weekend fun

Chunglunds had a pretty kick ass weekend despite Little Miss J being punished for writing on the wall in pencil (AGAIN) and pouring a bucket of water on the bathroom floor while she was supposed to be brushing her teeth. She was apparently putting the water in the bucket to prevent it from spilling - which didn't make a whole lot of sense, but since she seemed to be so certain that she had a valid reason for filling up the water bucket Gus tried to give her an out by telling her that if she could give a rationale explanation that she wouldn't be in trouble. She failed and was banned from screen time for the entire weekend. Needless to say, when I asked her if she wanted to watch a show this morning she dramatically exclaimed, "My punishment is over? Thank you Umma. Thank you."

 

While her "punishment" consisted of no screen time, her weekend consisted of a girl date with Auntie Rachael complete with swimming and ice cream, hanging out with friends at the fire station and the pizza place, plus running amok with her friends at Millie's first horse show and seeing lots of horses, shave ice, and a pedicure from mommy. By the way, Rachael, I heard her singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by herself in her room yesterday.

 

The local fire station had an open house where all the kids got to climb around the fire truck and also take a look at the inside of the station like the weight room, the television room and the kitchen. I was pretty impressed with Little Miss J, who managed to articulately ask the fireman several questions including "how do you become a fireman." And when he gave a less than stellar answer in my opinion and presumbly in her opinion as well, she asked appropriate follow up questions. For example, his first response was a complete non-answer by giving her some song and dance about how girls can be firemen too. Um, thanks. Then he told her that she had to do good in school, to which she obviously wanted to know "what kind of school?" She sort of gave up on him when his answer to that one wasn't all that good either. But we got some fun out of the deal and then finished up the night with pizza and video games with the crew.

 

 

the crew

On Sunday, we went to see Millie's horse show. How freaking adorable are small children wearing riding outfits?

 

this is the way the ladies ride.

Miss Millie was the picture of grace and decorum, but she did give a shout out to Little Miss J as she rode around the second time.

We had so much fun this weekend that this is what happend Sunday afternoon.

this

and this

After our naps, we were thinking about what we wanted for dinner. Both Gus and I were thinking about pasta and then as if by magic, Karly shows up with some homemade pesto from Julie. It was delish and to combat all that garlic we went for shave ice.

Then it was home for bathtime, pedis, and bedtime. I think we managed to fit in just enough fun to keep me going this week!

10 months

I should really just give up on these stickers.

 

Dear J2,

 

You are the last of the Chunglund babies, and since you insist on growing up, this means that in two short months Chunglund babies will be extinct. You are closer to 11 months than 10, so you will have to excuse my tardiness. I just got rid of your 12 month clothes and you are off to the races in 18 months. This pretty much means that our days of Alex hand me downs are over. You have 8 adorable little teeth and you have been taking full advantage of them by biting the heads off of goldfish crackers. I have noticed you've developed your pincer grasp and are now capable of actually getting the food into your mouth on your own. You seem to find pureed chicken and quinoa barfworthy, literally - over the past week or so, you've eaten chunks of red bell pepper, cucumber, carnitas, guacamole, and tortillas. You can use a sippy cup, although you are too lazy to hold it (or your bottle) on your own.

 

teething on a bell pepper

You are a speedy crawler and are particularly interested in what is inside the refrigerator. If you hear it open, you start crawling at lightening speed to get in there. You are also getting a hang of the walking thing.

You love love love your Halmoni - to the point where I am not even sure you like me at all. The other morning you were crawling around the hallway and as soon as you heard Halmoni's voice, you turned around and started crawling toward her. You are so happy to see her every morning when she comes over. I am happy that you will have such a good relationship with her and I know it makes her happy, as well.

 

It turns out you are quite the climber. Umma almost had a heart attack when she came into the living room and saw you standing on this chair and leaning into the fireplace.

 

You have also climbed into the shelf on your changing table and gotten stuck.

Your smiling face brings me such joy each and every day and I can't stop kissing your adorable little face. You are still a happy and chill little guy and I love hanging out with you.

 

so damn cute!

Love you forever, like you for always,

 

Umma

amina + josh

Gus and I just returned from one of the loveliest weddings I have ever attended. Not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical when the wedding invitations arrived because there were A LOT of instructions - don't wear heels, sign up for a shuttle bus to farm, RSVP for breakfast, Saturday party, wedding, brunch, etc. What actually happened was not at all what I was imagining after reading all those instructions.

 

Gus and I arrived in Denver on Friday and took a car up to Boulder. Saturday morning, I got in some cardio and then we walked to breakfast and around the Pearl Street mall area, where there are cute little shops, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.

 

breakfast at The Buff

 

free blood mary or mimosa
for checking in on Yelp!

Saturday evening we had a lovely dinner with some of Gus's closest friends. We started dinner with some New Mexico bubbles and some really delicious grilled octopus.

 

dinner at Salt Bistro

fun cocktails

 

Saturday night was the Gaye Hould celebration, which we learned was a tradition in the bride's culture. We were able to greet the bride and groom and pass along some marriage wisdom ... Gus's motto - Happy Wife Happy Life! There were also cute skits, songs and dances performed by wedding guests. What a fun night!

 

henna tattoos

 

The wedding was in a park, where there are also these adorable little cabins - think Dirty Dancing. This place is totally on my list of places to vacation with Little Miss J and J2. The cabins are pretty cool, the scenery is amazing and there is hiking right outside your front door. The temperature dropped, the thunder rumbled and it was definitely threatening to rain during the ceremony but thankfully it held off and the bride and groom were married by the federal judge for whom the bride, Amina, had clerked.

 

wedding backdrop

The reception took place at this cool little farm. After parking in a dirt lot, you walk down a path over a babbling brook lit up by twinkle lights into an amazing open space. There were so many cute little details, including a camping tent, which as it turns out was the tent where Josh proposed. It was a perfectly pretty and rustic setting. At the end of the evening, there was a giant bonfire and s'mores.

 

the happy couple

law school peeps

 

Gus and I closed out our non-kid vacation with a hike and some coffee on Monday.

Congratulations to the happy couple! We had a wonderful time, ate way too much, slept way too little, and it felt great to get home to these two!

 

 

 

double the fun

Last weekend we had two birthdays to help celebrate!

First up was Miss Millie, who had a really fun pool party, which was perfect on such a hot day.

Both kids had a super fun time playing in the pool. I had a super fun time with the moms and summer beer, thanks to Carol and the lifeguards.

Any time we go to a birthday party, Little Miss J says that we have to get plates, balloons, and party blowers. So, if any of you get these as part of your birthday gift, that is why.

Apparently, pinatas are a birthday party hit with little kids ... until the third person in line decapitates the donkey and ruins it for everyone.

I sort of wish I had a picture of the riot that ensued. Nearly every single kid that was left in line busted out in tears. All the kings horses and all the kings men did some re-engineering and got that pinata back together again so the remainder of the kids could take a whack at it. By the way Ken, I purposefully chose the picture where you mostly cropped out in case you weren't thrilled about modeling your swimsuit on the internet. Kudos to you for holding that pinata up for that long though. Impressive.

The second birthday party of the weekend was Gus's mom. We went out for hibachi and then home for what is becoming the standard family birthday cake - the fruit basket from Freeport Bakery.

And by Sunday evening, we were all partied out ... just in time for work on Monday. Sigh. Glad we got to join in the celebration with so many friends and family! Happy Birthday Millie and Halmoni!