What I Wore Wednesday

It has been some time since I've done a fashion post so I happily bring you today's post!

Last Friday one of our friends was being called to the bar.  Friday at the office is casual day, but I was pretty sure that jeans wouldn't fly at the courthouse.  So I improvised and found an outfit I could bring from casual to professional with a few swaps.

I started the day in the this simple black dress, my fave jean jacket, and my white converse sneakers.  This is the summer of the converse after all!

Just before I left for the courthouse, I swapped out the jean jacket for the green blazer and threw on my pretty floral pumps.  Just like that I was ready to go and celebrate with our friends.

I love how easy this little black dress was to dress up and down.  I'm always up for a challenge and I think this one was a success!

Head on over to the TBB to see what everyone else is wearing this week.

My thoughts on... going back to school

Today is the start of the last week of summer vacation.  I can't believe how fast the summer went by.  I know, I know, very cliche, but didn't school just get out last week?

We've had a good but busy summer.  Lots of weekends away, a few weekends with company. There has been no shortage of fun.  The kids have been to 2 camps and have the luxury of having their friends living right next door which means many many play dates.  Trust me, the kids are not looking forward to going back to school!  Ha!

So am I sad about school starting? Not one bit.  I can't wait for both kids to walk into school and get back to their daily routines.  And I'm not going to lie, I will be happy to have my Monday mornings back to do important errands, or hit the mall solo.

This year Grady is going into grade 3 and Cooper is starting Kindergarten. I've talked about our decision to hold Cooper back last year so I am thrilled to see him finally starting at the big kid school in one short week.  I met my BFF on the first day of Kindergarten, and so did Grady.  I am so excited for Cooper to meet the little friends that he will be in school with for the rest of his school days.  Yes, yes I understand that his friends could change many times over the years.  I met most of my 'old' friends in high school, but there is just that magic of seeing your kids love their classmates and teachers.

We were so lucky with Grady and the group of friends that he met in Kindergarten and Grade 1.  Last year he was not in his BFFs class and I was terrified that Grady wouldn't like school as much and wouldn't make new friends in his class.  It took less than a week to realize that they still played at recess and remained great friends despite not being in the same class.  With six grade 3 classes, yes 6, the odds of them being in the same class aren't good, but I now know that it doesn't matter.  While I've always worried about Grady and his shyness, this has never been a concern with Cooper.

Cooper is my social butterfly.  He makes friends all the time.  He gets along great with the older kids and they even seem to like him, or at least tolerate him.   Grady was our first child and we worried tremendously about his transition to Kindergarten. I have no concerns with Cooper.  Maybe it is because we've done this before, maybe it is because Cooper is less anxious than his older brother.  Most likely it is a combination of both.

I am counting down the days until next week Tuesday when school officially starts.

five on friday

{one} We survived the first week back after vacation!  I enjoyed my quiet coffees and sleeping in my own bed.  I miss the sunshine though.  Weather in Calgary has been less than desirable this summer.  It seems unfair that we have such a long winter and then our summer has been so wet.  Work with me Mother Nature!

{two} The hockey bags were pulled out of storage this week!  The kids both attended hockey camp to get them ready for the season.  I was a little worried about Cooper going full days since he's never been to daycare and 8 hours is a long day.  I nervously went to pick him up on Monday and he didn't want to leave.  I'd say the week was a success.  Except for the day they served shepards pie for long and neither of my kids would eat it.  Oy.

{three}  The kids went for their annual eye appointment this week and we are still glasses free.  The kids anyway.  The kids spent our time in the waiting room trying on glasses and asking for pictures.

{four}  This weekend is our first weekend in Calgary with no company since the second weekend in July.  While we have had a great summer of summer weekends away and lots of friends and family, I am happy to have a weekend at home with no plans.

{five} Have any of you been watching Stranger Things on Netflix.  I was worried it would be too Sci-Fi for me but it was really good.  We watched the last episode last night and now have to wait a full year to start season 2 that was just renewed this week.  IF you haven't checked it out it is a great show to watch with your husband.

Vacation Rules: Kelowna 2016

Last week we escaped rainy Calgary and headed west for our annual trip to sunny Kelowna, and it didn't disappoint.  This year I put together 10 vacation rules to summarize our trip.

Rule 1:  Travel with Friends.

This is a first for us.  In prior years we have always traveled just the 4 of us, but this year our friends joined us for the vacation.  The boys loved having friends to play in the pool with and the adults loved having happy kids that were content to play on their own so they could visit pool side in the shade.  I am definitely calling the family trip a success!  Can't wait to do it again!

Rule 2:  Must stop at Davison Orchards.

They have a great selection of fruits and veggies, 2 great play areas for the kids, and apple and lemonade slushies.  Not to mention a great view!

Rule 3:  Find a signature move for pictures.

Every time the camera was out, Cooper was ready with this funny hang loose hand gesture.  Every. Single. Time.

Rule 4:  Never give boys water guns.  

Not even the big boys.  If you break this rule, you are bound to get sprayed.  All these boys were very into spraying each other, the adults, the beach spectators.....  Whose idea was the water guns??

Rule 5:  Rent a boat with a giant tube for the kids

James and I don't have boat licenses so we've never rented a boat.  John and Stacey are both comfortable behind the boat and so we rented a boat 2 mornings!  The tube provided hours of entertainment for the kids.  The one we had was a 3 seater and realistically all 4 boys could have ridden on it together, but Grady wasn't a fan.  This thing was impossible to fall off.  Almost.  Don't underestimate the waves that build when you are going slow.  When we were bringing the boat in slowly the boys on the tube weren't hanging on and we almost lost one off the back of the boat.  Nicholas bounced back on to the tube, but really it could have gone either way.  I'm sure they will be talking about that for years to come.

Rule 6:  Don't forget to rent skis for the adults!

Other than last month, I hadn't been on skis for over a decade!  I'd never seen James get up on skis though he claims he has gotten up once.  I'm not sure when John was last on skis but I know it has been a while.  All 3 of us got up on the first try.    I was feeling it a little the next day but James was feeling it a lot.

Rule 7:  Have fun on the diving board

Cooper also had a token move off the diving board, belly flop dive.  The same jump every time.  I matered what I called the star jump.  The rest of the boys stuck with the traditional cannon ball.

Rule 8:  Feed your kids oodles of Marshmallows around the fire.

These kids wanted to cook more marshmallows then we could eat.  We started the camp fire 2 nights and on our final night Grady really wanted to make smores again so we obliged.  As an after thought, James said we should check for a fire ban and sure enough there was one.  Try explaining that to an excited 8 year old....  We had them in the oven instead and truthfully they were pretty good with the melted Caramilk bar.

Rule 9: Make your kids post for obligatory photos.

I always make them pose for one nice one and one goofy one.  They have gotten so much better at posing for photos in the past few years.  Look at them even hug in 2 of them.  Well, half hugs count, don't they?

Rule 10:  Take the time to read a book and enjoy the view.

This trip was filled with friends, beer, cake, wine, swimming, beach and the list goes on, but it is still important to take some moments to relax and enjoy the scenery with a book in hand.

And that's a wrap on our family summer vacation 2016!

Until next summer Kelowna... we will miss you!

the incident

As Cooper's first day of Kindergarten is right around the corner, I thought we would remember the morning Grady started school.  Here's to hoping that this year's morning goes smoother than 2013. I am still just as shocked reading this 3 years later.



As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had a little incident while I was trying to enjoy my first morning without the boys.  I am seriously still having a hard time believing that this actually happened....

Since the drop off at school went so well I was in a great mood. I decided to run a few errands at the shopping area down the street starting with Safeway, Rona, and a stop to look at some glasses.  You can never have to many pairs... right??  Then I headed back to the van with just a few more stops to go.

I hopped in the van and saw a text from Marla with a picture of little coop at school. I happily texted her back and checked my email before putting the car in reverse.  I looked in my rear view mirror as I put it in reverse and notice there is a van stopped right behind me.

I waited a few seconds and noticed she was texting so I assumed she was waiting for someone. I tapped the horn to let her know that I was waiting to back up.  No response.  I tapped the horn again. No response. I didn't really know what to do now.  She is completely blocking the back of my van.  I unroll the window to wave my arms and get her attention and tap the horn again.  She finally looks up, rolls down the window , and yells 'ARE YOU FINALLY READY TO LEAVE NOW B*TCH'.  I'm not even kidding.

I was stunned.  I put my head out the window and said something about needing to send a text before I got on the road.  I can't remember I was in such shock.

To top it all off, she didn't just nicely move her van she just barely moved enough for me to back out.  So I thought 2 can play at this game.

I opened the door, grabbed my purse, locked the van, turned to her and said nicely 'There is no way I'm giving you my spot' and walked into the store.

I'm surprised my legs got me there as by the time I picked up the phone to call James I was shaking and on the verge of tears.  I walked to the window to see if she was still there and she had left.  I was a little nervous, but I ran to my car and left.

I am still in disbelief that this happened.  Over a parking spot.  It was 10am on a Tuesday. There were tons of open spots and she picked mine as the one she needed to have.

It was none of her business why I wasn't pulling out of my stall immediately. It was my spot until I so chose to leave it.  For all she new I was breastfeeding a newborn baby in there or taking a very important phone call.  Which I kind of was - I got a text about my baby's first day at school.  Very important in my world.

I will not bring myself to her level and say something mean or uncalled for (even though it kind of would be) I will just hope that she was having a very VERY bad day and she was taking it out on me.  Because I will not believe that there are people out there that are that mean spirited.  And over a parking stall.

Thankfully, after James called back and I had a quick cry while filling my car with gas, I felt better.  I put it behind me and picked up a very happy boy from Kindergarten.   I would NOT let her ruin my day to.

Summers at the lake

This post is from April 30, 2012.  I have such fond memories of my summers at the cabin.  I am sad that my kids won't have the same lake experience, but we are working hard to create lasting memories of our summer trips to Kelowna and back to SK to visit family.



Last week, my BFFs grandmother passed away. She wrote some thoughtful posts on dying and memories that she and her cousins have of their grandmother. What I found interesting is most of the cousins commented on how they will always remember the pizza bun and the never ending supply of chocolate chip cookies in the freezer.


I am sure that if you asked my cousins what memories they have of our grandma growing up, it would without a doubt be the memories we shared at the cabin. 

The red and yellow cabins.  I have no idea who the 2 people in the picture but I am going to assume it is me and my brother.

 Luckily my Grandma is still alive and well. This year, she has decided to put the cabins up for sale. My grandpa built the cabins when my mom was a little girl. My mom often talks about her memories of growing up at the lake. Mostly about learning to water ski. If you were to go into the boat house, you would still see the small wooden skis that my mom skied on when she was young and the ones my brother and I skied on years later. Next week, the red cabin will belong to another family ready to create new memories in the cabin that will forever hold a special place in my heart.

So in honor of celebrating the good times my family shared in the cabin, here are a few of my fondest memories in no particular order:

Once a year, my grandma would take me and my brother and our 3 other cousins to the lake for a week, usually without our parents. I remember playing hide and seek and mostly hiding on Diane in the little shed. It was a scary shed that I was sure was infested with mice and spiders.

We played countless games of cards. From Crazy eights, Go Fish, to Darock (which I am convinced my uncle made up because I have never heard of it since). We would play card to decide who had to cook dinner or who had to do dishes.  Luckily as a kid, you weren't held to certain tasks.

The first time James came up to the lake with me we tried to get him up on skis.  He didn't make all the way up, but he did nearly lose his swim suit in the process.  My mom had to hold it up so he didn't moon the entire beach.  

If I didn't have this picture I wouldn't have actually believed that John made it up on skis that weekend.  Really.... John made it up and James didn't?

That is my brother kayaking in the background.  But I posted this picture for the orange boat.  This is the boat that both my mom and I learned to ski on.  Since then, my mom bought the boat from my grandma and it is still very much in use today.  Still ugly, but still being used.  You sure don't miss it on the lake. lol.

Grandma had this wicker swing at the cabin and it was everyone's favorite chair.  It nicely sat on the deck and was the coveted chair of the cabin.  If you left the chair, even to go to the bathroom, you knew you were not getting it back.  My mom bought me one for our wedding gift.  Everyone has to at least try the chair when they come over, but i must admit that people ask before they sit just to be sure!

There was also a paddle boat at the lake.  Besides swimming it was the only way to work off all the food you consumed while at the lake.  It was like there was a never ending supply of chips!  I remember paddling to the sand bar or even by the beach to see how busy it was.

Then there were the ducks... ahhhh the ducks.  When a flock was approaching the cabin, the kids would all run up to the cabin to get bread.  Grandma saved the dry bread for us to feed the ducks.  Here is a picture of my grandma feeding the ducks and Canadian geese.

 

I also remember the pancakes.  Grandma didn't make pancakes like my mom.  Grandma always put lots of oil in the pan and the edges got crispy.  They are still the best kind of pancakes in my books!

Another thing I remember about the lake was white bread.  There was always lots of white bread.  I don't remember it so much as a kid but going back as an adult who only eats very grainy bread and I remember eating white bread at the cabin :)

We had my first co-ed birthday party at the lake. I don’t actually remember this party, but I have seen the pictures so many times that I feel like I should. I was 7 after all and have memories that date back further than that!

Jenny, Michelle, Deena, brother, and I

I also remember multiple walks for ice cream.  It was about a 30 minute walk and there was always a stop at the campground park.  Grandma would always get maple walnut.  As a kid I preferred my cookies and cream and chocolate chip cookie dough. Now I don't think maple walnut is all that bad!

There were also multiple trips to the used bookstore.  One thing we all did lots of at the cabin was read!

For the majority of my childhood, Grandma had 2 boxers, Brutus and Sheeba.  We never had pets growing up as my mom was allergic to both dogs and cats so these pups were my favorite!  Grandma had a big kennel built between the 2 cabins and these 2 big dogs were always for lake fun!

Finally I found one of me up on skis.  The back of this photo said Summer 1991.  So i was 12 years old.  Eventually we got a tube and mostly used it instead of skis.  I am pretty confident I could still get up on skis if I had to.

· We had my stagette at the cabin. We all pulled out foams and 7 of us slept on the floor after going to the local pub.  The girls surprised me with this pontoon boat rental.  It was a memorable day!

Carmen, me, Dee, Alynne, Gina, Sara, Candace

When I started this post, I didn't realize how many memories I had all revolving around the lake.  Now my mom has a trailer at the same lake the we visit when we come in the summer.  At some point we will let the boys go to lake with my Mom so they can build the same memories that I had as a child.... and James can have a week of free time!  My mom would take them this year if I let her.  Not sure I am quit ready :) Maybe next year Mom!

Thanks for memories Grandma!  They will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Looking back at 1997, the year I graduated high school

This post was originally posted on ?July 5, 2011 and I remember it like it was yesterday.  I love remembering my high shcool years and knowing how different high school will be for my boys.  Hard to believe this is only 7 years away for Grady.  I was a good student, but I know that there are things that would drive my mom crazy if she knew.  #sorrymom




I had a bad morning.

Cooper and I had plans of going to Heritage Park with Nana and Grady on this beautiful summer morning. Instead I spent the better park of my morning, ahem 2 hours, trying to put Cooper to sleep. At 10:30 I pulled the plug on going to HP when Cooper was still awake. Good thing I did as he didn't fall asleep until noon. I was upset. Upset with Cooper for not sleeping and upset that I disappointed Grady by not going to meet him when I told him I would.

I was wallowing in self pity when I checked my Google Reader and saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers Kelly from Kelly's Korner. Today she posted about her 20th high school reunion. I read the top 20 songs from her graduating year of 1991 and it brought a smile to my face. I knew most of them. I have always believed that music can bring back memories more than anything else and this reinforced it. Immediately I wanted to google my own graduating year of 1997 and look at the list. So I did.

Then I thought about how fun it would be to write a post about my graduation 14 years ago. I started thinking about all the pictures I could scan and the things that have changed and just like that my mood changed for the better.

Here I am, seated outside with my lunch and a beer, taking a walk down memory lane in hopes remembering things I may have forgotten and bringing smiles to the face of some of the people in the pictures that remember the same things that I do.

Here I am in 1997 ready to take on the world.

I cannot believe I just posted this picture on the internet.

Some things we did not have in high school that will age me significantly:

-an email address. We wrote notes on paper and passed them around. Paper. I mailed letters to my friends because there were no long distance packages to make talking on the phone cheap.

-a computer. Well we had a very big and slow computer, but all it was good for was playing Typing Tutor and typing essays. It was not fun.

-Internet. We did our research in Encyclopedias. Do they even make those anymore?

-cell phones. I got my first cell phone from my Dad when I was 18 I believe. It was the size of a banana. I seriously wish I would have kept that thing. So needless to say we had no texting. We had to find out where the party of the night was before we left school on Friday.

-Facebook. This is one I am actually glad I didn't have in high school. I really don't think I would have gotten anything done.

-digital cameras. We used film ones. Good thing we didn't have facebook - we wouldn't have had any pictures to post anyway.

-Ipods. We had mixed tapes and maybe a few CDs.

-GPS. With no internet and no GPS I am not sure how we got places. Maybe we asked for verbal directions. Or read a paper map?

-electronic notes. We had to hand write notes from the chalk board.

I am sure there are more I have forgotten.

Back to the pictures.

Here are my friends that I still talk to regularly 14 years ago. All but one. That is a whole other story.

I hope we remain friends after posting this picture.

Here is that same group of friends at the Cap and Gown ceremony.

I can't forget about Deena. Deena and I have been BFF's since the first day of Kindergarten but we attended different high schools. She came to my graduation as a guest anyway.

Me and my Mom.

My siblings.

Just the other month Kolby and I went to see the movie Bridesmaids. For those that have seen the movie you will know that they talk about the band Wilson Phillips. My friend Sara and I loved them and brought them back to life in high school when we found an old cassette. Yes, cassette. I was loving the reference and thought it was so funny to hear and see them again. After the movie I asked my 20 year old sister if she knew who they were and she laughed and said no.. Do you? We had a good laugh about the fact that I did. Thank you for bringing your older sister to the movie anyway Kolbs!

And finally the girls dressed pretty in their gowns.

Look at all those ringlets.

Looking at and pulling out pictures from that time of my life brought a smile to my face. The days where my biggest concern was how we were going to get booze and where we were going to drink it. The days where we spent hours talking about boys, what to wear, and how to style our hair. Sometimes I miss those days. Especially when I hear a song on the radio that reminds me of high school and all the fun things we managed to do behind our parents backs (sorry mom). So that brings us on to the top 20 songs of 1997.

1. Candle in the Wind, Elton John

2. Foolish Games/You Were Meant for Me, Jewel

3. I'll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans

4. Un-Break My Heart, Toni Braxton

5. Can't Nobody Hold Me Down, Puff Daddy

6. I Believe I Can Fly, R. Kelly

7. Don't Let Go (Love), En Vogue

8. Return of the Mack, Mark Morrison

9. How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes

10. Wannabe, Spice Girls

11. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys

12. MMMBop, Hanson

13. For You I Will, Monica

14. You Make Me Wanna..., Usher

15. Bitch, Meredith Brooks

16. Nobody, Keith Sweat

17. Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind

18. Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik

19. Hard to Say I'm Sorry, Az Yet Featuring Peter Cetera

20. Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G.

Don't try to tell me you weren't singing along with the songs as you read the list. I know I was.

Thank you 1997 for making my day today just a little better and for bringing a smile to my face on a day that I was feeling a little down. I don't want to relive you by any means but the memories that we shared will last a life time!

PS - Cooper is still sleeping my lunch is done and my glass is empty. This afternoon is turing out to be much better than my morning.

Updated - We woke up on Wednesday morning to Cooper's first tooth! The culprit behind the non-sleeping was teething. Let the teething season begin!

Five on Friday: TV edition

{one}  Any Bachelorette watchers out there?  What do we think of Jordan as her final pick.  Yes, I agree he is good looking, but can we also agree he is a total player?  This is not going to last.  I give it 3 months.  The rumor is that Luke could bet he next bachelor....   I think he is lame and never smiles.  I may decide not to watch if they choose him.  For reals.

{two}  If you watch the Bachelorette, you MUST be watching Bachelor in Paradise.  I am loving this season with the feud between Nick and Josh.  I remember really liking Josh in Andi's season but he is coming across so bad in this show.  He seems cocky and arrogant and let's be honest, no one can possibly make out for as long as they have been showing him and Amanda making out.  Get a room.  I googled Amanda's name and she apparently has a blog with this post about what really went down with Nick.  Interesting how they edited that, if her version is the truth.

{three} Moving right along, let's talk Big Brother.  I don't have any one I love this season but I certainly have people that I don't like at all, Paulie being one of them.  I really liked him at first but I hate the way he is treating Z.  He is super cocky and arrogant and from what I read he got outed on Thursday night (writing this before I watch).  Fingers crossed that Paulie has vacated the house.

{four} Orange is the New Black.  I loved this show the first season, the second was OK, I lost interest in the third, but the fourth season that was just released in June was so good.  The first half was slow but the last 2 episodes... Wow.  I'm hooked again.

{five}  I am still working my way through the first season of Gilmore Girls.  I did give it up earlier this year but then I picked it up again this summer for when I am on the treadmill or looking for something to watch randomly.  It is good I am not super hooked because then I would want to stay inside rather than get outside and enjoy the summer weather.  Wait, it rains every day, maybe I should start The Good Wife sooner than later!

PS - next week we are back to blog reruns while we head out west for a week of sunshine and swimming.  I promise you'll be entertained.

Show and Tell: School Photos

I am a little late, but today I am linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals to show you some of my old school photos.

Let's start at the begining and look at Kindergarten.  Wasn't I the cutest?  I showed this picture to the boys when I was gathering and they were enthralled by the fact that I was ever this little.

This is my grade 3 photo, aka the one that my Mom forgot it was school pictures until that morning.  Grady is going into grade 3 this year so this is me at his age.  He is all James.

Enter grade 7.  This is by far my worst school photo ever.  From the big hair and red scrunchie to the big earrings and guess jeans top.  This photo... wow.

Grade 9 is better but now we've added in the braces that I wore for 3 years.  My hair has seen some improvements.

Here is grade 11.  Still have braces and still wearing a man's shirt.  What is up with that?

I have many many photo albums filled with pictures from high school and university. I love flipping through them here and there and remembering such a fun time of my life.  But would I want to go back?  Not for a minute.

A Weekend with Sara

Sara and I met in grade 10 and have been friends ever since.  I started eating lunch in the school cafeteria in with Carmen and Sara since none of us had our license or friends to drive us anywhere.  It was a match made in friend heaven.

I really hope that it was Halloween in this photo. I think Sara was the devil.

Here we are more than 20 years later and still great friends. Sara is my Sunday phone call. We rarely go a week with out a quick chat or a few texts.  She is an old friend. Ha!   But seriously, I am lucky to call her my friend.

Each year when her day home closes Sara plans a trip to our house with her kiddos and we take Calgary by storm.  Even when rain threatens to dampen our spirits.  Who are we kidding, the kids have too much energy to just let us sit around.  Even in the rain.

We kicked off Saturday morning at Calaway Park.  Aiden had been there just a few weeks ago and it was on the top of his list for the weekend.  The forecast called for rain starting at 2 pm but we figured we could power through in 4 hours no problem.   That could have been the case except the rain started after we'd only been at the park for an hour. We stopped for lunch and found a semi dry place to eat and the rain magically stopped.  We ended up being at the park almost 6 hours.

We took this photo as we left.  The kids were high on sugar and the moms were ready for their beer that they knew were chillin' in the fridge at home.

The rain started again that night and it rained hard.  James really wanted ice cream so we headed out in the rain only to find out that there was a tornado watch going on.  So needless to say, no time for pictures, we grabbed the ice cream and came home.  Thankfully the kids didn't hear the radio as my kids are terrified of weather related items, tornadoes in particular.  Yikes!

The boys enjoyed 3 sleepover nights.  Late to bed and early to rise.  Aiden was always the first up and proceeded to wake at least one of my boys up and before you knew it they were all up at 7am every day.  The good thing was that they were like a heard of elephants coming down the stairs to there was no hiding that they were awake!

Sunday was the day of Sara.  When I started to throw out ideas, her favorite was the ride on the ctrain to the Calgary Tower downtown with a pit stop at Wonderland (the big white face) that she saw on the Amazing Race Canada.  Done.

Sara and I and the 4 kids took the train, which was a huge success, and James met us downtown with the car just in case we needed it.  He just didn't want to ride the train.  We walked and picked him up at his office building where he parked.

We paid a very expensive entry fee to ride the long and very full elevator up to the top of the Calgary Tower.  Aiden got out of the elevator and within in seconds expressed his disappointment in the tower.  Ha!  In the end I think all 3 enjoyed.  The glass floor is terrifying for adults, kids not so much.

Next up was the big white face.  It is pretty impressive.  I've walked by it many times from the +15s but never right up to it or inside of it. You can see how big it is by looking at the kids inside the face in the photo below.

Next up we headed to the giant park downtown and James introduced the kids to Pokemon Go.  It was beyond annoying for Sara and I who had to stop every few steps to look for imaginary monsters.  I don't get it.  Whatever we thought didn't matter, the kids loved it.   I am pretty sure Sara is cursing my name for introducing Aiden to this annoying game.

We ended the day with Gina and her family coming over for dinner.  Macy was beyond thrilled to ditch the boys to play with the twins.  The sun was shining and the kids behaved most of the time which equals a great end to the evening.

Sara and I spent our adult time catching up on Bachelor in Paradise and finishing the Bachelorette finale.  Sara quoted her friend Steve countless times and I fell asleep on the couch each night as per usual.

It was such a good weekend. I was so lucky to spend so much time with my favorite gals this summer.  Now I have to accept that it will be a while before I get this quality time with any of them.  There is just something about friends that you've known for so long that is special.  The distance and time between visits doesn't matter.  They will always be my best friends.

Thanks for a great visit Sara!