Ben's Birthday!

Yesterday was Ben's birthday and we did a little family celebration.

Ben had a very long day at the office, so I did a very quick breakfast for the two of us before he left. 

Once Ben got home, we had dinner, cake, and presents!

 This is what greeted Ben when he came down for breakfast

 Birthday plates and doughnuts, a great start to a birthday!

 The birthday man and his birthday breakfast

 On his way out the door for work.

I know he had a really long day ahead, but at least he got to wear a polo and jeans 

(and not his usual suit and tie)

It's the small things people...

 Once Elizabeth got up, she found her party hat and had me send this picture to Ben

She was ready to party!

 Once Caroline went down for her morning nap, Elizabeth and I made Ben his birthday cake

 You have to cuddle before cake making

 And you have to lick the spoon...

Yum!

 While the cake was baking, I brought up Ben's presents and set them up on the bar

 

Once Ben got home the girls had to have a cuddle.

Happy Birthday Dad!

 I was trying to finish dinner and Ben turned the camera on me...

 Birthday dinner

 Grilled lamb cutlets, mash potatoes, green beans, and a roll

 Once Ben and I finished dinner, Elizabeth joined us for cake

Happy Birthday!  Make a wish!

 After cake, Ben opened presents

He got a #1 Dad badge from Elizabeth

 and this shirt...

 Ben's parents sent him this shirt

 And this tie, and another shirt and a belt :)

(Elizabeth enjoyed getting cake on her face)

 This was the only gift Ben gave and "Ooooh!" too

It's from Andy, Lolly, and Annalise and he was very excited about both things!

Meat rubs for the grill and round ice cube molds for scotch

He was very happy!

 I got him the movie Let's Be Cops

He also got a new tennis racquet and tickets to the Nats game for Saturday night.

Happy Birthday Ben!

I hope you had a very wonderful birthday, we enjoyed celebrating with you!

 We love you!

Elizabeth gets a bike!

Elizabeth has been asking us all summer for a bike.  We had been discussing getting her bike and we have looked at several, but we just had not picked one up yet.

Then on Saturday afternoon my fabulous friend, Vicki, sent me a text asking me if we wanted her daughter's "old" bike.  I'm using "old" very loosely because the bike looks brand new (she took very good care of it).

I picked up the bike and we hid it until Ben went to get a helmet Saturday night.  After dinner we took her outside and showed her the new bike and helmet!  To say she was happy/over the moon/ecstatic would be just the tip of the iceberg in describing her joy!!

 Her new bike!

"Mommy, is this MY bike?"

 "I got a bike!  I got a bike!"

 "Dad, I NEED my helmet"

 She IMMEDIATELY wanted to put on her helmet and could hardly wait

"Oh my GOSH, this is AWESOME!!!" - Elizabeth

 She is so cute and so excited!

  

 Our big girl!

 Time for mom to help :)

 "Is my helmet still there?  I LOVE my helmet!"

 Trying to get her to look at the camera and smile

 But she is too excited

Every day since Saturday, Elizabeth has woken up and asked to ride her bike.  Sunday we let her ride after breakfast and then it has been while Caroline was napping so we could focus on helping her and teaching her.  She is getting the pedaling concept down well, we just need her to understand that the handle bars control the direction in which she will travel.  :)

After 3 1/2 days of riding whenever she can, she is so in love with her bike (and helmet) and is so happy to be riding "like the bigger kids".

My sweet girl, some day you will read this post and I want you to know that your mom and dad are so proud of you.  Our hearts were bursting with love and pride on Saturday night watching you ride a bike for the first time.  Your overwhelming happiness and gratitude at the gift was humbling to both of your parents and we just want you to know we love you so much.

 Sunday afternoon riding

 Monday night riding

A special thank you again to Vicki and Gordon for offering the bike.

You have helped make Elizabeth the happiest girl in the world :)

Girl time!

I missed the girls something awful while we were on our trip, so I spent lots of mommy-daughter time with them when we got back.

 When we got home from our trip on Tuesday (the 21st), Ben took this photo of me snuggling with the girls.  I missed them so much!

 On Thursday (the 23rd) we tried to take some selfies in the driveway

 This was the best once :)

After our driveway fun, we went over to the spray park behind the Target in Alexandria.  We also hit up the playground after running around the spray park.  I enjoy this playground and spray park but there is absolutely no shade.  

On Friday (the 24th) we hung around the house and enjoyed some fun in the living room.  Caroline has had two bottom teeth come in and she has been chewing on everything!

 "Hey Mom!"

 "It's just a few toys..."

 "Nom nom!"

Happy Monday!

Wine, Ice cream, and bowling! {Our last day}

Our last day in Denver was spent relaxing at a beautiful winery, eating ice cream at my family's ice cream store, and bowling before heading to the airport.

When we were planning our trip, I was looking up beer and wine places in and around Denver and I came across this winery called Balistreri Vineyards.  It is the only winery in Denver proper and when we headed towards it we drove through industrial parks to get to it.  This beautiful winery is nestled in the middle of a busy working neighborhood and feels like a heavenly escape from the hustle and bustle around it.

Welcome!

This is a little spring running through and on either side are tables for outdoor dining.

After we tasted 14 complimentary wines and enjoyed a complimentary cheese, fruit, and cracker spread- we ordered a glass of wine and lunch.

The lunch menu is what I would describe as Italian gourmet and was delicious!

Almost done with my glass of wine for lunch.

No, the color on your computer is not broken, I ordered red wine.  :)

My handsome lunch date.

After lunch, the proprietor gave us a tour of the barrel room which doubles as their wine making room.  They age all of their wines for one year in oak barrels.

They also dip all of their wine bottles in melted wax to seal the cork.

All of the wine is made by hand.

That machine on the table is the machine that corks the wine.

This winery was absolutely beautiful and I felt completely relaxed sitting outside enjoying lunch and a glass of wine.  It was a great way to start our last day of vacation.  If you are ever in Denver, please go by this lovely winery and enjoy the wine.  It is so great!

After we did the tasting, enjoyed lunch, got a tour, AND bought half a case of wine; we were sober enough to drive over and see Jayme making ice cream at Liks.  We were lucky enough to spend time with Jayme and enjoy some of the delicious ice cream (for Ben) and sorbet (for me) that she has made.

My uncle and aunt own this ice cream store in Denver.

If you are in Denver, you MUST check it out.

Liks Ice Cream is the best ice cream in the whole entire world!

Jayme and I after getting a tour of the store :)

When we pulled up on the street, you could smell the homemade waffle cones.  The smell just gets better and better the closer you get to the store!  Once you get inside, there are a tone of flavors to choose from and we admired all of them for a while.  Once we were done admiring ice cream, we chatted with Jayme for a bit and she explained how she makes the ice cream (I think that's pretty cool).  Once we got the tour, Ben did some sampling and once we picked our flavors, we enjoyed our ice cream outside with Jayme.  

After we said our goodbyes, we had about two hours until we had to be at the airport.  We debated what we should do and decided to go bowling!  I love to go bowling and we never do it anymore (two small kids makes it difficult) so we enjoyed two games of child-free bowling.

First roll, first game!

Ben is winning...

Nice blurry action photo

Bowling selfie

For some reason, I only took a picture of the game I won :)

After bowling, we headed to the airport and dropped off our rental car.  This is the last picture of us from our vacation (on the shuttle to the airport).

Happy Sunday!