Giving credit where credit is due!

Ah, Mommy brain. Don't we all love it?

The more I get into the blogging world, the more cool things I find! I always make a serious effort to credit blogs from which I borrow great ideas, but I forgot to mention Cassie's blog. I immediately snatched up the "Always. Sometimes. Never" from her and I'm sure I'll steal some other great ideas from this fabulous blog friend.

She also recently took some family pics of my little gaggle and I can't wait to share them! As soon as I have them in my hot little hands (well, hot little laptop), you'll be the first to see. As usual, I have Jill to thank for introducing me to Cassie and her photography. Jill provides me with more awesome ideas than anyone I know! Love you, friend!

I've got one more Colorado trip post to come...stay tuned!

Colorado: The Golden Bee Buzzes!

Its no secret that the Williams family enjoys a delicious beverage maybe a wee bit more than the average crew. So, it should come as no surprise that our all-time favorite place to go when visiting Colorado Springs is The Golden Bee…a pub!

Its an old English-style place underground on the campus of The Broadmoor hotel, one of the most famous hotels in the United States. I’ve been coming The Bee since I was about 7 years old, eating mouth-watering cheese spread and an array of crackers on every visit.

If you’re ever in town, you MUST go visit. Even if you’re not a “drinker”, you’ll love the atmosphere, the food, the cheese spread, and the sticky bee you get every time you sit down! Love that place!

B getting “bee-d” for the first time:

Jonathan got double bees on this visit…I almost had to throw down with our waitress! Hehehehe:

Amanda and her non-beer (lame). A random kid who’s mom wanted a pic with him and Jonathan’s yard of beer:

Can you see the intensity on Jonathan’s face as he makes sure B doesn’t topple his treasured ale??

All finished (mine was just a 1/2 yard)!

She’s so fun…the whole staff loved her (and remembered her the next 2 times we went that week!):

Sleepin’ on trip number 2 to the Bee:

Scott and Jonathan on a race to cross the finish line!

This is another favorite of mine from the whole trip!

We went right after we picked up Cory from the airport, but I didn’t have a charged camera. Yada, yada, yada…beer and cheese spread. You get the idea :).

Our final trip came after I picked the boys up from a freezing game of disc golf. All of them were wet, cold, and miserable…so we drank our cares away at the Bee! Where else?!

Before beer:

After beer (random guy got in their picture so his wife could take his pic with a yard…silliness!):

I am in love with that place. Miss you, Bee!

Always. Sometimes. Never.

I ALWAYS...

kiss my husband goodnight
use q-tips after every shower
run about 30 minutes late
make the bed first thing in the morning
hold the door for the person following me
eat any goodies i bake
let the gas tank go to zero before filling
have the best intentions

I SOMETIMES...

drink milk from the carton
watch MTV
vacuum around stuff instead of moving it (same with dusting)
mow the lawn
leave laundry in the wash and end up having to do it over again
volunteer at an animal shelter
wish i could still get by wearing maternity clothes
make a really delicious new dish

I NEVER...

forget to take time to listen to my friends
pay my cable bill on time
use my coffee maker
wash the baseboards
am satisfied
want Bridget to doubt how much i love her
miss and episode of so you think you can dance or america's next top model
will give up my dreams of traveling to every continent and reading all the books on the last page of a cliff's notes text


What about you???

Colorado: Touristy Treasures!

We did as much as we possibly could while we were in CO this summer, many of which have been Williams Family traditions for over 20 years. When you’re next in the Colorado Springs area, be sure to check these out:

 

On the 4th of July, we went to a new tourist spot, Seven Falls. Unfortunately, since it was an unbelievably beautiful day there was a huge line. They limit the number of people in the park, so we waited in a line of cars one by one as people left the place. I, being Mom of the Year, let Bridgey creep around outside her car seat in the car and look what she found (unopened, of course)! Perfect for the 4th!

She loved being out of that darn seat! Check out the start of the 208 stairs Amanda and I climbed…

 

Oh, we also stopped for a picnic. Yummy!

I know Amanda and I look AMAZING here (hehehe), but we were actually dying of exhaustion…and only 1/2 way up to the top :(

Who knew climbing down would be way scarier/harder! We though the elevator met up at the top where we could see J and B, but it was an ugly trick. Those jerks! The ladies still went up the mountain elevator, so here’s the awesome cave to the elevator door:

And it was worth it, ‘cause I got this beautiful Mommy and Me pic! A new fav!

The next day, we said goodbye to Amanda :(, but welcomed both Scott and Cory! Yeah! We decided to do the obligatory Garden of the Gods trip and visit the GPs, but J wanted to take Rampart Range Road (dirt road winding through the pass from Woodland Park to CO Sprgs…takes an extra 1 1/2 hours!). It allowed us to see a herd of elk (sorry, no pic) and take some memorable scenic pics.

This one (by Cory) is one of my all-time favorite pics now. I love it!

And who doesn’t love this one??? Soulmates…

Attempt at group self portrait….Penny looks great!

These two are adorable :) and can you count the number of climbers on this Garden of the Gods rock??

(it’s 4 people!)

She’s excited to be at Mommy’s all-time favorite Colorado hot spot!!

And the giraffe area is the BEST! This zoo is literally ON the mountainside (good exercise), making beautiful views and awesome trees and such. The giraffes are the first friends you see upon entering :)

B feeding her first safari animal!

The awesome boys :)

Stopping for a snack inside during the daily mountain thunderstorm:

Three Men and a Baby! (and Cory designed his own pancho…)

She was so excited to see the bear…must remind her of Daddy :)

Daddy joining his long-lost family:

Pretty snow leopard:

Bear on bear attack!! And did you see me and B’s cuddly onlooker??

Those big cats walked right over us in this observation bubble…

Can you see this rapidly approaching rain wall??? Crazy…

Mommy, stop moosing me!

Hehehehe…he’s a hoot!

Donating our $$ to save wildlife!

Cute family pic!

 

The whole crew…I love that B’s crooked…its her thing!     

I just had to toss in another pic of the Hungry Bear….we took two visits this year (one with Amanda, one with the boys), of course!

Look for an entire blog about our favorite Colorado bar….:)

One Year Announcements?? :)

I realize this is blurry, but I couldn’t figure out how to copy it correctly…this will have to do!

So, I was too cheap to send out a birth announcement when B was born. In my defense, by the time she was a month old I was already prepping my Christmas cards, and I will NEVER miss sending out a Christmas card. I’ve tried over the last 5 years to pair down my card list, but even when I kick people off I manage to add more. I think I’m still hovering over the 75-person mark. That takes a Christmas card budget! So….I just decided I’d skip the birth announcement and combine them on my Christmas card.

Well, that is apparently not cool because I had plenty of people mention to me that they’d never received a birth announcement. Ugh! Once B was here with us, life (and money) went out the window in favor of adjusting to our new family so there was certainly no time (or interest) in sending out a late announcement. So….I used my Pampers Gift to Grow points to get 25 free Shutterfly announcements! I plan on sending them to my peeps that aren’t getting their  B’s 1st Birthday invite, so at least they’ll have an update and a late “annoucement”….ugh, social graces. Exhausting!

p.s. Gifts to Grow ends soon, so if you have points…use them!