Sunday at the Simmons: We Be Jammin....No, make that crammin...

The Simmons family likes the challenges of cramming in as much as possible in any given time. Take for instance, the fact that Brad and Curt have been working this week late hours (10:30 one night) and weekends, trying to get all of the jobs they can complete before Amie and Curt leave on their trip this Friday.
Or, how about the weekend? Friday morning, Carrie, Gabi and I drove to Park Meadows Mall in Denver (which is so far south that it is nearly Colorado Springs!) to the American Girl Doll Store. Gabi has a birthday next weekend, but since the Frosts are moving then, we celebrated her 7th a week early. She has talked about getting a doll for a long time and was actually squealing with excitement upon entering the store. Although we looked at every single doll (trying to convince her that getting one with shorter hair would be optimal), she had already selected "Caroline" long before we arrived at the store. By the way, that store is amazing, as are the dolls and accessories! I was telling my sister about our adventure and describing the quality of their products (they should be $$$$!), and told her if she were the same size as one of those dolls, she could ride the bicycle made for them!

Afterwards, we had lunch at a "doll friendly" restaurant where Caroline had her own seat at the table.

Then, it was on to my favorite (and still missed) store, Dillards, for an attempt to buy a pair of shoes. I'm still not understanding why this is such a difficult task....I'm sure there must be others who wear narrow shoes. In that entire store, they were able to find one pair in my size! Caroline had the same issues finding her size!

Next, it was on to Ikea where Carrie was looking for ideas for her new home. What a huge store! And then, finally back home to get Corbin from daycare. Gabi had gotten a stuffed animal cow with her new doll (a present from Sophie and family), and Corbin loved it...wanted it....wanted his Mom to go back to that store and get him one....Oh boy....
Saturday morning, Carrie called as I was drinking my coffee to tell me to hurry and get ready as there was a hot air balloon landing on the next street.

Corbin loved the balloon and it was fun getting so near.

Next, after making the usual Saturday trips to take Gramma for her "shampoo-set" it was off to see Sophie's soccer game. Heather and Matt as well as Amie's Dad were there and Heather got quite the workout running with Grayson!

After th

e game, we went to set up for Gabi's birthday party where she takes gymnastics. The kids had a great time on the equipment, and especially on the swinging rope and the trampoline.

Sunday morning arrived with Brad and Curt already on the road to Denver by 8:00 to hopefully finish the never-ending job for his cousin, Cheri. Then it was the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch in the kidmobile/aka, my car, with Amie & her kids and the Frost kids (whose parents were hard at it, packing). It was an especially gorgeous Fall day! I'm not sure, but I think there may have been an unspoken contest going on to see how many pumpkins we could really squeeze into my car.

Just a few more thoughts for the weekend....
Kudos to Spencer for his part in the Platte Valley win over rival Eaton - 44 to 0!
Thanks to Meredith for sending pictures from their weekend in Ogallala....