Happy Birthday to Sean!

We celebrated Sean's 35th birthday last week--is it me or does he never age?  If he shaves off his beard, he looks 18.  I'm not kidding.  Anyway, we tried something new and went to the restaurant at a nearby public golf course.  They have outdoor seating with great views and will make fresh guacamole at your table...what's not to love?! It was fun to go out since we didn't really get to celebrate Father's Day this year.

 Hard to tell, but this is Davis posing with the mountains in the background.

 Family photo

 The boys were so interested with the golf playing going on and made Sean promise to take them to play golf   someday soon!  We'll see how that goes...

Back at home for some birthday cheesecake.  (Sorry for the blurry pic.)  We love you, babe!  So glad you're ours.  

Carter's Surgery

Carter had surgery on June 12 to repair an inguinal hernia.  Everything went really smoothly and we could not have asked for better care.  We chose a pediatric surgeon that I have known for a long time, who also happens to be a mom.  Dr Kay is wonderful and I knew she would take good care of our son.  I was probably most impressed with the anesthesiologist, Dr Fox, and the circulating nurse, Bruce.
I was allowed in the OR while they put Carter under general anesthesia.  They don't start the IV until the child is under, so they just had him walk into the OR (his cute little back side was hanging out of the hospital gown), hop up on the OR table and get started with the anesthesia mask.  They let Carter pick a "flavor" for the gas and told him to imagine he was flying in a rocket ship.  I was amazed with how low-key everything was and how wonderfully kid-focused the entire staff was.  It put me at ease to see that Carter was made to feel so comfortable.  Even though I have been in the OR a zillion times as a nurse, it is completely different when your child is the patient.

 We checked in at 7:00

Waiting to be admitted.  Carter loved this little chair. 

 Playing Angry Birds sure helps calm the nerves...

 Carter and Mommy getting ready to go into the OR.  Pretty sweet outfit, right?

 Sean and Carter in the recovery room.  He was pretty out of it/grumpy for the first 15 minutes, then he was ready for jello and more Angry Birds.  That's when we knew he was feeling better. 

 We took it easy at home for the first couple of days and even got to have snacks in mommy and daddy's bed.  Within a few days, he was feeling 100% again! We are thankful that this was such a positive experience AND that it is behind us.  :-)

More Good Times in KC

The boys had so much fun playing and exploring in Mimi & Grampy's back yard.  They played ball, played with bubbles and tested their curiosity at just about every opportunity.

 Davis climbed Mimi's chair after he had given up climbing the rain barrel.

This cool truck was a hit!

Carter got ahold of the camera and started snapping some candid shots: 

Uncle Josh as "The Fly"

...Me holding my sweet niece.

...Aunt Natalie

...and an action shot of Uncle Josh playing Frisbee.

These two look like they are partners in crime!

Grampy helping Brinley walk around the back yard.  But, my favorite is this family shot:

We spent the last night of our trip visiting another best college girlfriend, Miranda.  We are sorority sisters and former roommates.  Lots of good times had with this girl.  Her kids are so sweet and we had a great evening of pizza, beer and catching up...just like old times!!

Both of us with our families.  Miss you, Mir!!!  It was so good to spend time with my dear friends on this trip.  Makes a girl realize how lucky she truly is!

Good Times in KC!

Our final stop on our Midwest Adventure was Kansas City, to see Mimi & Grampy and Baby Brinley (and Josh and Nat, too of course!) ;-).  We spent one day at Union Station and Crown Center.  I've said it before & I'll say it again...there is SO much to do in KC and St. Louis that is family-friendly.  I really feel that both cities are way ahead of Denver in that regard.  Sure, we have the mountains, but that's not something a mom can take advantage of on a daily basis (at least not this mom!).  

After the Planetarium show, we headed over to Fritz's for some burgers, fries and train fun!

The current exhibit at Crown Center was "Curious George".  What fun!

Mimi helping Davis with the blaster.

Carter making a craft project.

We love ornery little monkeys.  

While Mimi taught her Wednesday night class, the rest of us went to see Brinley, Josh & Natalie!

Brin kept up with the boys just fine in her walker.

She loves her Grampy!

Cousins!!!

Grampy got all of the grandkids John Deere hats.  Getting a photo with all of them wearing the hats was a little bit of a challenge.

Time for Brin to say "night night".  Thanks for a yummy dinner and FUN night, Milnes!

Mizzou-tastic!

We stopped in Columbia on our way from St. Louis to Kansas City.  It is always so much fun to stop by campus to see what all has changed since Sean and I were students (a lot has changed).  The MU campus is amazing.  We were happy to find out (unless it's a rumor) that children of MU Alumni are eligible to pay "in-state" tuition.  Carter says he wants to go to school at Mizzou some day and we think that would be great!  Anyway, we stopped in Brady to buy some souvenirs from the bookstore and got some fun pics.  The boys each got a stuffed Tiger (MU mascot) and we were off to meet my dear friend, Stephanie, for lunch.

Flat Branch was one of our favorite spots in college, so it was just perfect to meet up with Steph and Soren there.  (Her older two kids were at camp.) Stephanie and I are sorority sisters and she is one of my dearest friends.  She is one of those people that just feels like family.  I miss her so much and, like with Mary Anne, I wish we were closer. Thank goodness for Facebook, so I at least get to sort of keep up with her.

Carter and Soren, with Davis climbing a tree in the background.

I have known Steph for almost 20 years...look at us, all grown up!  

After lunch, we went back to campus to take some pics at the Quad.  I love our campus!  Sean got some really great photos of the boys and the columns.  

Davis looks so tough, but he's a sucker for stuffed animals. 

We can use this for blackmail when Carter is a Freshman at MU.  

The boys loved Soren and we were all sad to say goodbye.  I am so truly blessed to have a handful of very best girlfriends in my life.  Seeing these girls while we were home was one of the highlights of the trip, for me.   There's just something amazing about college friends that makes them lifetime friends.  Love you girls!