My Once Upon a Time...

Back in May, I turned 40. Leading up to this milestone birthday, I was really struggling with that number. I still feel like I'm 28, and thinking about being 40 and single really made me depressed. I know that I have so much to be thankful for and that I live a beautiful life, but it was still bugging me. I knew no one was going to throw me a big party or anything, so when I realized that it was up to ME to make my birthday special, I brainstormed about what I wanted to do, and it didn't take long to figure out the perfect weekend.  I invited a few of my closest friends to spend the weekend up north with me, thinking I would be so grateful if maybe two or three could make it, and I was so surprised and happy when every single one of them came. Trinidy picked me up and we were ready to get the weekend started. I rented a large house in Munds Park, about two hours north of Phoenix, for all of us. How cute is this loft? When I saw it in the listing, I immediately fell in love with...

For his birthday celebration this year, Fox opted to have a sleepover with his best friend at the Great Wolf Lodge instead of having a big party. These boys hadn't seen each other since October, but it didn't take long for them to catch up and be as crazy as ever.  Jake had never been to the Great Wolf Lodge, this was Fox's third time, and both boys had a blast. After we went swimming for a few hours, the boys dug into the birthday cake. The Mamas were already exhausted, even though I had left Finn with Katie. They had so much energy! We had a nice dinner together, before letting the boys play at the resort.  The Magic Quest game is always a big hit. We also visited the mine for the first time, which really was a mirror maze. Next up was the ropes course. The boys did so great. Last August I went on it with Fox and he was terrified. This year he was super confident and even cheered on his buddy when he got scared. I could hear him yell from the top "You got this Jake! ...