"my baby girl turns 17!"

My baby girl turned 17 years old! I'm not sure WHEN that happened! It seems like yesterday she was still in elementary school. Time flies! She wanted to have an "old school" slumber party with her girlfriends like the good old days! I was excited because I love any excuse to plan a party and decorate! I made this banner for her on my getaway weekend with the girls.It was a birthday celebration the entire weekend! Friday night we went out to dinner with grandparents to celebrate.

Saturday was her "party". The weird thing is all I had to provide was cake and candy and decor. No games or prizes or even picking anyone up! They all can drive! So weird because a lot of these girls have stayed at our house since they were in the 6th grade.

All the decor turned out fab. And the cake! Oh the gorgeous cake! My friend Teresa is an excellent cake maker and she asked what kind of cake Nicole wanted for her birthday. I had this pic in a file for a very long time and Nicole loved it and wanted it. So she made it and did an awesome job.

This is the age I last remember of my sweet daughter. Age 2!

Nicole came home from school to all her decorations. She loved it!

Of coarse she needed new birthday shoes! (I'm a bad influence. ha!) So she planned a cute outfilt because she and all the girls were going out to Corino's for dinner. ( I was invited buy stayed home so they could go out without a "mom" there).

Sweet 17...............

All of her friends are very lovely and looked so cute. I've known them all since middle school. They didn't want to take 2 cars, so they ALL (8 of them!) piled into MY car and went to dinner. Eight 17 year old girls, dressed to go out, headed to dinner. Like grown ups.

I overheard their "later" plans (TPing and forking). I told them they had to be in by curfew and I didn't want to know anything about it! Lucky for me (and them) it started pouring down rain and they came home and rented a movie and got into their jammies.

They had cake (served by the handsome younger brother!)..........

Someone lost their cell phone in the couch..............you would have thought the world came to and end!

They finally settled in to watch a movie. I visited with them for awhile and was about to retreat to my bedroom...........when they asked if I was going to stay and watch a movie with them? Really?! I can't think of anything I would rather do. Made me so happy that then let me stay. ha! Once again the times I get to hang out and be part of their teenage world........I'm a happy momma.

Lots of silly. Lots of visiting. Lots of catching up on these girls! (look at my silly son in the background. He got kicked out!)

We watched the new edition of Footloose! LOVED IT! So reminecent of my teenage years! Movie was awesome. Loved that Nicole just wanted a chill and relaxed get together where all the girls could hang out. Some of them didn't even make it thru the movie before they fell asleep. Just like the good ole days........................Happy Birthday sweets!

"Girls weekend....Tollgate...departure day!"

How did the weekend go by so fast!? We had 3 1/2 days and seems like we just got here. Needed more time to relax and read. We did manage to watch a movie last night. Went to bed around 1:00 am every night. Maybe we needed more sleep too! Was nice to have snow when we arrived. Had hoped it would snow while we were here but it started to melt yesterday. Was pretty warm yesterday.

The house looked great after we picked up all of our stuff! We trashed the house while we were there and we didn't even have any kids to blame for it.

We put Angela to work....................because she decided to stay a few extra days because she has the week off! Her hubby and daughter were on their way over and she told me it started to snow after we left! Not fair!

Snow had started to melt. This was all that was left today when we headed out. House all cleaned up and in order...........

We hit snow before we even got to Hoodoo. Pass was snowy but we didn't have any trouble. Lots of traffic once we got to the top.

Lots of snow.

Just made it home. Rainy, dark and dreary here! Did see that we may have a little snow in our forcast tonight or in the morning. Fine by me. I love the snow!

We had a fantastic weekend. Very enjoyable. Didn't relax much but was nice to get away. Missed my family (hope they missed me too!). Had a great car ride home with my sis and auntie. We had great conversation about life. Appreciate being able to stay at the house and can't wait to go back. Now I have to gear up for work tomorrow. Out of town company on Wednesday. Nicole's birthday on Friday and party on Saturday...............my time off is OVER!

"Girls Weekend...Tollgate Day 3"

So today was supposed to be our "relax day". Not leave the house. Be crafty. Read and just hang out.

Not shower unless we felt like it. I had to shower.........couldn't stand it! We started out pretty good. Donna read.

We visited and drank coffee. Talked about going on a walk. Drank some more coffee. (nice-no make up.)

Angela started to be crafty. Then we somehow decided we "needed" to go to Micheal's craft store. Angela needed something? And I wanted to buy some scrapbook paper to make a birthday banner for Nicole's birthday. Angela has all the cool tools. A cricut. Seriously so cool!

Sherri made some baked kale. That was our attempt to eat healthy this weekend. Ha! Yeah right!

And I knew it wasn't a good idea to put a bottle of pink bubbly muscato in the freezer. I even commented that we better not forget it in the freezer last night.....I went to get it out this morning. No bueno........exploded!!!!! And we didn't even get to try it! What a mess. The carbonation was the culprit.......(it looks like pink cotton candy)

So we decided to go into Bend and get some scrapbook supplies and come right back and be crafy. I don't think Donna was too excited to leave the house and she hadn't had her walk yet. But off we go! Beautiful day today.

Ahhhhhhhh................the craft store................

Love the dollar section!

Those two were left unsupervised again! I can't leave them alone together for a minute.

Got all our fun supplies and back to the house!

Donna was kind of over it. Over us. Over the "leaving the house". We needed to feed her and take her on a walk.......ha!

We got back to the house around 4:30. Donna already was into the wine? And I was making snacks. What's wrong with this picture?

Angela and I got our craft on. (the house looks TRASHED in all of these pictures!) I finished my banner (it's fab and will make an appearance for Nicole's birthday.) We had fun playing with the cool supplies.

Donna got back to reading......................

Aunt Sherri was having hot flashes so she got out her fan. This made me laugh out loud! She said my mom would understand.

We didn't get our exercise/walk in this morning so about dusk tonight we decided to go on a walk! I decided to ride. My choice of bikes was the baby seat on the back.............or the double tandem.......didn't think I could handle that one on my own! I chose the baby seat.

Donna and Angela decided to walk..............was a beautiful night. Moon was out and bright. Was cold but not unbearable. Was dark and hard to see. I almost crashed once. We made it back alive.

And just in case we hadn't crammed enough into one day..................We decided to color Angela's "grey roots". That was the fast and furious trip to beauty supply yesterday. Who gets their hair done while on a "relaxing" girls weekend? And that means I was working!!!!! I don't ever quite get away from "work". But grey roots are gone.....................

And while we were gone to our retail therapy trip to Micheal's we get a text from Aunt Sherri that she was sitting out on the deck enjoying the sunshine with a glass of wine! By herself! Jealous!

As far as relaxing and doing nothing......................well that hasn't happened yet! ha! Busy as usual but so nice to get away. Donna was happy after we went on a walk and she had some wine. I haven't even opened my book. Haven't opened a magazine. Haven't slept in past 7:30 and haven't even been on Pinterest! What the heck have I been doing all weekend? Went by so fast. We come home tomorrow and then it's back to work and the crazy..............

Next time we need to come for a week! 3 1/2 days just wasn't enough! I think we are going to watch a movie tonight? Most of the snow is melting. We have eaten way too much. But had fun with all our running around and silly pics. We need to get out more!

"Girls Weekend......Tollgate Day 2"

Well day 2 started off with......................coffee..............and a 2 mile walk in the beautiful blue sky with snow still on the ground. (I would have slept in buy my younger sister (who is not here!) texted me at 6:30 am. I was awake.......which is not ok because I was supposed to sleep in! Walk was nice and rejuvinating. Back to the house for a "not very proper" breakfast. Basically whatever was within reach and some more coffee..... Aunt Sherri decided not to participate in the shinnaneghans.................

I'm not sure what we were doing? But we always find an excuse to take pictures!

We got back to the house and showered and got ready in record time. Went to Goodwill in Bend. Nightmare! So many people. Rude people. Somehow we survived. Needed a pick me up and stopped at Dutch Bros. Good thing because we were gone for about 8 hours (and didn't leave the house until about 1:00 pm). Marathon afternoon! And "someone" has been complaining all day about "grey roots" showing. So we decided to go to beauty supply and get hair color (professional of coarse!). They closed at 4:00 and we were clear across town at 3:45. I'm so happy we made it there alive. Aunt Sherri can weave in and out of traffic like a champ! Rolled into beauty supply at 3:55. Made it! Too late tonight to do any of that. Maybe tomorrow.

Decided to go down to Old Mill District.

Went to American Eagle. And a few of the fun shops down there. I went to REI for the first time. I liked it but the prices were too expensive! (even the clearance).I'm not even going to explain this picture. I went into the womens restroom for the record. These 2 need supervision...............(they are coming OUT of the mens restroom)

So much shopping and no food! Lets eat. Hola mexican restaurant here we come..............

Again.................these 2 need supervision...........................

I drank water.........(let's just say................theirs was NOT water.........ha ha!)

Aunt Sherri just goes with the flow. Whatever is going on she just rolls with it!

I don't think that was a milkshake............................

Food was yummy!

Again.................supervision needed! You would think we were tourists that had never been out in public anywhere. Who takes this many pics when you are in Bend Oregon? ahahahahahaaaaaa

And just in case there wasn't enough shinnaneghans.....................we stopped at Trader Joes. (under the pretense of getting more wine............I brought a yummy kind over and we already drank it last night.) And I had only had water with dinner.............but the little carts are funny and make me laugh. We may or may not have pushed them around the store.........................

This is the aftermath of our shopping afternoon! These girls can shop. Holy smokes! (I had one small bag). And the scary part was we never made it to Costco or Real Deals! we ran out of time.) We are all exhausted and decided we ARE NOT LEAVING the house tomorrow. May walk in the morning. Or stay in our jammies and read, watch movies, eat, nap or be crafty and just hang out. I'm sure there will be more pics................shinnaneghanns...........

I'm ready for bed.........