peace, tranquility and marty moose.

This weekend we had an incredible opportunity to venture up the mountains to spend the weekend in a cabin. Mamaw's friend had a *cabin* in Granby that she was generous enough to let us stay at for the weekend. We were so excited to go and experience a piece of Colorado outside of the city limits. Before we even headed out on Friday, I managed to *drop* my wallet on a walk up to Walgreens and was blessed to have an amazing woman stumble upon it and seek me out with the help of my denver library card (I had no real identification or contact info inside it). I have never been so relieved and felt so grateful when I received that phone call. To make the day more strange and unpredictable, I received a disappointing phone call from a woman that had interviewed me twice the following week (and who had even called and left a message after the 2ND interview leaving me to believe I basically had the job) called me at 5pm on a Friday (really? not nice. not nice at all) to let me know that they were sad that they had to offer the position to another candidate. I was completely torn up and pretty devastated about it, but could not have been in a more tranquil place to get over it immediately.

here are some of the highlights from the wonderful weekend....


~our little cowboy on his first road trip

our new friend!

~my camera is awful, especially when the light is just changing to dusk, and this is the best pic that I have...but we had a ginormous MOOSE come visit when we were getting ready for dinner. I have a new respect for the moose. Here's me trying to shoot him with the Flip hanging out behind the neighbor's cabin.




~introducing marty moose to kaden





~kaden's first *real* hike without riding in the backpack. he lasted about 5 minutes.




~the cabin




~the crazy little private bridge that led to our cabin


~my camera just did not do this justice.






~kaden has a newfound love for air hockey






~checking out the horsies


~kaden's very first campfire



Kaden was so smitten with this river that was only steps away from our cabin....the sound was so similar to the sound of the ocean. So peaceful and calming to the soul. Kaden jumped right in and splashed and swam around the first day. The water was crystal clear and beautiful....and absolutely FREEZING!





On the second day...after a huge rainstorm, the water didn't look so pretty. But i think he loved it even more!





~not too happy about getting out.

blissful days

~kaden having a zen moment at denver botanical gardens


~contemplating taking a dip.







~Uncle Brian and Aunt Suzanne took Kaden for his first slumber party last week (so mommy could drag daddy to see Eclipse!)and he had such an awesome time! And of course he slept till 9! I am lucky if he will sleep till 6 (being the latest!) with us. We all met up for breakfast the next morning at Brian's bar that he works at, Atomic Cowboy which is easily one of the funnest bars ever. They have board games, and what's even more amazing, they have a huge kids crate with some of the coolest toys for kids to play with. A bar for breakfast? The Denver Biscuit Company serves breakfast there, and it was the most amazing biscuit sandwich I have ever had! SO yummy! Kaden had so much fun exploring the place afterward...





~loving his new ride





~I took Kaden to the Littleton Historical Museum, not for a history lesson, but so that he could see his favorite animal...a cow. I love the disappointment in his face in this pic below...his first cow is brown and not white with black spots. He looked so confused...I guess this is his first lesson in all things are different on the outside, but a cow is still a cow on the inside!











~yogurt DOES make a great hair conditioner...smart boy!


~hey mom, these are actually pretty yummy! Kaden has turned into a bit of a picky eater, and like most little ones, has decided he has no time for veggies in his world. Thanks to the amazing website, Weelicious, we have found some sneaky solutions to get him some veggies! These are the Tex Mex Rice cakes, and they are super yummy for everyone!

and skills...part 3

~trying so hard to dance with him, but he wanted to fly solo.

and speaking of skills....here he is following in daddy's footsteps.

part 2 he's got skills

Since I realized that my massive video footage was preventing the page from loading properly, so I put half the videos on part 2. hope this works!






~the end of this one is precious....he's like where am I?
And how cute is this little girl? She was tearing up the floor!

he's got skills

One of the many things I adore about summertime is all of the outdoor festivals concerts. In Los Angeles, we loved the cemetery screenings and concerts by the pier, and here in denver...well we have definitely fallen in love with Jazz in the Park! City Park is such a beautiful place, but throw some fantastic music, dancing, furry friends, so many little people running around having a BLAST, wine and treats (and the CUPCAKE TRUCK), and an amazing crowd of friendly souls combined with a guaranteed incredible sunset...you have yourself a magical night!

We have gone a few times before, and had a fabulous time with friends and kind of lingered in the background of the park under a cozy tree. This time, with Mamaw and Papaw in tow, we brought along our grill and wine, and decided to really introduce kaden to the music!The Cocktail Revolution was playing, and I swear the entire city came out! In these pics, you can just see a small crowd of people behind them, but the crowd branches out for miles on either side of the band...it is so much fun! Kaden has never been around a live band before, and with his love for music, we were excited to see his reaction...

his first impression...




sorry for the massive video footage...I wanted to keep each them short and sweet!






We also took Kaden for his first bike ride this weekend! He absolutely LOVED it! Chad had researched bike seats for a long time and had his heart set on the IBert. Of course it is a little on the pricey side, so Chad has been stalking Craigslist and finally was able to snag one. We got him a little helmet and decided to take him for his first spin! I got to ride in front of them, and everytime i turned around, he was beaming!


~I got my hat on. Let's DO this!

our time with audrey.

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Audrey Michelle in person. Before that day, we had *met* through one of my favorite people and discovered that we had very parallel lives and were kindred spirits! She is one of those radiant souls who is incredibly comforting to talk to, so authentic and SCREAMS talent behind the lens. We didn't plan on having a photo shoot, and little did I know she was taking some amazing candid shots of nuggster in all his glory! Here are some of our favorites but take a moment and check out her work here, she is so incredibly talented!






















~camera shy








~playing with his favorite truck from the toy library


~I love this pic so much because he TRULY cracks me up more than anyone I know....


~this cupcake truck served some of the yummiest cupcakes i have had in a long time.