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.

Was It Really THAT Warm Out?

Absolutely NOT.

These girls are crazy.

First Ruthie wanted to get naked and climb into the birdbath we have on the south side of our house. Sorry Ruthie, house rules, you can't be naked outside. At least a swim suit is in order. Of course, once one puts a swim suit on, the others follow suit. Three crazy young girls running around outside in their bathing suits and one Mama in long pants, long sleeve shirt and a lined sweatshirt who still felt chilly. Then Ruthie did try to climb in the birdbath and broke it. That's when Mama caved in and set out the pool. Hot tub, actually. That hose is hooked up to the laundry room sink and warm water is pouring out.
Sophie joined them:

Let the jumping begin!

I love Ruthie's method:) I don't think she actually cleared the side with her feet, but water is a soft landing, luckily. I love how she squinches her eyes shut in preparation.

I promise Anna didn't actually land on Sophie.

Synchronized jumping.

There you have it, the favorite chilly day hot tubbing methods of 4 little girls.

Spring Fun

Everything is so new and fresh in the Springtime. The games the girls played last summer have been forgotten and are being newly discovered all over again by girls just a little older and just a little more mature. It warms a Mama's heart to see how the games change as my girls change, to watch Ruthie joining in the games in a way that she couldn't last year, to see her making up her own mind about how and what she wants to do, what she wants to wear, where she wants to go, the games changing as the other two make a space for her to be included.

Chalk play mixed with water play gives brilliant colors for sidewalk art.
Tree climbing has begun again in earnest around here. Anna climbing just a little bit higher than last year. Ruthie climbing for the first time on her own.

The colors of Spring, the smells of Spring, fill the air as the girls climb.

Simply glorious. Who wouldn't want to climb that tree with those incredible pink blossoms?!

Even in the garden Spring has begun. The greens are starting to poke up their little heads. This year Josie has a spot in the garden all her own. She's planting carrots, eggplant and strawberries, by her own choosing.

She and her Daddy'O carefully place the strawberries in the ground:

Even the finches are back, sitting on their eggs in their same spot right outside our door. The Daddy finch loves to sit on our bedroom windowsill and sing. It reminds me to soak in the moment of today, it will be gone all too soon.

Picture of the Day

Tubing Boulder Creek with Nora

Nora came with us on an adventure to the library today, and, like any good adventure, this adventure involved water play. Tubing on Boulder Creek, to be exact.

Nora, relaxin' on the ride:And the not-so-relaxing part:

Perfect little girl sized tubing environs. The creek is low enough that at its deepest it was knee high on Nora. Not that the rest of her body didn't get wet. She's that kind of girl.

Taking turns in the tube:

Lots of big smiles:

Here's my cool picture of the day! On accident, of course.

Then Nora floated in the tube all the way home to our house from the library (almost, except for the parts I made her get out and walk around). I loved the huge grin on her face the whole way, and Anna running along the bank next to her cheering her on! Anna was jealous and says it's her turn next time. As long as the creek stays this low, Anna! We arrived home with one shivering, smiling Nora and three little munchkins talking all at once telling Michelle all about our adventure. Thanks for adventuring with us today, Nora!

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.

Courtyard Fun

Living in Family Housing with a courtyard full of kids creates quite the communal living experience for us. There are always people around to play with, talk with, fight with, eat with, share all the ups and downs of life with. No one is perfect. We are all faced with our differences and similarities daily and learn to give each other and ourselves a lot of grace.

I love that our girls are growing up in this environment. They have friends from Chile, Vietnam, Belarus, Korea, China, Canada, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the US. They learn to share, they learn to problem solve, they are color blind and oblivious to many of the differences in the people around them. They just love their friends and love all the fun they get to have with them. They are inclusive and accepting, kind, generous and full of laughter. What an example to all of us adults who often have such a hard time with the differences between us.

Yesterday we had a spontaneous painting party on our front porch:

So much joyful creativity, sharing of paints and brushes and personal space, complimenting each others pictures, enjoying each others company. I think there was as much paint on most of their bodies by the end as there was on their papers. Especially as they were reaching around each other to dip their brushes in the paint and then carrying a dripping paintbrush back to their spot, or trying to walk and stepping on each other's pictures. We dipped most of them in the laundry room sink before heading them home!



Today the impromptu fun was a pool party:

When pool space got a little tight they got creative with their real estate.

Fun times on hot days. Community living at its best.

Beauty on my Mind

Beauty is

This kind of laughter and fun on a hot day:

This kind of comfortable friendship, sharing in the joy of a new baby:


This kind of yummy abandon:

This kind of unsophisticated play:

This kind of delight in green growing things, paying attention to the details of the garden:

What is the beauty in my life? The grace we have for each other that lets us accept our differences and revel in each other's company. The grace we have for others and ourselves that lets us be light and joyful, free in life to connect and be present, not full bitterness or anger. Grace that gives us eyes to see and soak in the presence of God in the little moments of our daily life. That, to me, is the definition of joy and beauty.

Daddy's Work

Mitch is working this summer for the city of Lafayette, as he did last summer, only last summer he was an intern and now he is actually an engineer, having graduated and, as we just found out, passed his FE exam! Congratulations, Mitch! His main work for the first half of the summer is overseeing a major paving project that the city is doing on their main road. The girls love going to visit Daddy at work. They love seeing their Daddy and they love seeing where he is all day when he is not with us, getting a glimpse of what he does. They also love all of the fun things we have found to do in the city of Lafayette, the different parks, the lake and the water park we like to play in. Today, after we dropped Grandma Jo off at the airport, we went by Lafayette to see Daddy's work. We got to watch them laying down the asphalt, rolling it, and striping it.

Here are the girls watching the roller go by:

In between watching the paving we also had fun at the water park:

I love all their facial expressions when the girls are playing in the water, their delight and laughter in their play and their grimaces at the water in their face.

So much innocent little girl fun!

Warming up after water play:

Their favorite kind of day. Full of the excitement of water fun on a hot day and getting to see Daddy at work and watching a big part of what he is working on. The only bummer was saying goodbye to Grandma Jo this morning. We miss you Grandma Jo!

A Few Snapshots

Family photo from another banquet. Mitch recieved the Ketchum Award for being the top civil engineering student:

Coloring:

Ballet shows in the livingroom:








Anna's fancy hair, rag curlers:


Water play:

Naps by Daddy. Does that look relaxing to you?

Enjoy your own moments today.