Mimi's Birthday Party

We timed our visit so we could help Mimi celebrate her birthday while we were home!  She is very loved & received lots of cards from friends near & far.  We are lucky to have you in our lives, Mom! Love you lots.

 Happy Birthday, Mom!

 We were all waiting patiently for cupcakes...

 ...especially Beckett!

 Yay!  Let's get this party started!

 Yummy in the tummy.

 Cousins love cupcakes.

Mimi with her grandkids.  She's wearing the party hat that Brinley picked out for her.  So thoughtful!

Mimi's Back in Town

Sean was in Atlanta for work last month, so my mom flew out to take care of the boys while I worked.  It was so nice to not have to use PTO (since I'm still on Weekend Plan at work).  Thanks, Mimi!  You always take such good care of the boys for us.  We treated her to dinner out on the last night before she flew home. We owed her that much, at least! 

But, that's not all...

Mom & I got to have a girls' night out with Sister on Friday...we went downtown to see "Wicked"!  Mimi had never seen it & it had been years since Christy & I had been.  We all had a great time, it's such an amazing show. One of the best parts was stopping for a dinner of small plates at the Four Seasons hotel beforehand. Delish!!!

Annual Holiday Lights Train 2014

Our trip to Georgetown to ride the Holiday Lights Train is one of my favorite holiday traditions.  It's so Colorado-like up there!  This year was frigid, but we had a great time anyway.  

 Waiting for the train--brrrr!

 Hats all around!  And hot cocoa. 

 This was the first year there was frost on the inside of the windows.

 Santa was chillin' after a busy holiday season.

 

 Georgetown is so pretty with all the holiday lights!

Great end to the evening at the Alpine...our favorite spot!

Christmas Awesome-ness

Mimi, Sister & I went to see A Christmas Carol a few days before Christmas.  We started our fun evening at Sister's apartment for champagne & gifts!  The boys were thrilled to get their goodies...thanks, Sister!

 Rein-beer for Sean got an approval from Gwyneth. :-)

 Showing off their Slinkys.

 Heading out for our night on the town!

 We walked to Union Station for dinner after the show.  Loved all the lights in LoDo!  Thanks for a fun night, ladies.  Let's do it again next year!

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving day was pretty traditional around here...we watched the Macy's parade, started meal preparation and the boys set up a chocolate milk stand outside.  Actually, that last part was new.  They were going to charge 1 cent per carton, but I talked them into charging a quarter.  I don't know if it was the holiday or the blustery wind, but their only customer was Mimi.  :-)  Better luck next year, boys!  

 Finally, a paying customer!

 Sean helped decorate the tablecloth.  

 Mimi helped me with the feast this year & I used Grandma Shirley's magical turkey roaster again.  The bird was delicious!

The boys had fun playing with Aunt Debbie & Taylor.  Didn't get any pics of newly-engaged Tyler & Kelsie for some reason.

Celebrating Mimi

Mimi paid us a visit last week, so of course we had a very belated birthday celebration for her!  We didn't get to do as much partying as we would have liked (life kind of got in the way), but drinks and dinner on the patio were just our speed!  

 Mimi & Sister

 Mimi and her favorite Son-in-Law

 Just the girls!

 Mimi and her rowdy grandsons.  The only way we got them to sit still was to bribe them with dessert.

 Mimi's birthday pie. Yummy!

Even Captain America wanted to help Mimi celebrate! We love you, Mom!  

Crown Center Coolness

I've said it before & I'll say it again, Kansas City has a lot to offer families.  We always have fun going to Crown Center--there's so much to do!  First stop, posing by the Lego people of course!  We didn't make it to Legoland this trip, but I promised the boys we would go next time.  

 We had a great time at Fritz's for lunch.  Having your meal delivered by a train running along a track above your table just never gets old!

The kids' exhibit this Summer was borrowed from The Magic House in St. Louis, so we knew it would be cool.  The theme was Saving the Planet.  Too bad Sean missed it!  (He was playing disc golf with Uncle Josh.)

 Sorting items to go into the recycling truck.

Let's back this thing up!

 My little scientist.

 Is this supposed to be foreshadowing?

 Grumpy Darth Vader football player.

 Beautiful waterfall inside the Crown Center hotel. 

We had a fun afternoon!