cook times to the high altitude)
This cake was perfect!!!

Yesterday, Julia dressed herself to go outside to play. It was a nice, balmy 48 degrees.
I told her she was missing a very important part of her clothing, but she said she didn't want them.
She lasted about 15 minutes. :)
Today it is too cold to even be outside. I've been cleaning and baking and reading and trying not to let my teeth chatter. Sometimes an open floor plan to a house that the wind constantly blows directly into because there are no trees in our neighborhood, sucks. Good thing I own fuzzy socks and lots of sweaters!

I'm off to check on my cookies!!! Have a warm day!