Seinfeld

In April, we saw Seinfeld was coming to town. We haven't seen him in years, so got tickets. The show was at 7pm. So, I met Andy downtown and we did happy hour at Pizza Republica, which just opened 2 weeks ago.  The food took awhile, so they didn't charge us, so that was nice.  The pizza and meatball sliders were really good!   The opening act was good and Seinfeld was on before 7:30.  He did stand-up for over an hour and then Q&A afterwards.  He does not disappoint and we had lots of laughs!

Pearl Street and Festival

We had lunch at the West Flanders Brewing company which just opened in the fall. It was quite good.    It is always fun to walk down Pearl Street and check out the street performers and flowers!  We brought the stroller as we knew they would be tired from the hike.  It was a good call as we used it on Pearl Street and also walked around the Boulder Creek Festival.  We got a lot of good samples and Ryan got to sit it an emergency rescue vehicle.  On Sunday night, we went to Indulge with the Baughmans for an adult night out!

Boulder Hike

On Sunday, we headed up to Boulder for the day. It it is our 2nd annual outing to Boulder over Memorial Day weekend!  We found a little trail just past  Chautauqua Park called Halfway House trail. The kids did a great job, though Ryan managed to fall off a rock and scrape his leg!  We had a snack on the trail and they told us next time they want to do lunch on the hike.   It was a gorgeous day!!

Final Day in San Antonio

We were sad to have our vacation come to an end. But, the good news is we had a full day before our flight left!  We went back to the Hyatt Hill Country for breakfast.  Avery and Ryan loved the teddy bear pancakes!  After breakfast, the Houston Silverman's headed home. And, we went back to the pool and lazy river.  Avery and Ryan just love the water, especially Ryan.  Since Grandma and Grandpa weren't leaving until Monday, we were able to all get cleaned up in their room before we had to go to the airport.  Avery and Ryan fell asleep as soon as left the Hyatt, so decided to stop by Rudy's BBQ for some TX bbq.  It was pretty good, but the beans weren't our favorite!  Out flight was delayed getting out of San Antonio, so took off late and didn't make it home until 11pm.

Sat Night at the Hyatt Hill Country

After we all got cleaned up, we drove over to the Hyatt Hill Country for dinner.  They have a great kid's menu!  After dinner, it was time for S'mores.  They loved it and asked for seconds.  We headed back to the other Hyatt and they had a film playing - Rise of the Guardians.  It was geared more towards older kids, but Avery and Ryan did pretty good.  It was fun day to have all of us together!

Fun at the Pool

Avery and Ryan were so excited to see their cousins on Saturday morning.  We spent the whole day at the pool and lazy river.  The lazy river was great as it was a little cooler and the kids had fun building sand castles on the beach.   Emma and Bailey gave Avery and Ryan swim lessons - it was so cute!  We had quiet time in the afternoon and the kids took quite the nap!  Ryan fell asleep on the coach and then moved to the floor and Avery was in her bed!

Fri night at Wild Oak Ranch

Andy dropped Grandma and I off at the Hyatt spa.  We both got facials and they were great!!  It was very relaxing!   We then hit the pool, which is very well suited for kids.  They had a great time with their floaties and divers!  Grandpa arrived around 5 and joined us at the pool.  We stayed until 6 or so and then it was time for showers.  We had dinner at the restaurant on-site and then walked around the grounds.   Josh, Brandy, Bailey and Emma drove in from Houston on Friday night but all of us were asleep except for Andy when they arrived.

Fun at Sea World

We also enjoyed the Shamu Express roller coaster, the carousel, visiting the penguins, and seeing Alligator Alley. Grandma was a trooper. It was a hot day and probably got to 97!   Glad we had the stroller!  We headed out around 2pm and the kids were fast asleep!!

Sea World - Shamu

After visiting the Shark exhibit, it was time to head over so we could see the Shamu show, called One Ocean.  On our way over, we ran into the Shamu character and got a family photo!  We got our seats at the Shamu show and had some lemonade to cool off. The show was amazing with 5 or so Killer Whales. The kids loved it, but Avery was not very happy because Shamu didn't get us wet!  The show was definitely my favorite part of the day!

Sea World - Dolphins

On Friday, we went to Sea World! We got there before it opened and it was amazing how many people did as well!  While we were standing in line, Avery was already saying her legs were tired, so we went straight to the stroller rental!  I had plotted out a route the night before so we had a game plan and headed over to the Dolphin Cove first.  we got in line to do the dolphin feeding and luckily just made the cut!!  We got two trays of fish and the kids had fun dropping the fish by the tail in the dolphins mouths. It was already getting quite hot!  We also caught the Azul show in the afternoon that featured beluga whales, exotic Pacific white-sided dolphins, colorful birds and acrobatic performers.  The kids said they didn't want to go, but once they were there, they enjoyed it!

San Antonio

Andy's parents had the idea to have us all meet in San Antonio for a little getaway.  We arrived on Thursday as did Grandma.   We all stayed at the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch in hill country. We had preatty smooth travels from Denver (nice to have a short direct flight).  We had lunch and picked up some groceries.  Then, we got in a little bit of swimming before it was time to pick up Grandma at the airport.    The kids got to take a bath in the jetted tub and loved all the bubbles!  We then headed to the Riverwalk.  It has been a long time since I have been!   We had a great time walking around but hard to make a decision on where to eat!  We finally settled on a mexican place called Rio Rio Cantina.  We had a fun dinner and then decided we would do the canal boat ride.  We started our boat ride around 9pm.  It was a lovely night, but our boat did break down in the middle of the tour so they had to send us another boat!  The kids probably didn't go to bed until close to 11pm!

Spirit Week

This week was spirit week at Primrose.  We were only there for the first three days.  Monday was crazy hair day - an easy one for daddy to manage as they have crazy hair day every day as he hasn't quite mastered how to do Avery's hair in the mornings! Tuesday was Hawaiian day and lucky for us we have a good friend who lives in Hawaii and bought the kids these cute outfits that still fit!!  Then, Wednesday was sports day.  Ryan decided on Nuggets and Avery on the Rockies!

Backcountry Hike

After swim lessons, we decided to check out the backcountry south of Highlands Ranch.  We went to Daniel's Park area and did a little hike along the trail.  Avery and Ryan were pretty worn out from swimming so we didn't make it too far!   They were fast asleep when we got back to the car and Andy and I both needed new running shoes, so we took turns picking out new shows while the kids got a little nap in!

Mother's Day

I had a great mother's day!! We decided to check out the Original Pancake House for breakfast.  We were there bright and early (7:15 to exact) and there was already a wait. They have a great menu for adults and kids! Avery and Ryan loved their Smiley Cakes - Three buttermilk pancakes topped with a face of whipped cream, banana slice eyes, strawberry nose, and chocolate chip smile!  And, we had yummy crepes!  Afterwards, we went to a park and then to swim lessons.  

Zac Brown Band

My brother's client is Jack Daniels and they are teamed up with the Zac Brown Band, so was able to get us tickets to their concert at Red Rocks.  We stopped by will call to get our tickets but they couldn't find us on the list.  I called my brother and he was on it.  Turns out they upgraded up to VIP once they found out I was his sister - how nice!! We got our VIP wrist bands and got seated in the 7th row in the middle.  We had a great night out and so fun to see ZBB in concert for the first time!  Thanks Greg!!

Piano Recital

Avery and Ryan have really enjoyed their weekly piano lessons with Miss Megan.  She decided to do a spring recital with her Tuesday students (about 15).  Avery and Ryan did great a job and we were so proud of them!

Manitou Springs

After the zoo, we drove over to Manitou Springs. I don't think either of us has been before! We had a late lunch at the Adams Mountain cafe. It was really good and worth the wait! There was a arcade next door with lots of games and little rides for kids.  Avery and Ryan had fun picking out which ones to try!!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

After a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel, we packed up everything and headed over to the zoo.  It was quite cooler out and glad we had packed some warm clothes!  The kids loved seeing the giraffes up close and being able to feed them.  There was a baby giraffe that was making its debut as well.  We also found out they had just opened their new elephant area on Friday.  The elephants have the best views! Ryan was a happy boy and we also got to see a elephant demonstration.  After the elephants, we made our way through the rest of the zoo.  And, also rode the carousel.  It is such a great zoo!

Colorado Springs

After the tour, we stopped at a park to let the kids run around and play.  Then, we went downtown for dinner.  Our friend, Jennifer, raves about Phantom Canyon Brewery so we decided to check it out.  It hit the spot!!  When we got back to the hotel, we walked around and hung outside for a bit.  The views were gorgeous.

Olympic Training Center

Since we were already in Colorado Springs for the Spartan Race, we had decided to make a weekend of it and stayed at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.  It felt great to get all the mud off in a nice warm shower!  Afterwards, we headed over to the Olympic Training Center.  I have been a couple of times, but Andy had never been. We made it just in time to get the last tour of the day.  Our tour guide was Jesse Bockham, an olympic bobsledder!  The kids did pretty good on the tour and we learned a lot about the olympic athletes and the training experience.

Spartan Race

Awhile back one of my colleagues convinced several of us to sign up for the Spartan Race.   We signed up, but weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into. On race day, I rode down with some colleagues since we needed to arrive early for our 9:30 heat.  We did some before pictures and it was time to get lined up.  There were six of us and we decided to use the buddy system. My buddy was Darien.  There were 25 or so obstacles over 5 miles and lots of mud.   I did well on the leg strength ones and you definitely needed a buddy in getting over the walls and climbing out of the mud pits.   We finished the race in just over 2 1/2 hours and some of it was just having to wait in line for your turn.  The finish consisted of climbing up a cargo net, rolling over the the net at the top and climbing back down, then jumping over fire and going through the gladiators!  Andy and the kids got stuck in some traffic and made it just after I finished to see me nice and muddy!  They weren't so sure about all the mud!  We hung out for a bit and shared our stories. Glad I did it!!