4th of July Fun

We had a great 4th of July this year and the best part was that daddy was home with us!  We kicked off the day with a bicycle parade.  Both girls decorated their bikes, but Milan was the most excited about the actual parade.  Eden hung out in the stroller with Cora. 

This is the starting line.  Milan considered the parade more of a race so she wanted a front spot.

 Our cute little bicyclist!

 Next, we walked around the Freedom Has a Birthday Celebration at the park.  Since we were so early, we were able to do all the popular attractions without waiting in line...it was perfect!  Here are the girls touring the fire truck.

 Cora devoured my free ice cream cone.  Once she realized that she loved it, I wasn't allowed to move my hand or the ice cream away from her mouth

 Milan and daddy.

(FYI:  All the above pics are from my phone.  I just figured out how to transfer pictures to my computer....Yay, go me!)

After we BBQed with our friends, we played at the park for a little while. We needed to keep the kids energized for their late night!  This is Cora's very favorite thing at the park (and look at all the chocolate around Cora's mouth.....she was definitely enjoying her night!)

Milan and Eden LOVED playing with glow sticks, silly string, and watching the neighborhood fireworks!  Their excitement was so fun to watch :).  We ended the night with the city firework show then passed out in bed.

Riding in the Mountains

A couple of weeks ago, we headed up to the mountains with our friends the Chamberlains.  We had a great time!  We found this mud course and Milan, Dani, and Leila LOVED the bumps and mud.  They wanted to ride around here all day.  

 Eden would hop in the Rhino if daddy promised to go slow and avoid the bumps.  She's still warming up to it :)

After riding, we moved on to some of the girl's favorite activities....throwing rocks, playing in the water, eating junk food, and performing dance performances on top of the trailer!

Milan's 6 Year Pictures

My new tradition will be having a special birthday date and doing birthday pictures.  Milan and I headed up to Vedauwoo for pictures and I really enjoyed spending time with her.  

These are Milan's favorites at 6:

Color:  Magenta 

Food:  Cheese Pizza from Dominos

Drink:  Chocolate Milk

Animal:  Horse

Show:  My Littlest Pet Shop

Game:  Fancy Nancy

Thing to Make:  Potholders

Thing to Wear:  Orange Dress (the one in the pictures)

Friend:  Carly and Loralei ("even though she's mean to me, I still like her.")

Place:  Grandma and Papa's House

Song:  Brave CD

Restaurant:  Dominos

Thing to do as a Family:  Go to the Swimming Pool

Slumber Party

Milan had her first slumber party to celebrate her 6th birthday.  She invited 3 friends plus Eden.  They were all great girls and we had such a fun party!

We started off by making pizzas then all the girls were so excited that they set out their sleeping bags and changed into jammies.  We had some chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream (Milan's fave!).

 Then gifts :)

 One of Milan's gifts was the movie, Barbie and the Pink Shoes, so they all wanted to watch it.  They lasted for a half an hour or so then they were off playing and painting nails for the rest of the night.

Around 9:30, one of the girls kept asking to go to bed.  The best part of the night was sitting in the living room hearing them giggle in the bedroom.  It would be quiet, then giggle giggle, then quiet...they fell asleep around 11.  It makes me so happy that Milan loved feeling special and having a slumber party.

Milan's 6th Birthday

Milan has been talking about her 6th birthday for at least 9 months so of course we had to make it special!  Milan woke up to birthday decorations,  balloons and gifts.  She quickly got dressed, did her own hair, and came upstairs to inform us she was ready to open presents!  She got a pink 2 wheeled scooter, crafts, and tons of summer stuff for more fun outside.  (Eden also got some fun summer gifts.)   

 They headed outside to enjoy the sunshine, break out the slip and slide, and play with their new toys.  Milan was too busy riding her new scooter for a picture :)

We headed up to Vedauwoo with some friends and a cheese pizza (Milan's choice) for dinner in the mountains.  

This little girls LOVES the dirt so of course she was happy.

 This game was also a hit!  Who knew flying down a boulder in the stroller could be so much fun!

 My beautiful birthday girl!  

 Milan took the cupcake portion of her birthday very seriously!  She wanted the Happy Birthday song to last as long as possible and nobody was allowed to take a bite until she did.  She definitely knows what she wants :)

 Plus a birthday Smore!

 Eden and her roasted Starburst!

Date Night

On a recent date, Dave and I picked up Mexican take-out and headed up to the mountains.  We just ate, chit-chatted, and hiked around a bit.  I wanted a picture, so I propped my camera on my sweatshirt on top of the red truck and voila....here you go!  Not a big deal, but I am so lucky that I married the perfect person for me!

I love marriage.  I love that he puts our family first, above everything else.  He makes me laugh all the time.  I love sitting together at night and making fun of the kids together....it makes all the challenges seem trivial.  He is such a hard worker and I appreciate all of his sacrifices.  I am also so proud of everything we have accomplished.  (He just got a 21 on the DAT...top 93%!)  I also really miss him (working for the summer) but I know it will be worth it in the end.  I can't wait until our next date!