Papa

Papa came to visit!

We headed up the canyon into the mountains above Boulder to the little town of Nederland and Barker Reservoir. The lake was beautiful, partially frozen over, remnants of snow left on the bank from the last storm. We had fun throwing rocks onto the ice trying to get them to break through the ice and having contests who could throw a rock the farthest out across the ice. Classic wintertime fun:) As Papa said, there's always something fun to do when there's water around!

Josie finding a rock:

Anna throwing one:

A short video of the men in action, throwing their rocks:

Ruthie, on the hike back to the car:

Through the aspen grove:

Later that night we went on another short hike up to the star on Flagstaff Mountain. Every year during the Christmas season there is a huge star lit up on Flagstaff above Boulder. You can see it beckoning you home from over 20 miles away. If you drive up Flagstaff a little ways and park your car, you can hike up to the star and stand in it and look out at Boulder and beyond.

The crew hiking up to the star (l-r: Mitch, Anna, Papa, Josie):

I hiked fast and got ahead of them. Here they are again with Boulder in the background:

Almost to the top of the star:

The overlook, beautiful view on a beautiful night:

You won't see any pictures of Ruthie by the star because she fell asleep on the drive up. I put her in the Ergo on my back and she stayed asleep the whole time, transferred back into the car afterwards and I tucked her into bed when we got home. She was so confused the next morning when her sisters were telling her about the hike up to the star. She couldn't figure out where she might have been if all of us were there but she couldn't remember any of what they were saying:)

Thanks for coming for a visit, Papa! We had a great time with you.