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.

Lantern Walk

Thursday evening we had a lantern walk at Anna's school. It was a beautiful time of celebrating the changing of the season. The lanterns are symbolic of each child carrying their inner light out into the world and bringing love and compassion to those around them. We all gathered in the evening at her school, after dark with a full moon shining. After gathering in the cafeteria, hearing a story and practicing the lantern songs, we all headed silently out into the dark with lit lanterns for a walk around the property.Josie and Ruthie had made lanterns with me at home so they could participate as well.
Their lanterns, glowing in the dark:

I wish you could have had the perspective we had of hundreds of lanterns glowing in the dark moving silently along, stars and a full moon overhead... It was incredible. At the end of the walk we all gathered in the field and sang some songs that the kids had learned (and had attempted to teach their parents).

Beautiful evening, beautiful lanterns, beautiful children.

Exploring Wildness

Come on a walk with us!We live so close to spaces that are wild.

These girls love to see, with fresh eyes, the incredible intricacy of the beauty that is around us.

They love to walk through it, be surrounded by it.

Explore it freely.

Feel it under their feet.

Hug it.
Learn the balance of their body.

Embrace the wildness around them with all of who they are.


Can you see where our house is?

So close, and yet we felt so far from the environment of sidewalks, mown grass and playground equipment that actually surrounds our home. All fun in their own time, but important to leave, as well.


What do you hear, Anna? What do you see?

Where will this trail lead? Let's find out!

Run across the bridge! What do you see in the water flowing beneath your feet?

Ruthie, the fearless leader.

We're in a fort made of trees! That one is the chimney!

Look at where we are! Three fearsome mountain lions, stopping along the trail.

How Many Kids Fit on One Stroller?

Count them!

1-2-3-4-5-6!

This is how moms get their exercise,

pushing a million kids around and around and around and around the courtyard.

Normally there are only three smiling little girls on this sit'n'stand stroller, but today we had courtyard company.

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Does anybody find this picture a little odd?

Or this one?
Did you notice all the empty pools in the background? It only goes to prove that human beings are social creatures. Where one kid was, there they all were. It didn't matter if the pool they chose was a tiny one, the larger pool nearby would be empty. If one kid jumped up and ran, they all jumped up and ran screaming after. Quite the herd mentality. I love that kids don't have all the same hang-ups that adults have about personal space, they just want to be near each other, enjoy each other's company and laugh a lot.

New Black Boots

They may not be quite as stylish as my sister's new black boots that she got for Christmas, of the sleek, high-heeled variety, but they sure are fun for puddle-stomping in the spring rains that are headed our way!Four pairs of puddle-stomping boots on four sets of feet, headed out to find the deepest puddles around.

As you can see by the wool mittens on those hands, the first of the spring rains are definitely not as warm as the barefoot ones to come. But they are a sure sign that spring has arrived! It was rain, after all, not snow!

In the Snow

These are all pictures I took last week of the girls playing in the snow. The snow is gone from all the sunny spots now, but still lingering in the shade.

Josie making a snow angel with an icicle in her hand: Eating the Snow:

Peeking at us through the milk door:

Playing with Ruthie through the milk door:

Anna, on our walk through the woods:

Fall Treasure Walk

With treasure bags in hand we set out today looking for fall treasures. We headed first towards a new picnic spot the girls wanted to eat at that we had seen on our walk yesterday, a large rock 'table' of sorts. We passed under a raucous flock of crows by the creek, tromped through as many crunchy leaves as we could find, ran down a slope of colorful leaves, found sticks, acorns, rocks and lots of beautiful leaves, threw things in the creek, saw some trout in the creek close to the surface of the water and watched their strange behavior for a while (one kept 'attacking' another one', Anna said they must be friends), touched, hugged and smelled almost as many trees as we passed under, crawled into a culvert, saw our swimming hole-now much deeper with all the rain and snow we've had- listened to the wind in the tops of the trees, felt the warm sunshine on our skin, made Ruthie laugh, and generally had a good time. We spread out our treasures on the grass once we got home so we could look at what we had found:

Then we went inside, some to nap and some to craft with their treasures.