Kentucky Derby Day!

Last Saturday we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with a fun day at Turf Paradise to watch the Kentucky Derby. Turf Paradise is our local horse racing track (and I think the only one left in AZ). We did this 4 years ago and it was a lot of fun. Justin wasn't able to come last time so it was also nice that he was able to go this year. I love getting dressed up so the Derby Party is perfect for that. We were there from like 10 AM until 4 PM so it was a fun-filled day. I am not a huge gambler and never gamble when I am in Vegas, but I do have fun betting on the races. I won a little on a couple of races but did not win on the actual Derby. Thanks to my mom and sisters who helped out with the girls all day so we could have a fun Saturday out!

Such a fun day!

view from the Clubhouse

The girls and Mark and Carly

full house

Had Day!

Placing a bet and winning!

We had a great group (not pictured Steph and Jim who had already left)

much overdue day date!

Wedding Weekend Fun

I absolutely love weddings. I think if I could do anything and not be worried about money, I would totally love to work in the wedding business. I just think they are wonderful. This past weekend we attended a wedding for a girlfriend of mine. I went to her bachelorette party in January and had a blast and was so excited for the wedding. It was also kind of like a date night for Justin and I because we were out without kids so that was nice too. Of course, I missed my babies but I know how important it is for us to have time for ourselves as well so we definitely enjoyed ourselves. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The weather was great. I loved the colors. It was simple, and classic, and very well done. The food was yummy the company was great and it was just a really fun night. I especially thought all of the parent/maid of honor/groomsmen speeches were awesome. It was also slightly weird for me because this was the first wedding I attended since becoming a parent and it actually was different. When I saw the bride's mom and dad I started to see things from their perspective and how it was also their big day too. It's weird to think about that being Justin and I someday...a long, long, long time from now! Thanks to my mom and sister for watching the babies for us so we could attend!

Our group of ladies and my sister at 38 weeks pregnant.

Beautiful centerpiece.



Sending off the couple...except they didn't actually leave, haha.

Anniversary Date Night

The weekend before Thanksgiving Justin and I had a date night for our 4th wedding anniversary. He had bought a groupon for us to do one of the bring-your-own-bottle-paint-night things that everyone has been doing. Before heading to the painting event we grabbed a quick beer and shared a burger at Ten at the Esplanade. It is pretty new and it was really cute. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stay long but they had $3 craft beers and a yummy burger and fries. I would definitely like to go back sometime. The painting event was in downtown Phoenix at a place called Brush Party and it was pretty full. It went from 6-9 pm and you pretty much use the whole time. We brought a bottle of Dreaming Tree wine (Dave Matthews' wine company) but you can bring beer and or snacks as well (just no hard alcohol). Out instructor was really nice and it was interesting to see how the painting progressed. We picked a night where the painting was of the Eifel Tower but they constantly have different paintings you can choose from. They also do this really cool thing called "Pop Art your Pet" once a month (and it usually sells out) where they print a picture of your pet in black and white on a canvas ahead of time and then teach you how to paint it like pop art during the class. It looked really cool and we may have to go back and do that sometime. All in all it was a really fun night and thanks to my mom and sister for watching our babies so we could go!

Pre-painting beers

 

getting our drink on. I am nursing so Justin had to drink like 3/4 of that bottle, haha.

 

 

Our finished paintings.