Happy 15th birthday to the amazing Kate the Great! Being the oldest means being Mom’s best teacher and now she’s teaching me how to be a parent in the passenger seat. Hubby took her to take her learner’s permit test with the driving school and then another day took her to the DMV. She is a natural. The first day with her permit she drove around with me for an hour and was doing so well in the high school parking lot that I encouraged her to drive around the neighborhood. We went to a couple friend’s houses nearby and then we even went through the Wendy’s drive through. That was a bit much considering there was construction going on but with how new she is at driving, Kate is doing great. This girl is talented in so many ways!
On Kate’s actual birthday Hubby brought home lots of Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and my parents joined us for Coldstone ice cream cake. Danny’s handwriting provided plenty of giggles when Kate read what he said wrong and thought he called her a fat monster for her birthday. For the record, it said “rat most of,” not “fat monster.” Lol
I have a feeling I should have given the camera to a teenager so this group shot could turn out better….
The birthday celebrations continued on Saturday with dropping by the Butterfly Pavilion (using a coupon from the public library) on the way to eating dinner with Kate’s bio family. We tried out Kachina Southwestern Grill and it was a great place to have the nine of us together! We got to talk about all sorts of things and Kate got some pretty amazing presents too. It is so great to be around family. They are wonderful.
I asked the nicest looking person I saw to take group pictures for us outside of the restaurant and she did not disappoint. Yes, I got put on the short row. But if I’m on the short row, Danny belongs on the tall row. He’s 5’9” now! That’s how tall I wanted to be when I grew up but that obviously didn’t happen. Is he leaning forward to make Kate and I feel better?
After we said goodbye I remembered it was Dole Whip Day recently so we stopped my Menchie’s so I could have my Dole Whip cravings satisfied after— blame Instagram. Corporate Menchie’s knew we were celebrating so came out with these special spoons for us — which are actually for their 15th anniversary. I must add that Hubby thought there was something wrong with me for putting RP on my pineapple so he recommended adding dark chocolate chips and coconut and that was actually way better than what I normally choose. Good thing I have him around. Can you believe we’ve been married for 19 years?!? Flowers, cards, a date night, and looking forward to forever to celebrate.
Due to Covid it has been years since Hubby and I bought tickets to see Shakespeare at CU. The Two Gentlemen of Verona was amazing! So well done from acting to costumes to sound & lights and all the other things that go into a play. Even the black lab playing Crab was incredible. The crowds definitely weren't what they used to be (I guess that's a good thing for us) and it was such a neat experience to be outside reacting & laughing with strangers and taking everything in. It was so easy to be present and let the rest of the world go. Of course I had the best company there, I'm sure. I'm so lucky this guy chose me to spend forever with.
*Professional photos courtesy of (in order): https://issuu.com/, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival Facebook page, & https://www.westword.com/
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Although all my middle schoolers said they don’t need a babysitter (which is true), I asked my mom to come over anyway. Which worked out well for Danny because she was willing to take him to another town to spend the night with one of his former baseball teammates when I wouldn't have been willing to. lol.
One more thing: I held the strawberry cupcakes Kate requested hostage until the kids helping her celebrate her birthday let me take a picture of them. Happy 15th birthday, Kate! We love you!
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