New Mexico girls trip

Through a lucky set of circumstances McKenzie had a gymnastics meet in Santa Fe the same weekend that Cambrie had a soccer tournament near Albuquerque.  I wasn't sure how to make all of the logistics work as far as getting back and forth between the two events, but it was worth a shot.  So the girls and I hopped into the car and made the drive down to New Mexico for some sports related fun. 

McKenzie and her team have rubber ducks as their mascots and made sure to document their travels too.  

 I have never been to Santa Fe before and was pleasantly surprised that it felt so much like I had hoped; southwest influence and charm everywhere.  Our hotel was nice and situated right downtown in the historic district.  We could (and did) walk up and down the charming streets really feeling like we had been transported somewhere special.  The girls climbed out of our hotel window to check out the roof.  

And in true girls trip style there were some shenanigan's going on.  Who knew Cambrie could keep up a valley girl persona for full half hour?  

The first night there were drove into Albuquerque for Cambrie's team dinner.  It was great watching Cambrie hang out with her soccer friends.  McKenzie and I didn't want to cramp her style so we tried to hide in a corner and played game pigeon all evening.  That was surprisingly fun.  After dinner I wanted to stop by the temple just to visit and snap a picture with the girls.  It took a few tries because of the lighting, but we did eventually take a picture that worked.  

As we were driving out of the parking I turned and looked into the temple lobby and thought I saw my cousin Brian Davis.  I stopped the car just to check.  I knew that most of my Davis cousins were down in that area but also knew we didn't have a lot of time to arrange to meet up.  I jumped out of the car to see if it was Brian, and it wasn't.  But there was someone else in the lobby, my other cousin Mike Davis and his wife Erica!  I stepped inside the doors and waited for them to finish a conversation.  I could see some confusion in Mike's eyes, I mean why would his long lost cousin be in the temple in her street clothes?  Finally they realized that it was me and we gave each other huge hugs.  I don't think I've seen them since my Grandma's wedding nearly 12 years ago.  We stepped outside to visit and it was so great just to chat with them.  I drove back to Santa Fe giddy that I was able to see them.  

The next day was when we needed to get down to business.  I had to drive Cambrie down to her game first thing, but I just dropped her off before heading back up to watch McKenzie.  Her meet was a little delayed but I was able to see the rock star style march in, and two of her events: vault and bars.  She was doing so well and I loved seeing that the girls had brought their cheering section with them.  

Unfortunately if I wanted to see Cambrie play at all I couldn't stay and watch the whole meet.  So I left and asked Lena to keep me updated.  Back down in Albuquerque I was just in time to watch Cambrie's second game.  The girls played really well and won, which is always a nice touch on a road trip.  

By the time Cambrie and I made it back up to Santa Fe we were just in time for McKenzie's team celebration dinner.  The two of us sat at our own table in another room so that Kenzie and her friends could be the wild goofballs they are.  Meanwhile Cambrie made good friends with a little two year old who kept sneaking smiles at her over her shoulder while we ate.  

Back at the hotel McKenzie went swimming with her teammates and Cambrie and I walked the streets to see what we could see.  We found a cathedral dedicated to St. Francis, a maze of life we walked through, and a super colorful walkway in front of a museum.  

Coolest picture of the trip right here.

Mariachi music!

It was a resort town so most of the shops closed up pretty early.  We stopped in one gallery to admire the paintings and sculptures.  It looked as though the artist worked there in shop because there were quite a few sculptures in progress.  Little did we know the artist was a friendly man sitting in the corner making small talk with customers.  Cambrie went right up to him and asked him about his work.  He told her all about his process, and that if we ever make our way up to a place in Colorado named Longmont there's a shop there where he gets all of his supplies.  Well Cambrie's eyes just lit up like Christmas morning.  Yes we know where Longmont is!  Yes we live close enough to visit!  Yes we can go and get everything she needs so she can do her own sculpting!  She practically skipped back to the hotel.  

Once we retrieved McKenzie from the hot tub we went back up to our room and watched chick flicks.  It was such a great weekend, I only wish we could have spent more time down there!

Boys at play

While the girls were in New Mexico, the boys had some manly time.  They wandered through Scheels checking out all sorts of cool stuff and riding the carousel. Apparently Jeremy found a way to make it a thrill ride and that did not thrill Daxton at all!  They went bowling and Daxton ended up with four strikes in a row!  

The boys even came home with throwing stars which means that it was the coolest day out ever.  For lunch they stayed classy and ate at Costco.  I'm glad they had such a great day.

 

Disney Immersive Experience

As a quick escape from these Denver winter blues, I took some of the kids to the Disney Immersive experience.  It wasn't quite the same as a trip to Disneyland but we still felt some of that Disney magic.  While waiting for the show to begin we hung out in a front exhibit hall that was dedicated to the art and making of Disney animation.  The kids tried their hand at character creation and did a fabulous job.  

They took a step back with Steamboat Willy.  

And quizzed each other on dozens of Disney characters.  

When it was time for the show to start we walked into a room that had projections on every surface, including the floor.  The graphics on the floor responded when we walked around and the kids had a blast creating sparkles, gems, moss, and leaping from lava rivers.  

The show began with the audience immediately being transported to the African plains. With screens surrounding us on all four sides we felt like we were in Africa watching the sunrise.  We watched scenes and montages from so many Disney films, each one bringing its own flavor and sense of magic.  

I got teary-eyed towards the end as I watched a handful of preschool girls twirling in their Elsa gowns remembering when my girls used to be that small.  A few of them dashed up to the huge projection of Elsa and tried to give the wall a hug.  I love what Disney magic can do.  

On the drive home we sand along to some classic Disney soundtracks wishing we were back in Disneyland.

41 and keeping things simple

Jeremy's birthday was a low key celebration this year.  All of the kids have been busy so we squeezed in what we could.  Like 41 candles on his cake!  That was a serious achievement.  While all the kids were at their activities we went to Ward Bunco night and partied down at the church.   Happy birthday Jer!

 

Quick little Keystone

It is looking like our ski season this year is going to have be different than in the past.  Now that McKenzie is competing in the spring, she doesn't have weekends free anymore to join us on the mountains.  Now that Cambrie is doing the school play and high school soccer, we don't have weekdays free to go up either.  So what do we do?  Well, we're going to have to just take up whatever kids are available.  My mom flew out to join us for our first day on the mountain.  Unfortunately we are already off to a bad start; with my knee acting up I can't ski, and Cambrie has been sick for two weeks and can't make it through a whole day.  So while Cambrie stayed at home in bed and I hung out at the lodge, Jeremy and my mom took the other three kids up.  It sounds like they had some first day kinks to work out but ultimately had a great time.  

It is really, really hard for me to watch them having a blast while I had to stay below.  

When they came back for lunch they were wiped out.  So instead of turning into a marathon day, they made it a quick day.  We didn't want the adults to feel like they missed out, so Jeremy introduced my mom to skiing down Vail pass.  They went down twice and said they found some amazing snow.  That's the way to do it!