Coors Brewery

Aunt Jeni, Uncle Adam, Charlotte, and Jerrod came out for a visit in late May. One of the things Jeni wanted to do was go on the Coors Brewery tour (something she had never done although she lived in Denver for many years). So one day we loaded up the kids and drove to Golden for a tour. 

We met Alex there, who had also managed to never find himself on the tour after living in Denver his entire life. I've been there four times already people. Catch up!

The kids loved the bus ride from the parking lot to the brewery.

Here's most of the gang just outside. Ready to go!

It's a self-guided audio tour. Patrick loved listing to the guide (learning the family business already, Grandpa).

Of course, probably the best part is the free beer at the end. With five kids in tow, we didn't quite take full advantage of three glasses, but it was still good.

And apparently very tiring. This is the car ride home. Successful day.

Volcano

One of the Mom/Daniel activities I found on Pinterest was this volcano. Daniel had a dinosaur unit at school where he learned about volcanos and was obsessed with the lava. So I found this. 

First, we collected rocks from our yard. 

Then, we made salt dough to form the volcano. 

It was a little too heavy so it didn't keep a very good volcano form, but good enough for a 4 year old. 

When it was dry (two days later), Daniel painted it.

Then, when their cousin Charlotte was in town, we took turns choosing colors to make the lava and sat back and watched it erupt. 

The kids loved it. And we have done it twice since then. Turned out to be a pretty good activity.

Patrick Turns 1!

My baby turned 1! I can't believe how fast this year has gone. I know everyone says that, but it really was just a blink. 

We went with a Mickey theme since we went to Disneyland for Christmas. 

I made these cupcakes I found on Pinterest. So cute!

It was on Memorial Day (like his mama, every once in a while his birthday will be a national holiday, so cool!) so we decided to have a BBQ outside. The weather cooperated nicely. It was gorgeous out. 

Daddy manned the grill. 

There were lots of kids to run around and play with.

Then it was time for cake. 

It did pretty good digging in. He was very meticulous, though. Little bites.

At one point, though, he tried to pick up the entire cake until he realized it was attached to the tray and wasn't going anywhere.

And he had to make sure he got every little last bit of frosting off his fingers.

He got a lot of clothes and fun toys to play with. My kids are so spoiled by everyone. The favorites of the day were a steering wheel from Aunt Kerry and Uncle John and a camera toy from Uncle Tom and Aunt Shelley.

After most of the guests left, some family stayed to continue playing (Grandma and Grandpa Weldon, Shaylin, Olivia, Aunt Kerry, Aunt Jeni, Uncle Adam, Charlotte, and Jerrod all made the trip out to celebrate). The cousins loved all the play time.

There were rousing games of Freeze Tag, 

and Red Light, Green Light.

The party last long into the night (even after the Birthday Boy had gone to bed). 

Thanks everyone for making it such a special day.

Happy 1st Birthday Patrick!!!!

Josh's Field Day

At the end of every year at Josh's school, they have a field day. It takes up most of the morning and they get to go around to different activities. Josh loves it. 

They get to squirt each other...

launch chickens...

and have relay races. It's pretty fun.

What do the rest of us do?

Daniel plays at the park with his buddies (we've met a lot of kids at drop-off and pick-up)

Patrick eats food and I dance to the great music (played more for the parents than the kids as I'm sure they don't appreciate The Beach Boys as much as the adults do)

This is a rousing game of duck, duck, goose at the "rest station". I wish I had this much energy.

Daniel even got to participate at the parachute. He loved it!

This was not at field day but very cute anyway. It's his new favorite place to play, underneath the excersaucer. 

End of Preschool

Daniel's last day of preschool was yesterday. What a year it has been. He has grown so much from it. 

For an end of the year party, the teachers put together a play date at the park near the school. Daniel of course loved it. They had cupcakes and playground equipment. What else could you ask for?

Here is his morning T/Th class. A lot of them will be moving to afternoons with him next year. He is super excited!

And here is one of Patrick. He has started pulling himself up on a lot of things but hasn't quite figure out how to sit back down. So instead, he just screams until you help him. So cute!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day! But then again, I always do because I have the best husband. It started with breakfast in bed, then reading in bed for 3 hours (that's right, 3 hours!). Then I came downstairs to a clean house and was treated to lots of "Happy Mother's Day"s (and one Happy Coldstone Day from Daniel). We ate lunch at Jimmy John's and walked through the farmer's market on our way to Coldstone for a special treat.

We got home and I opened my first present....

this awesome picture frame. How cute it this! Now I just have to find a place to hang it. 

Then I spent some time in my scrapbook room while Patrick napped and the other boys helped Dad in the garage. 

We did dinner at Hacienda Colorado. It was awesome! Amazing service. They brought Patrick sliced avocados and gave all the boys tortilla dough balls, which kept them entertained the entire dinner. Patrick got a kick out of Daddy "throwing" the ball into it's bowl. I also got my second gift, a bracelet with Patrick's brithstone (no pictures).  

Like I said, it was a great Mother's Day!

Final Football

Today was the boys' last football games. Of course, they were back to back again.

Josh was first. His team won 17-12. I don't remember if Josh scored any points but he played quarterback a few times and grabbed a few flags. He always has a good time.

He got a trophy afterwards (I know....raising soft kids, but he's only 7 and it's not a competitive league).

Then we made it over for the second half of Daniel's game. Here he is playing center. He even got close to pulling a few flags as well.

He got a trophy from coach (Daddy). He was super excited.

Here they are after their last game. It was a good season.

Now, on to baseball!