the santoro life

I got the lucky assignment of working an event in Aspen last week, so Noah and the kids joined me on Friday. That town is the best! It has everything we love - super family friendly, absolutely beautiful, very walkable and so much to do. We even got to visit Aspen Valley Hospital with Emmett on Friday night. He split open his lip and needed 3 stitches. For some reason I don't think that will be our last trip to the ER with that kid. He was once again a very happy patient but had to be sedated so they could get the stitches right which was hard to watch. He was back to his normal self on Saturday, so after I worked in the morning we took the kids mini golfing. Finn declared he loved golfing and wants to now take lessons. A sweet moment with these two.  Gondola up to 11,000 feet! Everyone was a little spooked at the beginning of the ride -- Emmett held on to me for dear life -- but eased into it and once we got up there it was just incredible.  Aspen Meadow...

My mom was here last week, spending some time with Finn now that he's officially on summer break, and just generally helping us with a bit of everything as usual. She took Finn and his buddy Lilah to the Children's Museum, they went to Tattered Cover, to the library, rode bikes, and spent lots of time playing with the new sprinkler. Thank you mom for all of your help. XO Doing his math workbook on the porch swing. E cruising in the I Love Everyone mobile. Sprinkler time! Inventions. Didi and her munchkins. Love this one.

I don't know how we lived without a yard for so long but it has been one of the best things about moving here. Since we arrived in the winter, it's been fun to see what is actually growing in the backyard -- Finn and Soph came in tonight so excited that they'd found mint. Noah and I were pretty excited too, thinking we could make mojitos. They made "mint water" and drank it all night. Finn always picks flowers for me to put in my hair. Now he's letting Sophia in on the action. They either adore each other or bug the crap out of each other. 

We had a super fun weekend with Amy and Aaron here - our last time to see them before they move to INDIA for two years. They'll be back to visit of course but it was sad saying goodbye for now. Emmett literally jumped into Aaron's arms when he saw him, Sophia wanted to wrestle nonstop and Finn loved playing backyard baseball with them. We explored Wash Park, spent lots of time in the yard, had a big family dinner and the four of us had a kid free night on Saturday. We love you guys and will miss you so so much. xoxoxoxox Amy and Soph running all the way home from ice cream. Sophia had on a solid outfit of a floral top, Mickey Mouse pajamas bottoms and her sneakers. Suns out, guts out Sprinkler time in the backyard. They all LOVED it. Mr. E playing in the big kid carseat. Two dudes and their strollers.

It's amazing what a few days of sunshine will do for your mood! After something like 23 days of rain, we had a gorgeous weekend. Noah and I went to a wine bar in our hood on Saturday night, the kids rode their bikes all over town, we planted some sunflowers in the backyard and we got some sweet finds at a monster garage sale in the neighborhood. We played at the playgrounds at Teller again this weekend. Finn rode his bike all the way there - except for 1 block - which Sophia took over for him.  Emmett's sweet garage sale find. $5 and it's probably been driven by a whole lot of kids. We've never had one of these and the kids always play with them at other people's houses.  Planting our sunflowers! Cheese. Ball. And E enjoying some patio lunch. Finnster gets the award for "most changed" this year. He not only took a school picture this year, but also took and cap and gown pic, wears his helmet and rode his bike to Starbucks and Tel...