Payton's 6th Birthday: A Marathon Celebration

Payton turned 6 last Wednesday, but the celebrating began last Tuesday and has continued throughout the weekend...

Grandma Tammy had to work on Payton's actual birthday. So, on Tuesday afternoon, she took PR out for manicures and make-up, a shopping spree at Toys R Us (thus the 452 animals in this picture), and ice cream. Let's just say that Payton had a blast.
On Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn, Payton came into our bedroom to begin the official "day-of" celebration. We got her a new scooter, and Brady picked out a giant inflatable turtle for the pool (see pics to come). We had to test out the scooter before doing anything else.
Next, we headed to breakfast at Village Inn with Oma. Payton enjoyed the Funny Face Breakfast, and hanging out with her Oma. Aunt Gwen and Rylan also stopped in for a surprise visit!
After we stuffed ourselves full of pancakes, we picked up Addie and Rosalind, the two friends that Payton chose to invite to her party. She wanted to go the Downtown Aquarium.
The girls (and Brady) had a great time checking all of the fish, the tigers, and petting the sting rays!
We also hung around downtown for a while to do some exploring...

After several hours, we headed back home. We had to drop Addie off for t-ball practice, so only Rosalind went with us to dinner. Payton got to choose the location. We thought for sure we would be headed to Chuck E. Cheese, but she picked the Firebowl Cafe, which was a pleasant surprise! She loves the chicken lo mein and egg rolls. Apparently, so does Brady!
Uncle Mark, Nolan, and Heath also joined us for dinner.
That was a great day. Fast forward to Sunday for Payton's Family Pool Party.
Aunt Gwen and Rylan came along (Uncle Tim was racing cars...)Payton carrying daddy like a baby!Auntie Abby and Nolan...Opa, Oma, and Grandma Inge...The whole crew eating a pizza picnic lunch and enjoying the sunshine!Present Time!Payton is now able to read her own birthday cards (with a little help from Oma).
And last but not least, the cake! This year, Payton requested a butterfly. Not just any butterfly, but a monarch butterfly. A tall order, but I think it turned out cute.Happy Birthday to our 6 Year Old! We love you very much.

Water 2 Wine(o's): Part 2

Back in March, I blogged about Part 1 of our wine making adventure. That was the night that we sampled and mixed our own batch of wine celebrating my dad's 60th birthday.

Last night we headed back to Water 2 Wine to put the finishing touches on our cabernet.

Before we got down to business, however, we took care of the most important part, dinner. Catered by Luigi's next door, we enjoyed an awesome spread of Italian food.
The very first taste...
Happy with our creation, we started the bottling process.
Step 1: Use this filtering machine to replace the air in the bottle with wine.
Step 2: Put a cork in it...
Step 3: Affix our personalized label.
We chose the name Fietsen for our wine, the dutch word for bicycles. I took the picture we used in my dad's front yard. We thought it celebrated everything he loves most--his dutch heritage, cycling, and gardening.
Step 4: After choosing your color of plastic seal, use heat to "shrink wrap" it to the top of the bottle.
And voila, our finished product:
My parents came away with 27 bottles of Fietsen (plus the two that were consumed while we bottled :)). We had a great time, and it was an awesome way to celebrate my dad's birthday...

Happy Birthday Payton!

Today is Payton's 6th birthday. It's hard to believe how fast time has flown by, and that she will be starting first grade next fall. We have already done plenty of celebrating today, and we will be having more fun this weekend, so I'll save that for a post to come. I will just say today that we love you very much PR. You are sweet, kind, and extremely creative. We are blessed to call you our daughter. Happy Birthday!

2010, 6 Years Old
2009, 5 Years Old
2008, 4 Years Old
2007, 3 Years Old
2006, 2 Years Old
2005, 1 Year Old
And 2004, where it all began...

Summer Kickoff with Arapahoe Friends

Last night we officially kicked off summer with a pool party/bbq at Anne and Jeff's house. I teach with Anne and Jeff at Arapahoe, so there were several teacher friends there celebrating the end of the school year.

The neighborhood pool opened yesterday, so we started with a dip in the cold water...

Payton...
Emma...Anne and Jon took Adam for his first dip...
After swimming, we headed to Anne and Jeff's for a bbq.
The men played Mario Kart...
And the kiddos roasted marshmallows...
Thanks for a great night! We are so excited for summer!