School Carnival

Saturday morning saw us headed to the Highline Academy carnival. With an inflatable slide, a cake walk (where D-man won a cake), yard games, and a dunk tank, the boys had a great time. Marshall and I worked the limbo.

It was nice to see D-man having so much fun with his friends. There are certainly things we will miss about Highline - the diversity, the Spanish, ability grouping, the longer school days. However, we are hopeful that are new school will have many new friends and experiences for the boys. Last week, I toured one school in Boulder County Schools and am excited about the resources the schools have as well as the education available in the upper grades. In the long run (and hopefully the short run), this will be a great change for our entire family.

T-man, Chutes and Ladders, Coffee, and Hot Cocoa

Bike to School

D-man and Marshall were able to bike to school today which D-man was very excited about. A practice run on Monday made all feel well prepared for the "real deal" today. I'll be riding my bike to pick him up his afternoon which will be a nice way to kick off the weekend.

Champagne Birthday Toast with Denver Skyline

Taken at Vita Restaurant

Spirit Week - Phineas (Favorite Character)

Spirit Week - The Sixties!

Life is a Dance - I'm Happy to Still be Dancing

Taken at Caribou Coffee

Flowers from my Hubby = Happy

Sailing the British Virgin Islands

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A few pictures of our amazing sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands. I'll have a more detailed post with more pics coming shortly (I hope). But, to sum up, it was a trip of a lifetime. 

On the islands

Taken at Anegada Island - BVi

Bitter End Yacht Club - BVI - Amazing

Missing Mother's Day Redux

Early tomorrow morning, we are leaving on what we hope will be an amazing trip sailing in the British Virgin Islands. I should be in bed, but I just had to write about my wonderful, sweet boys. Like last year, I am going to miss Mother's Day. Because I was going to be here today and had planned to celebrate Mother's Day today, I thought we would be ok. However, when D-man found out we weren't going to be here on Sunday, there were tears. Lots of tears. How sweet that he wants to be with me on Mother's Day. Fortunately, we recovered and had a very nice day.

After a morning watching the boys play flag football (on what seemed like a cool, fall day), we headed to the Avenue Grill for a Mother's Day Brunch. We all had some great food and I enjoyed the make your own Bloody Mary bar (where Marshall made me a great concoction) and Claudia enjoyed the coffee bar. Marshall and Claudia ventured to the spice shop after brunch and then we had a busy afternoon of errands getting ready for the trip.

We had a nice scallop and pasta dinner and enjoyed some white wine Marshall bought for Claudia. D-man had a poem and a wonderful tribute for me, while Tanner drew a picture of me and him at the beach. Such sweet, sweet boys - I'm a lucky Mom and will miss them dearly while we are gone. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually be around next year to celebrate on the "real" Mother's Day.

T-man getting ready to hike (hug?) the ball

Taking in the game (and D-man sporting some eye black)

At brunch with my boys

the family at brunch

The Last Mother's Day Breakfast

For several years, I have enjoyed the Mother's Day breakfasts at Greenwood Plaza with the boys. Today was no different, but was made even better by the fact that Marshall's Mom was able to attend as well. We enjoyed muffins and fruit and T-man had a little gift for me. It was a bookmark which I told him would be perfect for all the books I would be reading on our sailing trip. He then read us a couple books which was a great way to wrap up the event. So happy to spend some special time with my sweet, smiling little guy.

Mud Season in the Mountains

I might be one of the rare people that likes mud season in the mountains. There are less people and often great lodging and food deals. We were fortunate not to have to worry about lodging deals this trip as we were able stay with friends in Edwards. We drove up Friday night and spent the weekend catching up as we hadn't seen our friends in almost 2 years. The kids got along great  and played outside most of the time as the weather was gorgeous. We enjoyed a hike on Saturday. The kids were troopers during a 1.2 mile hike up 1000 vertical feet to Hanging Lake in Glenwood canyon. The boys were also thrilled to see a snake and a lizard during the hike.

We headed back to Denver on Sunday afternoon and wrapped up the weekend with some shopping at the outlet malls. What a great weekend away spending time with old friends and having the boys make new friends. 

What a beautiful place

T-man enjoying the waterfall

Wonderful Weekend

After spending a weekend with my 1-year old nephew in Minneapolis, the entire Peavy family was lucky enough to spend the next weekend with our 1-year old niece and cousin. Marshall's sister Michelle and her daughter made the trip from Seattle to spend a weekend with us in Denver.

As is our tradition, we enjoyed take out and happy hour on Friday night. On Saturday morning, we headed out to the boys play football (with Michelle and Marshall making a short getaway to the spice shop between). In the afternoon, we took a trip to the Asian market and got the fixings for sushi. It was so great to just hang out, make and eat sushi, and just enjoy watching the boys play with their sweet, sweet cousin.

Watching the football game

messing around

making sushi

Michelle's first marble drink

What a great visit!

We enjoyed a nice breakfast before our visitors had to leave on Sunday morning. It was a short, but truly memorable trip. Thank you Michelle for making the trip!!!

What a Gorgeous Day for a Hike

Taken at Glenwood Canyon

Wowed by Wicked

Sunday afternoon was another wonderful cultural outing for me and D-man. We took the light rail downtown to meet friends for brunch at Panzanos. We then walked to the theatre and got to walk in right when they opened the doors. We had 6 ROW seats which were amazing. The kids checked out the orchestra pit and were really into the set.

D-man really enjoyed the show. At the end of the first act he said, "that was a really good way to end it at intermission." He was definitely feeling the power of the scene - so did I.

At the end of the show, we got some frozen yogurt and headed home on the light rail. It was an amazing day and I was so happy to share it with him.

When I tucked him in for bed, he asked if we could sing a song from the show and allowed me to choose. As I knew his favorite scene was "Defying Gravity," I chose that one. What a "wow" moment. Truly.

Minnesota Weekend

Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend a 3-day weekend with my sister and her family. Their new house is GREAT and it was so great to get in some baby time with my adorable nephew. Some walks by the lake, shopping, and some fun dinners made for a memorable trip. Thank you Marshall family!

What a Good welcome home (w some help from dad)

Legos!

T-man has really been enjoying doing Legos. Here he is with his latest creation. After a trip to the Lego store with Marshall this week, he has repeatedly asked to go to the mall. We may be in trouble.

A Commuting Buddy

D-man was finally old enough to attend the the "Take your daughters and sons to work day" at my work today. It was nice to have a companion on the morning drive. It was also a GREAT opportunity to listen to the "Wicked" CD and discuss the story line in preparation for seeing the show on Sunday.

After a couple of exercises in the morning for the kids, I participated in a "guess who" session that was focused on stereotyping. One team thought I was a software engineer because of the necklace I was wearing. I am going to request the software engineers on the product I am working on start wearing more jewelry. :)

After a few introductions, we headed to a sushi lunch (D-man's choice) with my co-worker and his son. We then headed to school so D-man could participate in the "Greek Olympics and festival." Marshall and D-man made some tasty hummus and psomi (Greek bread) for the event and I volunteered.

What a crazy, special day. Not sure how I have a child old enough to go to work with me.......

Lunch Date

Taken at Highline Academy

Doing Something Right

D-man was just having a conversation with his friend from down the street. They had played earlier in the day together but his friend had to have Easter lunch with his family. When his friend came back, D-man said, "that was more like 2 hours." His friend said, "sorry." D-man said, "That's not a sorry. It is nice to be able to eat with your family." When I hear such sweet things come out of my son's mouth, it makes me think we are doing something right. Happy Easter.

Spring Break

There's truly not enough room in a blog for all the wonderful memories and pictures from our spring break trip to see Marshall's family and ski. We may have lacked winter in Colorado, but we made up for it in Idaho with lots of snow and wintery weather. Highlights included:

• The boys (and us) spending time with their grandparents, cousin, and aunt and uncle
• Getting in a swimming pool in winter while staying at the lodge right on the slopes 
  
• D-man practicing card tricks with Granddad
• Both boys getting to ski with Gramma 
• Wonderful dinners, conversations, and family time
• Beverages and hot tubbing after a day on the slopes 
• The boys being SO sweet with their cousin 
• Gramma getting her iPad and T-man teaching her Angry Birds
• A movie for the boys at the Lodge movie theater while I enjoyed reading by the fire and Marshall got time with his parents

A beautiful day on the slopes

With their sweet, adorable cousin

The amazing view

Après-ski

Card tricks with Granddad

What a great vacation!

Spring Hike

While the dry conditions make Colorado a huge fire hazard right now, it made for a great spring hike last weekend. We enjoyed a nice hike along the stream, some snacks, and then came back to Denver for some fro-yo (frozen yogurt). A great Sunday.

Throwing rocks, sticks, anything

is this going to be the brother pose?

Surviving the Science Fair

Another year. Another science fair project completed. D-man did a great job this year. Formatting is better. Organization is better. Still tried my patience. But, we are all better educated about why animals blink. And D-man was proud that his hard work paid off. So were we.

Butterfly Pavilion

Field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion with the Highline Academy 2nd grade class. Was nice to be there with D-man. Thankful for a job with flexibility.