Take Our Children to Work 2016.

Today's post is brought to you by our favorite guest blogger, Griffin Anderson, founder and CEO of Anderson + Co. Griff lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with his wife, two children, and the family's geriatric cat. He enjoys catching Pokemons in his spare time.

A few weeks ago I received an email about upcoming Take Our Children to Work events at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise offices in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. When I worked at Blazent in Cherry Creek, Mollie brought the kids by the office a few times. To be fair though, all that did was make them think I played foosball and ate candy all day which was only half true. With HPE, they know that I either travel or work from my home office in the basement. Madelyn was within the recommended age for the event so I thought it would be good to expose her to the greater HPE. Plus, the agenda looked really fun!

On Wednesday morning Madelyn and I drove to Colorado Springs. I don't go into that office too often, but as we walked in I told Madelyn that sometimes when I leave the office there are deer lying in the grass outside. We agreed it would be cool if they decided to show up while we were at the office. I checked Madelyn in with the security team and we headed to the conference room I had reserved for the day. Madelyn and I spent the morning working together since the formal agenda didn't start until after lunch.

Madelyn designed her own website with a Shopkins theme.

She and Sawyer have been really into Shopkins this summer. She seemed to really enjoy building her website and later demonstrated it for Mollie and Sawyer. She says she wants to be a police officer and fashion designer when she grows up, but she definitely has some great technical skills!

After a kid friendly lunch in the HPE Café, it was time for the official event to begin. HPE and DreamWorks Animation have a very strong partnership, so the theme of the event was centered around the release of Kung Fu Panda 3. We got Madelyn all checked in. She was part of the yellow team. I headed back to my office for the day while she took part in different events including "The Panda Express (an obstacle course), "Folding Crane, Inking Mantis" (origami), "Kung Fu Demo" and "Photo Booth".

When I picked Madelyn up four hours later she reported she had a great day and "was glad I worked for HPE". In addition to the fun activities they also got to learn a little bit more about HPE and see things like the data center, at least I think that is where they went. Madelyn reported they had been in a very cold computer room. They also saw a 3D printer in action. The HPE volunteers did an amazing job with the event and I can't wait to take Sawyer in another year or two.

I really enjoyed the time with Madelyn and giving her a glimpse into what I do at work. As we left the office at about 5:30P there was a beautiful doe laying in the grass just outside the office door. It was a nice ending to a wonderful day.

"I am Po. And, I'm gonna need a hat."

Floyd's

Sawyer had his second haircut on Sunday. Having not been thrilled with his first one, I didn't really like the salon/stylist or the cut, I took him to Floyd's where Griff gets his hair cut.

Let's just say, Sawyer was less than cooperative. He had to sit in my lap in the chair and neither a pacifier nor unlimited access to the cell phone kept him from squirming and reaching up at the stylist. However, ten minutes later, or however long it was, he had a fresh haircut and was good as new.

We will likely try Floyd's again for him. It's a nice salon and his hair looks very cute. And, best of all, I can see his eyes once again!

Ahhh BOO!

Father's Day

Yes, it was last month.  But, we just finished our Father's Day gifts for Griff over the weekend.

This year, we wents the arts and crafts route.  Madelyn and I purchased two stepping stone kits (in May) for Griff.  One for her and one for her soon to born little brother.  With Honey's help, we made hers in May and hid it at Honey and Poppie's house until we were ready to gift it to Griff. 

As for Sawyer's, rather than try to complete it after Sawyer arrived and before Father's Day, we decided to gift it un-made so Griff could help put it together.  It sort of seemed like the kind of thing Griff would enjyoing doing anyway.

So, on Saturday morning, the project began.

And on Sunday morning, the completed stone was placed in the yard next to Madelyn's stone.  The two look perfect together.  Madelyn and Sawyer get bigger every day but their hand and footprints won't change.  They will forever remind of us 2011 and our first year in this house.

This is the life.

Daddy's little helper

One thing I learned in college is that when you have chili, you must have cinnamon rolls to go with them.  In our house, I make the chili.  On this particular day, Madelyn and Griff made the cinnamon rolls.

Fine, so we don't "make" the cinnamon rolls.  Pillsbury does but they're still tasty and made with love.  And, when no one's looking, Madelyn can sneak some cinnamon off the rolls and lick her fingers in delight.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Our weekend travels were uneventful. Madelyn did well on the airplane and, both times, made friends with everyone sitting in the rows around us. We're lucky she's such a sweet, happy girl. And, I think next year she'll be more than happy to help blow out candles and indulge in a little birthday cake herself.

Birthday week

After a dark week on the blog last week -- Madelyn was under the weather -- we are back. She's feeling much better and the little bit of what's left of her rash is fading quickly.

This week is Dad's Birthday Week. It's sort of like Shark Week, only different. At any rate, we are stoked for the big celebration on Friday and Madelyn's first out-of-state trip.

We're going to Chicago to do some fun Summer time activities. And, as a bonus, we get to stay and visit with Honey and Poppie. Thursday afternoon, we fly out. I've been grilling our neighbor on travel tips and am as prepared as can be. Honey and Poppie are more than prepared and very excited for our arrival.

Tomorrow's our Friday...let the vacation begin!