Mother's Day Weekend

I love Mother's Day! It's like a birthday, but better. My very convenient self-imposed rule is that I get to pick something fun to do that Saturday in celebration of said holiday, so unlike a birthday when your spouse may or may not be working, we all get to go have fun plus we have the perfect excuse for an outing!

First stop was Kneader's for ((free)) Mother's Day french toast. I happen to love freebies, and this is a pretty darn good one. Brekkie at its finest! 

Even though the forecast once again called for rain (sigh), as Tom Tom would say, "You can't wait on the weather." So we headed down to Colorado Springs (which is seeming more and more like our new playground) to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Ever since we went last November for Leah's birthday we've been dying to go back! First on the checklist was feeding the giraffes. ((Please note the fantastic photo bomb of the giraffe's tongue in the background))

Then a wondrous carousel ride to Leah's delight! The weather was indeed overcast and chilly, but we were making the most of our outing.

This is seriously the most amazing zoo! We were checking out the grizzly bears when all of a sudden one of them decided to go for a swim. He lumbered into the water right in front of us and provided us hours of entertainment watching him swim and play.

Ever seen a grizzly bear swim? We have!

And since the zoo is literally right up in the mountains, you spend half the time wondering if you're here for the animals, or for the incredible VIEWS!!! I mean, really?? So beautiful!

We'd packed a picnic lunch and set to devouring that while Elizabeth recharged. 

We saved the best for last-- which was the monkey house. Once again, they were so cute and funny and friendly and my kids got such a kick out of interacting with the orangoutangs and gorillas. The kids were tired and ready to head back home by that point, so we bid the zoo farewell and not a moment too soon! A huge thunderstorm blew in and it started raining right when we got to the car-- perfect timing!

That evening Lucy had her final piano recital. Her teacher Mrs. Wright is moving to Pennsylvania with her family next month and we are so sad to be losing her! She's been fantastic and Lucy has loved taking lessons from her.

She played "Sleeping Beauty's Waltz" as a solo and "Nimbus 2000" from Harry Potter as a duet. She was awesome! 

Here she is receiving her "Honorable Mention" ribbon from Festival as well as a "Performance Award." Hopefully we can find somebody else great for her to continue lessons with next year so she can keep working on this blossoming talent! After the recital I got to pick Mellow Mushroom for dinner and it capped off a pretty awesome day.

Sunday was Mother's Day and I woke up to a lovely breakfast prepared by Jon and the kids. French toast, bacon, and fresh fruit were on the menu and it was delicious! It sure is nice being appreciated!

Then outside for a quick impromptu photo shoot before church. Am I a lucky mom, or what? Taking care of these kids day in and day out has easily been the hardest thing I've ever done. You don't think about all the crying and diaper changing and dish washing and meal planning and laundry folding and listening to cranky kids and sleepless nights when you're 21 and newly married and "ready to be a mom," that's for sure! But I'm so glad it's a journey I've gotten to take. I wouldn't trade them for any job or dream vacation. I know I'm better for it and learning how to be more Christ-like along the way, and seeing them grow into good, kind little people makes it more than worth it.   

Right after church we headed to Littleton to visit Auntie Kylene and baby Jameson-- our newest Cardon cousin. What a perfect way to celebrate what Mother's Day is all about!

I spy 7 little monkeys jumping on the hospital bed, ha ha. Congrats to Jeremy and Kylene on their handsome little fellow!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2016