Mother's Day and Family Fun Day

Rob and Ethan on a perfect day

Pregnant Ashleigh running in the dress-up relay race

Rob and Ashleigh running the three-legged race

My sister, mom, Rob, Ethan, Me, Ashleigh, and my brother
In front of the fountain at Casa Bonita on Mother's Day

Ashleigh, Janice, and Ethan behind the waterfall at Casa Bonita

Rob, Ashleigh and Ethan watching the cliff diver from the dock

For Mother's Day this year, we went to church in the morning, then headed out to Rob's parents' house for a wonderful ham dinner with his grandmas and grandpa. After that, we met up with my family at Casa Bonita for dinner. Being a Colorado native, I have so many fond memories of Casa Bonita as a kid, and now it's exciting to be forming new memories with our children. While Guadalajara in Parker wins hands down in a quality of the food contest, you can't beat the entertaining atmosphere and yummy sopapillas (Ashleigh's favorite part!) at Casa Bonita.

We also had a Family Fun Day picnic with our new Homeschoolers group on Saturday and the games included relay races, three-legged races, obstacle course, a playground right next to us, and water balloon toss and watermelon seed spitting contest (which Ashleigh was too young to participate in, just yet). While I just joined the group in May for their last meeting before the summer break, I'm looking forward to getting to know the other moms better in the fall and learning all I can about homeschooling from these God-centered women.

Ethan standing by the kitchen chair
(right before this, he let go for a second!)

AWANA Grand Prix Racing and Botanic Gardens

Ashleigh raced her car last Sunday at AWANAs and had a lot of fun at her first race! She enjoyed the quality time with Daddy working on "Slider". It starts out as a block of wood and you have to shape it, paint it, put on the wheels, and follow the rules on weight and dimensions. She wanted a car that looked like an ice cube and she and I decorated it with stickers before the race.

Ashleigh putting stickers on "Slider"

Video of Ashleigh's Car Race
(My apologies, it's dark and a little hard to see, her's is the 2nd from the left)

We also went to the Denver Botanic Gardens on Earth Day with my mom a week ago. I love going there at different times of the year and the spring flowers and trees were blossoming. We even have crocuses, daffodils, grape hyacinths, and grecian windflowers blooming in our front yard right now (well, coming through the snow, anyway). Yes, snow! We had about 6" yesterday and even some flurries today. I thought we were all done with the snow until next fall. I'm done with winter!

Ashleigh balancing on a rock at the Denver Botanic Gardens

Ashleigh (standing), Ethan, and Me watching the Koi

My mom, Ethan, and Ashleigh at the Botanic Gardens

On Tuesday, I started watching my friend's son, Rusty, for two days/week. He's great and well-behaved, so I don't mind doing childcare again. His age falls right between Ashleigh and Ethan too, so they enjoy having another kid in the house to play with. We also went to Rob's company's celebration dinner in Evergreen on Saturday night for making their big efficiency goals. It was nice, catered, and fun to meet and re-connect with his coworkers.