My Birthday

My awesome hubby took a half-day off of work to spend my birthday with me. We started the afternoon off by driving all the way to the 16th street mall to visit "The Cookie Lady". There's a little bakery called The Sante Fe Cookie Company that is only open for a few hours each day, Monday-Friday only. She makes all the cookies herself and then puts three in a bag, places them on the counter, and goes about her business making more cookies. You come in, take a bag, and put a dollar in the milk jug on the counter. The Denver Post did a story about this place, and we've been wanting to try it ever since. I must say, the Moon Cookies (M n' M cookies) we pretty tasty! You can see behind Hannah in the picture the trays filled with bags of cookies.

After we picked up a large assortment of cookies, we needed some lunch before we indulged in them, so we went to Subway (one of my absolute favs--I'm easy to please with a turkey sandwich!). Noah and Hannah split a meatball sub, and Justin was brave enough to hold Noah in the tiny both in the un-family-friendly teenie tiny downtown restaurant.

After the kids had their naps (and Justin went to pick up 13 boxes of hardwood for our new floors--woot!) We took the kids to the fountains at Southlands to play. Hannah loved it; Noah wasn't so sure. I got a ton of great pics and got to watch my three kids (Justin was there, remember?!) play around in the fountain.


Noah splashed a bit, but mostly watched from afar.

Part of the reason for going to Southlands was to have dinner at Rumbi's, a little carribbean-style restaurant that has a BBQ chicken salad with lots of cilantro that I could just eat everyday. We had a nice family dinner there, complete with Hannah and Justin's favorite sweet potato french fries.
After dinner we came home to wait for my family to come over for cake. Dasha came over also, which made my whole day complete. I just love that girl! Hannah had a blast playing dress up with her cousins-I couldn't help but snap a picture or two of her in her little getup. My sister and I took some goofy pictures together, and I love the one of her I caught! Sorry for the post, Les!


For all of those who seemed so concerned, yes, I made my own birthday cake. But it was by choice. I invented this little baby for Justin's company picnic cake-walk, and Hannah really wanted some. Okay, okay, so did I! So I made another one for my birthday, and it must have been good because there wasn't any left after my family and I got ahold of it! Yes it is supposed to look like a giant Oreo cookie; I even melted chocolate on top and then crushed up a bunch of Oreos to put over the chocolate.

So, my 28th (!) birthday was a great day. I got to spend it with my little family, and then topped off the evening with more great company and a totally yummy cake. Happy Birthday to me!

First Jet Ski Day of the Summer

Our first day at Chatfield this summer was probably the best day I've ever spent there. Noah, of course, was too small last year to enjoy it. This time, however, he had a blast. He loved the water, and played with this little red bucket all day.

Hannah "rode" the jet ski last year, but that involved sitting on it while Papa did small laps with her right in front of our beach. This year, she drove it herself a bit, and let Daddy, Mommy, and Papa each take her out all the way to the other side. She didn't like going really fast, but we still cruised at a pretty good clip. She also rode with me in the side-by-side inflatable raft behind the ski, telling Papa to go faster the whole way.

My friend Dasha, her husband Vladimir, and their too cute son Danik came with us. Justin and Jesse had to break Vladimir in on the banana tube, of course. I think they were nice to him, but who knows. Those guys get pretty crazy on that tube!

Hannah and Milla played well together all day, having fun in the water and on the beach together. They are really the best of buds when they want to be. Milla and Aiden had these cool swimsuits with built-in floaties. Hannah's swim lessons had made her so comfortable in the water, I made her wear a life vest because she had no qualms about getting chest-deep all by herself. It made me too nervous!
The kids had a great time playing in the sand. Yes, I know Justin is in the picture. When he's playing, he's a kid too. It's part of why I love him so much!

Dasha and I got to go for a ride on the ski and a ride in the side-by-side inflatable. It was fun, but left us both with sore butts the next day. We had fun screaming our heads off and didn't even mind that the water was pretty chilly, especially in the afternoon after the clouds came out.

We had a picnic lunch, during which Noah worked on perfecting his ability to drink through a straw. I just love this photo Dasha got of him. I wasn't sure how naptime would go. He's very routined at home, always taking a nap right after lunch. With no luck, I tried to get him to sleep. Oh well. Another cute picture was taken during the process, so it was worth it. He slept the whole car ride home, anyway, and never did get super cranky like I was afraid. Overall, we had a great day. I'm sure the Hamanovich family will come with us again, and hopefully this wasn't the last trip that Leslie and Jesse are able to make it on this year. Thanks mom and dad for owning all this great stuff that we have so much fun with year after year!

Zoo!

I took Hannah to the Zoo with two of my friends from the neighborhood and their kids. It was a quick trip, as well all have annual passes and don't feel the need to spend all day there since we can go whenever we like. Hannah was excited to see the sea lion show. She loved watching the trainers feeding the animals their fishy snacks, and how they "waved" at us. We ended the morning with a ride on the train. Hannah said she felt like such a big girl, riding around the track with her buddies Carson and Bode.

And here is proof that I do actually go places with my kids. Sometimes I tease Justin that my kids aren't going to believe I was around when they were little, because I'm the photographer of the family. Well, here is Mr. Noah riding on my lap on the train. Thanks Lisa for taking the picture!

Sea Horsie

Hannah's swim lessons lasted 4 weeks, and I couldn't believe how far she came in that time! Last year she was afraid to even have her face close to the water, and now she is blowing bubbles and cruising around with her instructor like it is no big deal. I was annoyed with her final report card, though. The instructor didn't ever learn any of their names (which annoyed me --super teacher that I am, I make it my goal to have my 22-24 students' names memorized by the end of the first day of school. He had 4 kids for 4 weekends and couldn't do it--loser!), but he somehow filled out report cards for them in between the 3rd and 4th sessions. Each girl had accomplished every task, according to him. Hannah had, except "submerging of the head" which he never really had them try. I asked her after class if she had put her head under at some point, just in case I had missed it, but nope. She told me "no way, Mommy. I'm too scared to do that." Hmmmm. Oh well. She did become a lot more confident in the water, and I feel okay putting her in the next class, as her teacher (if you can really call him that) suggested.

Here is a picture of her with her so-called instructor. He's looking really into the lesson, huh? There was probably some hot babe walking by or something.

Here is my little princess. She is getting so big. I say that all the time, I know, but I just can't believe how fast she has turned into a little girl, instead of the chubby cheeked, cranky toddler I used have around.

Hannah's New Ride

Here is Little Miss in her new jeep. It's her third one, if you can believe it. We keep hunting (and by we, I mean Justin) for bigger and better ones. I think this one has found a new home for the long haul. It's much bigger than her last one, and it is still in great shape, as the previous owners kept in inside. It's actually a fire truck, with a working water tank that sprays, plus a siren that lights and some cool sound effects. She loves it and is so excited to ride it for the Fourth of July parade.