Highlands Ranch Rodeo

The little local Highlands Ranch Rodeo was a big favorite for the girls and I when we lived in Colorado, so we were so excited to find out we had come to town on rodeo weekend. We made plans to go on Sunday and got tickets right away. As a bonus, a drill team friend of mine from high school, Tara, had just moved to The Ranch with her daughter a few days before, and we were meeting up with them to introduce them to some friends and welcome them to town. She has a 5 year old Reagan too (second from the right). We took this picture within about 5 minutes of arriving and you can see their faces are already so red! It was HOT!!! I think the temp was about 97 degrees and the rodeo was from 1 to 3 in an open field with no shade! Add in Colorado's elevation and that is not the best rodeo weather!

The girls all had little paper fans that someone passed out and plenty of water, so they didn't seem to mind the heat. They enjoyed the start of the rodeo, but they were mainly waiting for the kid's events. There was a bunny scramble for the kids under 6 and a chicken scramble for the older kids. Unfortunately due to some poor planning, they gathered all the kids for the scrambles, about 30 minutes before it actually started. We ended up spending most of the rodeo gathered in a very hot, crowded circle, in the back of the arena waiting to go in. We couldn't see any of the rodeo we had bought tickets for and the kids (and mama's) were getting restless.

Our new friend Reagan fit right in. She was a little apprehensive about trying to catch a bunny, but wanted to go with the girls and watch. Reagan, Reagan, Ava and Nora were all lined up holding hands, waiting to start.

As if it wasn't already hot enough, they tied bandannas around the kids necks as they prepared for the scramble. Gracyn is usually quite outgoing and is never nervous about anyone, but she doesn't seem to know what to think about this clown.

Reagan and Ava getting ready to run. The clowns in the middle released 3 poor, little bunnies, who were then chased by about 100 little kids trying to catch them for a prize.

And, they are off! We didn't catch a bunny....much to everyone's disappointment (except probably the bunny). Addison was up next with the chicken scramble. I have no more pictures because the whole thing became a major crowd control issue, trying to keep up with all the kids. Addison was just sure that if you caught the chicken you got to keep him (not true) and she tried her hardest, but wasn't fast enough. I meanwhile, was trying to find my friend Tara. Reagan was still with us, but I hadn't found her mom when we returned from the arena. Turns out the blazing heat combined with the Colorado altitude had gotten to her. This was her 5th day in town and she started feeling altitude sickness. We finally found her, when she called my friend Penny, from the back of the ambulance. She had low blood-pressure and was feeling faint, so they had her on oxygen and were getting her hydrated. So thankful we had met her there that day so we (my friends) could help get her and Reagan driven home safely. The rest of the rodeo was complete chaos....trying to round up kids from the scramble, get everyone water, help Tara, and get to the car. I called my friend when we all got in our separate cars and said, "Well, that was kind-off miserable!" "Kind-off???", she replied. Turns out it wasn't the most fun thing we did that weekend, but the kids had a blast. My crew headed directly to McDonalds were we soaked up some AC, along with large bottles of cold water and some McFlurrys.

Colorado, Just-Bead-It

Last week, the girls and I got to make a little girls' trip to Colorado to see all our dearly missed friends. We had an amazing time catching up and visiting them. We packed 5 days and 4 nights full of sleepovers, playdates and outings. Thanks to the time change and the excitement of friends, we had very little sleep, but the girls did amazingly well and it was totally worth it. We arrived Friday night and it was just as though we never left. The girls were off and playing and the mamas were chatting nonstop. Saturday morning, we rented the party room and the girls got to make necklaces together.

Reagan and Ava. Pretty girls, hard to believe they (and Nora too) used to be the babies of the group.

Big Sisters....Brenna, Addison and Clara

Silly Lila and Gracyn....these two were born just weeks apart and were together non-stop before we moved. They loved each other again instantly.

The whole 9....Reagan, Ava, Clara, Addison, Gracyn, Lila, Brenna, Nora and Claire

Love these girls and their Mamas so much. We miss them like crazy, but are so thankful to have them in our lives, even if it is at a distance now.

Park Adventures

Pine Hill Park, just a few minutes from our house has been among our favorite adventures this summer. We like to go early in the morning, before crowds or heat, and we usually have the place nearly to ourselves. They have a great playground, but we never spend much time on it. The girls much prefer feeding the ducks, fishing and hiking around in the wooded areas. We usually see bunnies and we always visit a certain frog, who has so far, always been on the same lily pad in the pond.

The ducks can be a little aggressive when it comes to the bread, so Gracyn is a bit cautious. Most of the time they stay in the water and we feed them from the dock, but on this day, they were all out and surrounding us.

The imagine of the girls on our early morning hikes is one I never want to forget. They find walking sticks, Gracyn and Reagan often hold hands, they take turns leading and they never leave a sister behind. Their eyes are peeled for the sight of anything they might find interesting and they stop frequently to pick flowers.

The day these pictures were taken, we were actually there in the evening, so Daddy could join us. We went armed with pink fishing poles and hot dogs for bait. It was sprinkling rain, but nobody minded.

Despite a deep determination, we didn't catch any fish on this trip. Addison worked at it for more than an hour. Reagan and Gracyn fished for a time and then wondered off with me to the playground. Such a sweet, simple time together, but one I treasure most.

4th Of July

4th of July started at the pool with friends. The girls swam for a few hours and had a great time playing in the water.

Gracyn works up an appetite and spends some time on the sidelines eating snacks.

Daddy and Addison doing some moves.

Addison, Sophie, Chloe, Olivia, Reagan and Gracyn back at our house after the swimming for a cook-out and some fireworks.

Family picture.

Time for sparklers and poppers!

Reagan's turn.

Gracyn and Fire = Scary

Addison and Chloe having some dessert while watching the show.

Later, Addison and Chloe changed into their matching jammies and went back to watching the show. Maggie the Lab wasn't going to be left out of anything.

10:45pm the fireworks are mostly over and the girls have moved on to a tea party.

Around 9:45, when it finally gets dark around here, it was time for the big firework show in our neighborhood. Our neighbors are serious about the 4th and they have tons of fireworks. Everyone drags chairs out front and we watch as a few of the Dad's put on quite a show. This year, the Bowles were joining us. However, a few members of our party were a little nervous about the fireworks, which resulted in us watching the show from our upstairs windows. The girls had a perfect view and we were in the air conditioning! Perfect. This post is terribly out-of-order. Sorry for the mixed-up pictures, blogger doesn't love me today!

Zoo Days

Despite the fact that it is roasting hot around here, the girls and I met up with some friends last week and headed for the zoo. I tend to think since we are Texans at heart, we can handle a little heat, but with temperatures as high as 106 and humidity off the charts, I think here lately Cincinnati has been every bit as hot as Texas. It didn't slow us down though, we managed a good 5 hours at the zoo, before we were melting enough to head for the car.

Pure love between these two. We had just gotten back from vacation, so they hadn't seen each other in a while. I am not sure they saw a single animal. They wondered around a few steps behind the group, holding hands, gathering sticks and playing in the dirt.

My animal lover! She never gets tired of this. She would skip the rest of the zoo and stay here feeding these birds all day if she could convince the rest of the group. She likes the animals in cages, but she really just hits the zoo on a mission to find anything she can get her hands on....touching snakes, feeding goats, petting baby kangaroos. Anything hands-on, she is all in. The big favorite on this day was watching the snakes be feed. All the girls stood mesmerized for a good 30 minutes while a cage of large snakes dined on whole, live mice! I could barely look at it and they couldn't stop looking!

Reagan likes feeding the birds too, though she has been bit a few times, so she proceeds much more cautiously

My baby and I with Elle watching from the background.

Addison got to help with an animal show in the children's zoo. She held this bell while the goat came to ring it. Shortly after this, in an attempt to beat traffic home, we headed out. Tommy was out of town this day, so we grabbed dinner out. I came home ready to get cleaned up, watch a movie and call it a day, but not the girls! They re-energized in the car and came home ready for painting and art projects!

Vacation, All-in-one!

The girls singing Taylor Swift at the Shannon Tanner Show.

Well, I initially had good intentions of writing several individual posts about all our favorite things in Hilton Head. Now, going on 4 weeks home, I am giving that up and dumping the last of my favorite pictures into one long post. Summer is marching on (too quickly) and I am getting farther and farther behind. Playtime with the girls from sun-up to sun-down, as it should be, doesn't leave much time for blogging!

In the picture above, Gracyn is on stage after the Shannon Tanner Show. The girls all went on stage together earlier in the week and sang a Taylor Swift song. Gracyn insisted for the remainder of the days, that she wanted to sing The Little Mermaid and she didn't get to. He was kind enough to do a duet with her Friday night, just before we went back to pack the condo. It made her week!

 Here, the girls are playing with chalkboards after we had dinner at The Salty Dog. We were waiting for turtle races, but there was apparently a mix up with employees and the turtle races never happened.

We Love Jake, The Salty Dog!!!

Mama and my mini-me at dinner.

Pretty Girl, Silly Face

We happened to come across those nets during a quick Target run on the island. The girls LOVED them. They fished in tide pools for hours every morning.

They caught 2 fish on this particular morning. They named them Thunder and Lightening. We always kept the fish in the bucket for the duration of our beach time and let them go when we headed in for the day.

Here we are feeding turtles at a neighboring condo. The pond was full of turtles and huge fish! The girls and I discovered this while out on a bike ride and it became a huge hit!

We love our island bike rides. Don't judge....I forgot to pack their helmets this year. Because of this, we mostly stuck to beach riding.

Love their baby blues.

This year, one of our new discoveries was Lawton Stables. It is the most beautiful horse ranch. They have gorgeous barns and incredibly landscaped grounds. They had a petting zoo where Callie, the baby deer, was a huge hit. The girls also went on pony rides. Addison would have been content to spend her entire vacation at this farm. She is negotiating hard to return to Hilton Head next year, when she is 8 and can go on their 2 hour trail ride.

My own little animal whisperer. She never met a creature she didn't like. Those lizards are FAST. I have no idea how she actually caught him.

Gracyn ran right out into the waves on our first day at the beach. She quickly got plowed over by a few waves and after that had a healthy fear of the water. She was content to dig in sand and play in tide pools. The tide moves up the beach rapidly during the day and she would stay very aware, dragging our chairs back any time it began to come near.

Tommy found this boat at a grocery store on the island. It was a huge hit. He and the older 2 girls spend hours riding the waves and being thrown around the water in that raft. Addison lost 2 pairs of goggles and we although Reagan is an excellent swimmer, we kept her strapped in the puddle jumper for the crazy raft rides!

Addison photography!

Beach crew.

Here are the girls dancing at Shelter Cove Harbour. This is just before he told them to go ask their Daddies to dance. He then played "Ill Dance with Cinderella!". I was teary eyed, watching my girls dance with their Daddy in the harbour sunset. Beautiful memories!!

Daddy and his girls.

Cappy the clown and balloon crowns....we didn't let a little (complete downpour) rain stop us.

With my favorite person in my favorite place.

Hilton Head Island....I hope I see you again soon!