NEW 52 | Casa Bonita

Last week on a road trip with my good friend Robin who grew up in Colorado, she told me about at a restaurant in Denver that we just needed to visit. Well, today was that day! My parents are in town for a few days and our original plans fell through. So we ended up at Casa Bonita. It took some encouragement from families exiting the restaurant to sway our decision. The restaurant was in a vacant strip mall that looked a bit sketchy. And the catch to entering the restaurant featuring a 30 foot water fall with daring cliff divers is that every person in your party has to purchase a meal. Even though we weren't super hungry, we decided to go for it.

My kids loved Casa Bonita! We had dinner on a balcony looking over the waterfall. Casa Bonita has shows every 15 minutes so it kept us entertained for a couple of hours. The restaurant was also decorated to the nines with Halloween decor making it a spooky experience. My little ones are already asking to go back again. The food was actually decent as I was forewarned it wouldn't be very good. You pay for the experience more than anything. Maybe in a year or so we will return.

We Keep On Going

He pretty much wanted to give up baseball altogether after the second game of an eight game season. He would rather high five everyone running the bases and strike up a conversation or check out the grass for its comfort. In fact, at some moments, he would rather do anything than be on the field waiting for a ball to come to him.

As Ryland's coach and mom, I won't let him give up. I paid my hard earned money for him to be in this league. And if I have to be there, he has to be there. I just won't let him sit out. What would it say to all of the other kids? That we could just quit when we feel like it? Nope.

As I've come to realize, it's much harder for me to coach my own child. If another dad tells him, "Ryland, cover your base!" He will...at least for a few more minutes. So I've had to have a weekly talk with my little dude about giving it your all, even when you don't feel like it. And boy, do I feel like a hypocrite.

As I've struggled to find joy in the past 10 days, I've re-learned to be joyful about the little things. First, that I have a son. Second, that I get to be his coach and spend one-on-one time with him while his siblings are playing soccer. Three, that he loves me and wants to follow me wherever I am on the field.

Ryland has (God willing) a long life ahead of him. He can take his sweet time finding out his passions in life and them strengthening those skills. I don't really care if he turns out to be an MVP or not. I just want him to never give up. I want him to develop perseverance for the toughest of times ahead. And, I want him to know that no matter what, I will be cheering him on from the sidelines. Because no matter what, he is an MVP in my eyes.

Project Life | Weeks 35-39

This is really week 35.  After I took the photo of this week's spread, I noticed that I accidentally put in a week 36 card. I've already changed it but am too lazy to redo the photo. You get the concept though :)

WEEK 35 | Colorado Springs Balloon Festival with family.

WEEK 36 | On Labor Day, we took the kids to Dave & Busters.

The kids were invited to a birthday party at a gym. And all three kids started the fall league with i9 Sports.

WEEK 37 | Lots of family in town to celebrate Oma Mies turning 80!

Lots of family time...

WEEK 38 | Field trip to Miller Farms

WEEK 38

WEEK 39

WEEK 39

Project Life | Weeks 32-34

WEEK 32 | I took Hank to a Foster the People concert at the amazing Red Rocks Amphitheater. The outdoor venue was amazing...can't wait to go back. This was Hank's Father's Day gift.

Taylor and Landon started a tumbling/gymnastics class on Thursday nights. It good strength training for both kids, and I am hoping that Taylor can learn her front and back handsprings to incorporate into her dances. We also tried to go on the water slides at Elitch Garden's but got rained out again.

WEEK 33 | We celebrated Grandpa Vern's 82nd birthday! 

Wrapped up the week celebrating Ryland's 5th birthday. It's so hard to see the baby of the family grow up. I am one blessed Mommy!

WEEK 34 | Back to School - and we were ready. This year is interesting. Taylor (2nd grade), Landon (1st grade), and Ryland (kindergarten) are all in the same classroom with Mrs. Brewster. We were going to hold Ryland back for another year, but their school is not offering Pre-K this year. So since he just turned five a few days ago, we are going to try and see how he does.

This week was also the start of i9 sports for my babies. Taylor and Landon chose soccer so Hank decided to coach their team. Ryland chose T-ball and I was recruited to coach his team. All games and practices are on Sundays after church and works well with our busy schedules.

Project Life | Weeks 27-31

Life has been super busy and I am playing catch up all the time with Project Life and scrapbooking. That's OK with me though. It is something that I always look forward to when I can squeeze it in. It's crazy looking at these photos from summer when in reality, school has started this week and it is beginning to feel a bit like fall. So with that said, WEEK 27 is all about the beach. The kids and I travelled to La Jolla, California to visit my parents. Taylor had a national dance competition in San Diego and La Jolla was only 20 minutes away. It was the perfect vacation and our best memory of the summer.

WEEK 27

WEEK 28 | Taking the kids to Sea World for the very first time. I bought two-day passes and the kids, my mom, and I scoured the park from corner to corner. We loved it! Such a great memory.

We stayed with my parents for almost two weeks and visited the USS Midway on one of our days. We also celebrated my mom's birthday on July 11.

WEEK 29 | Camping with Grandma and Grandpa in Prescott, AZ

We were able to meet up with several of our sweet friends from AZ before heading back home to Colorado.

WEEK 30 | Swim lessons and dance choreography commences.

We squeezed in a birthday party, back-to-school shopping, and a Newsboys concert at Elitch Gardens. 

WEEK 31

Oh my goodness, my baby girl is growing up! At her ortho evaluation last week, they said she was ready for Phase One of braces to expand her jaw. She was super excited to say the least. I also surprised Taylor with tickets to see "The Sound of Music" live.