Alpaca Farm Tour

  On another outdoor, quarantine family adventure, last week we visited with alpacas! It was a surprise for the kids, and I wasn't sure how fun it would end up being, but we all had a blast! 
We went to the alpaca farm in Bonner Springs, Manna Meadows - and they have a great set up, altered to be COVID-safe. We had a private tour by one of the owners and, not only got to pet, feed and walk the alpacas, we learned so much. Let's just say, after this tour and experience... Alpacas > Llamas!
We were also lucky to be there eight days after a baby alpaca was born. All legs and already running with his mama.  We visited the female alpacas first, they were split up between the new mama and baby with 3 other pregnant ones, and then the others.
Then in the second barn, the male alpacas were all grouped by age. You really can't tell a difference between a male and female alpaca. They are all so cute - and very soft. But the males on this farm are more socialized and used to humans, so we got to get more up close and personal with them. 
We even got to take one, named Will, on a walk.  Liam asked how long it took for an alpaca to learn their name, and truth is they never really do, but they all had really cute names nonetheless. 
We're all pretty obsessed with alpacas now. They had a little shop on site, and we bought a little stuffed alpaca for each kiddo and they've been sleeping with it ever since.

{My outfit details linked up here + the fanny pack here}

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A Trip to the Gardens {A Reason to Get Dressed}

  Our days are pretty similar day in and day out. All our trips, like most, have been cancelled, camps also cancelled.  We're still mostly quarantined at home, hanging outdoors with only a few families a few times a week who are also limiting their exposure while keeping distance. So with this little variety, we took a day off work and headed on a little local adventure to break up the day and step away from the monotony.
Some how we'd never been to Powell Gardens. Only 45 minutes southeast of Kansas City, an expansive space with art sculptures, a pond with several islands that can be explored, a beautiful chapel, walking paths, and 7 themed gardens full of extraordinary landscaping. We ooo'd and awww'd our whole way through and could have spent more time there but the rain came. 
Powell Gardens is taking safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. You have to make a reservation for a time to come so they can limit crowds. They have arrows marked on the walking paths to keep traffic going the same direction, as well. We went on a week day, in the morning before a rainy afternoon, so we only saw maybe 4 other groups of people, so felt very safe the entire time.
I definitely want to go back!  And if for nothing else, but to get dressed again. It was nice to put on a summery dress and leave the house. I love any easy, breezy dresses, especially in white Swiss dot and lace fabric.
My first real outfit worn since quarantine:

Now I just need to find more family-fun outdoor adventures that are safe from crowds. Do you have any recommendations within driving range of the Kansas City area? 

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Surviving COVID Quarantine - Tips for what to do!

  Like many others, I've experienced a wide range of emotions over the last 3+ weeks of quarantine so far. Thankful that we have a home and jobs, sorrow for those struggling, longing for my old life back, missing my family and friends, anger for having to cancel trips and other plans, fear for the unknown, sadness for my kids when school got cancelled, and so on and so on. 
But more that anything, anxiety for all the things above and the unknown of this situation still to come jumbled up at once .  For me, it's helped to not pay too much attention to the news and to take one day at a time. I'm choosing to be concentrate on the thankful feeling and think about all the things I can do vs. can't do. 
While my husband and I compete for the quiet spots in the house for our work meetings, and the kids are starting to get the hang of virtual school in-between kind of plying together/mostly fighting, we are finding a rhythm and comfort in other activities to make the most of the time home together.
Here are a few things that we have been doing:
1. GO OUTSIDE
Work outside Eat outside Walk outside Draw with chalk outside Draw on your friends' driveways Nap outside
Just stay away from other humans outside.
Getting outside has been my personal saving grace, and I can tell it helps my family, too. Even when the weather has been cold, we bundle up and go on a daily walk.  

2. EXPERIMENT
On a Zoom happy hour with some friends, we were talking about some at-home products to take the place of services we often get done elsewhere. We decided that we should each try something (that we can order online for delivery) and then we can share our findings!
This is the time when you can hide (or strategically position yourself) behind your computer, so a little experimentation isn't so scary.  Now is the time to take chances!
I have never done at home tanning/tanning lotion. And now with the sun peaking out, my pale skin is glowing and no one will see if I mess it up - I'm going to give it a try (I'll report back). I did some research, and found that St. Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse was the easiest to apply for beginners (read: hardest to mess up).
One of my friends is going to experiment with at home hair care to cover her roots and another friends is testing out some at-home manicure products. 

{I also took this time to test a new hairdryer and skincare products!}

3. VIDEO CHAT (sometimes)
I dove headfirst into video chatting with all my friends, co-workers, family every day and night at first.  And while that is really helpful and makes me feel good to connect with my loved ones outside my house, I'm getting sick of staring at a screen! 
So, I pulled back a bit on the quantity of additional screen time activities outside of work and am focusing in on quality time each week (not every night). I'm loving Zoom best for video chat. Google hangouts is too walky-talky,  FaceTime is running slow for me, and WebEx is glitchy for me.
Blue blocking glasses have also been a new purchase that I feel like is helping me. I was starting to have a constant headache after so much screen time, and since wearing these glasses (only $15 and come in a lot of colors) most of the day, I haven't had a headache (so that's a win in my book!).

{Blue Blocking Glasses, $15, come in lots of colors}

4. DO SOMETHING NEW
Take up a new project or skill, like try a new type of art or dance. Maybe a house project you've been putting off or better yet, a new skill, just for fun.  I know we are all learning some new skills for thriving in this new WFH, virtual school facilitator and keep everyone alive stage - but something else, something purely for fun...
Even better, learn something with your kid(s)/family/partner.  I haven't done this yet. Trying to get into our new schedule with virtual school and work, but I have two ideas on my mind:
1. Learn to play the Ukulele (tons of free lessons on YouTube + relatively inexpensive to get the instrument if you don't already have one. We already have one!)
2.  Stop motion with Stop Motion Kids Camp (for kids and adults). I plan to do this with my son!
My friend has been working on her Tarot Reading skills - which can be done on our virtual happy hours, so already very useful and interesting for us all.

@fflowks
5. DUPE YOUR KIDS
...into doing things that helpful, but also while having fun. This is the ideal time for me to brush up on my creative parenting skills. 
For example, we have a lot of big trees in our neighborhood/yard, so a lot of sticks laying around.  If I asked the kids to pick those up, they'd complain all day and probably hardly actually do it.  So, instead, I gave them the idea that they could build a house out of sticks!  That's all I had to do for them to get to work collecting allllll the sticks into a pile! Success.
I have also resorted to paying them to be outside. Well, paying them to clean out all our flower beds free from dead leaves, which happens to be outside. They are outside using energy, we get to get work done quietly, AND the yard work is getting done! It's a win-win situation.
And finally, my kids came up with a "secret family language" (kudos to them for this idea) that is keeping them busy writing notes in this language. Busy + practicing spelling in a new way! Win-win.

6. COOK MORE
This could also fall under "experiment" or "do something new" but I've been using this time to get a little more actual cooking in vs. just warming up dinner in the microwave. Get creative with pantry staples and items that can be more easily found in the current landscape. 
I had gotten two new cookbooks for Christmas and just ordered another one to keep my creative juices flowing (while being healthy), but you can also find a wealth of recipes online! 

My favorite cookbooks are Skinnytaste, Sheet Pan Suppers &  Skinnytaste One & Done (for Instapots, crockpots, sheet pan meals, etc)

7. ORGANIZE
Something, anything... small or big... it'll help! I've been cleaning out closets and drawers when I need a break from all the screen time for something more hands on. Seeing the progress relatively quickly has been encouraging for me.
My favorite storage containers for organization:

  

These cute drawer storage tins made it even more fun to organize!


What are you doing to stay sane?
Shop the products in the above post here:

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My favorite mountain town, Frisco, CO

  Forget going south for the winter, my goal in life is to go west for all the summers. Specifically spending the summers in Frisco, CO - nestled into the mountains, near a bunch of other amazing ski towns, but small enough to feel like ours.  This past week of 4th of July, my family and some close friends drove west to spend some much cooler time in the mountains. After this trip, I must admit, Frisco is my very favorite Colorado mountain town (and I've visited many).
We stayed within walking distance of main street, where we ventured daily multiple times for breakfast, shopping, dinner, the 4th of July parade and other events, brewery, ice cream, etc. It was so fun to be able to walk to the heart of the town, but not have to deal with any big crowds or long lines.  I love Breckenridge's main street, too - and only about 12 minutes away, I think Frisco flies under the radar, hiding in Breck's shadow.  And I'm ok with that.
I'll take it all to myself - with my friends and family.  It was such a special trip to be there with my parents, sister & her boyfriend, but also several of my close friends and their family. We had a great time with everyone.

 Frisco is also about 5 minutes from Dillon lake. My sister's boyfriend and family own a sailboat and graciously offered to take us out. It wasn't a very windy day, but still so fun, soothing and filled with beautiful 360 views. 

I love being on the water, and I could definitely get used to that activity. This was the kids' first time sailing, and they were pretty entertained - going up and down, and poking their heads out the bow's window.

Don't get me wrong - I love Breck, too - as well as Vail and Steamboat. I just felt the Frisco was a slightly smaller version of Breck with less crowds but all the goods stuff and even closer to the mountains.  

We did venture to Breck's Adventure Park. We've been here before, as well as Vail's version (posts on our Vail trip here). My kids were excited and we had a great day doing a little bit of everything. From the mountain coaster, to mini gold, to tubing, to the alpine slide and a bounce house... it was a full day.

{peace out shirts by ampersand studio)

 I just loooove our summer mountain vacations.  I really could do this very same spot every summer, all summer long.... What's your favorite mountain town?

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