Paige’s 8th birthday

We celebrated Paige's eighth birthday this year by having a party at Acros Gymnastics with all of Paige's friends and family. Paige had been wanting a friend party for so long so she was pumped for her party!!

We celebrated Zombie's style. 

The birthday girl was decked out and raring to go. I had this balloon bouquet made to match the party decor. 

I was a little nervous about the party since most of the parents dropped their kids off. You just never know what drama may ensue. Overall, all the kids did great with minimal drama and tears. 

Rylee came and had the time of her life celebrating Paige's birthday. 

Adam is of course the biggest kid of them all!

Paige was so excited to see Tinley and introduce her to school friends. They have been friends since preschool and although they go to different schools they have remained friends. 

Only one boy was brave enough to show up at Paige's birthday party. Poor CJ! He had fun though. 

The foam pit was a huge hit! I enjoyed jumping in as well. It was nice to have the whole place to ourselves that day and just have fun. 

Paisley and Paige

We had a special treat planned for Paige. Since she doesn't like cake we had Kona Ice come to the party for shaved ice. That is one of her favorite things, and it was a hit. I had visions of a sunny day when I planned this, but it, unfortunately, started raining when Kona Ice came. The kids still loved it. 

The birthday girl!!

I can only imagine what this conversation was about. 

The smile on Paige's face shows what a great party it was. I was so happy that she had a successful first party with her school friends. She decided not to open her gifts at the party so she was excited to come home and open them. She received so many nice gifts from everyone. It was a great day and a great 8th birthday!! 

March- April

It is time to dust off the blog again and get caught up. I am so behind. March and April are LONG gone, but there are a lot of good memories from those months that need to be talked about. 

First up, first grade Dr. Seuss Day!  I bought this adorable outfit a year ago from a friend in preparation for this since I knew Paige would need to dress up. Did she actually make it to school that day? Of course not! She woke up stuffy and didn't feel good so she missed out on it. Ugh! She sure looked cute though. 

We all have these wearable blankets called, comfy's. Adam and Paige wore them out on a golf cart ride one day and sent me this hilarious picture. 

The elementary school had spirit week with fun dress up days. Paige participated in Western day. 

Throwback to the 80's was my favorite day, and we went all out. I love a good dress up day. I should have taken a picture of Paige after school that day. She had taken most things off and looked exhausted. First grade is rough! 

Paige went to a classmates party at Skate World. That place was CRAZY busy that afternoon, but the kids still had a good time. She has been lucky enough to make some new friends this year. 

My mom had Paige recreate this picture of me with my baby doll, Bill John. I think Paige looks so much like me minus the bangs.  I love that Bill John is still being played with after all of these years.

It was a beautiful Easter weekend this year. It's always nice when we have nice weather for Easter egg hunting. We spent Saturday at Maw's house. Rylee and Paige enjoyed hunting eggs together and playing. There were plenty of eggs to go around. Paige came home with more candy than she knew what to do with. 

Ella looks like a giant in this barbie jeep. 

These two were ready to hunt some eggs! I could barely get a picture before they headed out the door. 

Paige was up bright and early on Easter morning. I actually gave them their Easter baskets the night before Easter. Paige gets so excited and can't sleep so I figured it didn't matter if it was morning or night. It worked out really well, because Paige did sleep all night. 

Next up was our Easter celebration at Mammy and Peep's house! They hide a ton of eggs so there are plenty to go around. 

The big kids are still not too big to find eggs!

Mammy goes all out with easter baskets. Paige was so excited about hers! 

Paige made some new friends in first grade, and they were so excited to get together for their first play date. 

We were finally able to meet our newest niece, Naomi Grace. She is such a sweet baby! 

Paige was very proud of her new cousin. 

Alison and I went out to celebrate our birthdays at Pangea. We had a lot of fun catching up.... probably too much fun. 

Spring break 2023

We headed to Breckenridge, Colorado for spring break this year. Colorado is beautiful (even in the snow) so it's always fun when we get to go back there. We were all ready for a break and excited about this trip. 

We split it up into a two-day drive. We drove about nine hours to Hays, KS, and stayed there for the night. Splitting up these long drives makes them much more bearable. The first day of driving was easy and smooth which is always appreciated. 

On the road again....

Once we arrived at the hotel, we ordered food and relaxed. I just happened to stumble upon WWE wrestling on tv. Paige was hooked, and it took me back to my childhood. I used to love watching wrestling matches. It's still as exciting as it used to be. 

Our second day of driving was not as smooth as the first. We got caught driving through a TERRIBLE snowstorm. It was scary for about an hour or so since it was so hard to see and the roads were slick. We eventually drove out of it and on the other side were blue skies and sunshine!

You know you are in Colorado when you see the snow, ski lift, and skiers. It was an exciting thing to see. 

We stayed at the best rental house, Southern Pines. It had only been open for renters for a few months. It's like a home away from home and made for a wonderful week. 

As soon as we unpacked and ordered pizza, we went out to play in the snow. There was plenty of it. Although it was COLD, we were so happy to be there. 

While we were out it started snowing again. It was beautiful! 

Southern Pines also has the best deck with a hot tub and swinging chairs. We were in the hot tub every afternoon that week. It was the best place to watch the snow. 

Paige made her mark in the guest book. I hope we can go back again someday and see these. 

On our first full day, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny morning but it was COLD.

There is seriously nothing better than waking up to this view! Even with the cold and snow, it was a beautiful day. 

It was only around five degrees when we woke up that morning. We bundled up and headed outside to play in the snow. I ended up going for a walk around the neighborhood. It was really neat to look up on the mountain and see people skiing down. It looks like fun, but I have no desire to give it a try!

That afternoon we went on a sleigh ride with Golden Horseshoe Sleigh Rides. It had not warmed up very much by this point so it was a very cold ride.  Before the sleigh ride, we were given hot chocolate from their hot chocolate bar. 

Bundled up and ready for a ride through the woods!

It was a beautiful and quiet ride through the woods, but it was a definitely slower-paced activity. I'm not sure it's something we will do again, but I'm glad we were able to do it once. It's not every day you get to ride a sleigh through the woods in Colorado! The trees and snow were so pretty. I'm a sucker for pretty views. 

We were able to stop a few times at some good picture spots and viewpoints. Colorado is just the best. It's beautiful any time of year. 

Paige is always up for a picture!!

The horse that took us on the sleigh ride was in love with another horse that was back at the stables. While it was standing still it would only look in one direction which was the direction of the other horse. 

We were up bright and early almost every morning. I'm pretty sure I saw the sun rise almost every day that week. I did not sleep the best, but we were on vacation so who cares! 

Paige had to have the same breakfast that she has at home. Nothing changes on vacation. 

We didn't have anything planned that day so we decided to do a little shopping and eat some lunch in downtown Breckenridge. It was FREEZING! I think it was a high of about 10-15 degrees that day. 

The weather in Colorado is so crazy because one minute the sun can be out and five minutes later it can be dumping snow which is exactly what happened here. Shortly after taking this picture, we started walking to lunch, and it started snowing. We were FREEZING. 

SNOW! It was so pretty!

The following day I planned a dog sledding tour. I looked forward to this for MONTHS. We were so lucky to have a nice day (high around 35 which felt like spring). 

Good Times Adventures!!

Before our tour, we were able to see and pet the dogs. They were so sweet and of course, totally used to all the attention. 

Paige is terrified of big dogs and it took her a little bit to warm up to them. She finally decided to pet one, and this guy flopped over to have his belly rubbed. 

We were grouped with two other ladies that were so nice which made the trip that much more enjoyable. We also had a great guide, Alec. He was very outgoing and friendly with lots of information about the dogs and the area. 

Adam volunteered to go first with Paige in the sled. You can tell by the smile on her face how much fun it was. It was a very neat, unique experience. 

We stopped to give the dogs a break quite often. They prefer really cold weather (like negative five) so the 35-degree temps were a little rough on them. The guide was giving them "snow baths" to try to cool them down. 

I was not too fond of driving the sled but ended up doing it. It wasn't as scary as I pictured it. Of course, we were going slower than usual. I'm glad I tried it though. 

Seriously beautiful!!

The guide finally talked Paige into trying to drive the sled. She was unsure but ended up doing a great job. She was very proud of herself. I don't think many seven-year-olds can say they have led a team of dogs on a dog sled. 

Ella took the longest and fastest ride back and did a great job driving the sled. I think she could have stayed all day. It was a really great experience. I'd love to do it again.

Great times with Good Times Adventures!!

On our last day Paige and I did a little shopping downtown. It was a really nice day so it was nice to get out. I love Breckenridge. It's a really cute, quaint town. 

I wasn't going to leave without riding the gondola. We rode it all the way up and back down. 

We finally saw where all the skiers were. It was like a different world up there with more hotels and restaurants. 

We had a special visitor that afternoon. We thought this little guy was a weasel but come to find out it was a Marten.

I was in the kitchen and looked out the window to see the marten was trying to get in the trash building. I of course immediately freaked out and ran outside. Paige and I sat on the deck for a while watching it in the tree. It was watching us as well. We eventually went back in since it wasn't moving from the tree. I started doing dishes and looked up to see it crawling up the window. I about jumped out of my skin. It was a very curious little animal. It was all over the deck and even on the roof of the house. We had the best time watching it.  

I think my favorite part of traveling to different parts of the US is seeing all of the different wildlife. There is nothing I love more than spotting an animal I have never seen before. I can now add Marten to my list. 

On our last night, I was able to talk the family into going to see the Christmas lights downtown. Breckenridge leaves their lights up until the end of March so we were just in time. I think Paige and I were the only ones excited about it. It was beautiful though and a great way to end the trip. 

I snapped this on my way out the door. I was SO SAD to leave. It was a great trip and the break we all needed. The house we stayed in was just icing on the cake. You know you have picked a good rental when you leave home and then feel like you are home on vacation. I'm thankful for the memories we made and the time we shared together. 

See you soon, Colorado! You never disappoint.