Cheesy Pesto Scrolls

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Moms Meet and Barilla. I received product and compensation in exchange for my honest opinions. 

The new school year is well and truly under way for most families by now, and one of the (many!) stresses for us parents is working out what to pack our kids for lunch every day. Do they seriously have to eat every day? Ha! Ok, of course they do, but trying to come up with something beyond regular sandwiches can get a little tricky, especially when you're limited by foods that can be eaten in limited time (lunch break is always too short) and don't need to be reheated.

One of my favorite things to make for the kids (and myself) is cheesy pesto scrolls. Made simply with store bought puff pastry, pesto and cheese, these scrolls are super simple to make, are perfect for lunch boxes, can be eaten hot or cold, and they're packed full of Italian flavor thanks to Barilla.  

Today I'm sharing my simple recipe for these tasty scrolls. This is my favorite sort of recipe because you can add as little or as much of each ingredient as you like, and you can totally customize it with your favorite ingredients. Creamy pesto, mozzarella and parmesan are my go to ingredients, but you can use any sort of cheese that you like and even add things like salami, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms or pine nuts for extra flavor. 

Colfax Canvas 2021

A few weekends back Mathilde and I headed to Aurora for the annual Colfax Canvas street art festival. The festival is in its second year and this was our second time attending. Two for two! 

If you've been here for any amount of time you'll know I'm a big fan of street art, so a street art festival is right up my alley. We're lucky that between the Denver and Boulder metropolitan areas there are actually quite a few street art festivals each year. Along with Colfax Canvas in Aurora there is Crush Walls in Denver's RiNo neighborhood, Streetwise Boulder, and Babe Walls which changes location each year. While some of the artists who take part in these events are from other cities and states, most are based here in Colorado, which just goes to show what a wealth of local talent we have here. I've made sure to tag all of the photos with the artist's Instagram handles so you can look them up and see their other works. 

Ok, enough talking, let's look at some street art!

 

Mural by @pher01 and @chrishaven

Mural by @pher01 and @chrishaven

Mural by @rube.zilla and @chattyancestors

Mural by @pher01

Mural by @amandavelacharbonneau, @seewalker_art, @patrickmaxcy and @volarduran

Mural by @shittykitten1

Mural by @aprilwerle and @ddambrackas

Mural by @reveryart, @charlo.gw and @goodlooksvol.1

The Jim Henson Exhibition at The Henry Ford

If you've been following along on Instagram you'll know that we took a big Midwest road trip over Summer break and that Detroit, Michigan was one of our destinations. While we were in Detroit we spent a rainy day checking out the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. 

As you can probably guess from the name, the Henry Ford is a museum devoted to American innovators, scientists, designers, creators, and history makers, and the mark they've left on the world. The museum is truly fascinating with some awe inspiring exhibits, and I'll be sharing it all with you soon, but today I wanted to share one of my favorite parts of the museum with you.

Now, I mentioned above that I've been sharing some of our trip over on Instagram, and if you've been following along you would've seen a post from the Henry Ford. A post revealing my first true love! You can head over to Instagram to try and work out who I'm talking about, or I can I can just tell you now. My first true love was Kermit! That's right, Kermit the Frog! As a young child I dreamed of growing up to be a frog so I could marry Kermit. Now, obviously, that never happened (yet!) but I did finally get to meet my childhood crush when we checked out the Jim Henson Exhibition at the Henry Ford.

Sunflower Picking at Anderson Farms

Summer break came to an end for us a few weeks back, and the season itself definitely feels like it's coming to an end for another year. The day time temperatures are still pretty hot here in Colorado but evenings and early mornings are nice and cool and our backyard is suddenly covered in golden leaves. Fall is on its way! 

While I'm super excited that my favorite season will be here soon, there are a few last minute Summer activities that I've been wanting to squeeze in. One of these was visiting a farm to pick sunflowers and we did this last Thursday at Anderson Farms in nearby Erie. 

Like Summer break, the sunflower picking season at Anderson Farms has now come to an end, but I still wanted to share my pics from our outing - you know, as inspiration for next year, not at all because I'm behind with posting! 

Summer Staycation at Gaylord Rockies

Summer break has come to an end for us here in Colorado, but before we got back into the swing of the new school year we took one last vacation. Well, a staycation to be precise!

You may remember that we took a Staycation at the Gaylord Rockies resort in Aurora last Winter. You can see it here. It was such a great little getaway that we decided to do it again, this time visiting in Summer and making full use of the amazing outdoor pool facilities. 

Gaylord Rockies is the perfect location for a Colorado staycation, or getaway if you're not local. It's located close to Denver International Airport making it a great place to spend the night before a flight, or a first destination after flying in to Denver. The resort is huge and has something on offer for everyone. The rooms are lovely, there is a wealth of cuisine on offer in the onsite restaurants (and room service), there are fun family friendly activities for the kids, there's a spa and fitness center for those wanting a little self care, the landscaping is stunning, and last but not least, there are indoor and outdoor pool areas. You know those were the biggest hit with my kids, right?

Colorado Renaissance Festival

This past weekend we did something totally new for us. 

Something that until now was one of those "only in American tv shows and movies" things. 

We went to a Renaissance Festival!

Growing up in Australia, Renaissance Festivals were something that I only knew about from tv and movies. Much like school pep rallies, college sports, trick or treating, handing out valentines to classmates, school science fairs and take your kid to work day, Renaissance Festivals are one of those things that are a part of growing up in America, but totally foreign to anyone growing up elsewhere. I've said it so many times in the past, but one of my favorite things about living overseas is my kids getting to experience things that I grew up seeing on tv but could not experience for myself. It's kind of surreal, but even the littlest differences like school hallways lined with lockers and those big, yellow American school buses make me so happy and make the every day feel like an adventure! 

Anyway, back to the Renaissance Festival...

On Saturday we braved the smoky air and headed to Larkspur, south of Denver, to the annual Colorado Renaissance Festival. This year marks the 44th season of the festival and it returns after a year in hiatus due to you know what. Most Renaissance Festivals around the country did not return this Summer, so I was excited to see that our local festival was back. 

For those of you not in the US, you're probably wonder just what a Renaissance Festival is. Let's take a look...