New room, crawdads and 4th of July fun fun

The move down valley is mostly done, bit more time and work than we anticipated. Lesson learned, ask for help or pay a moving company next time- no need to be heroes and do it all ourselves. We like our log cabin and yard. The boys decided to have a camo/hunting room and they love the A-frame/tent shaped room they are sharing. It is sunny and warm and we love having the down valley park and secret pond less than a minute away. We will be spending many hours playing on the beach and in the water. Also I can use my SUP (stand up paddle board) while the boys kayak. Uncle Rob was the brainchild and designer of the "Mesa Whitwater" 4th of July float this year. He had rigged a giant tank of water under the raft in the back of the truck and put a pump connected to irrigation line with holes in it all around the raft. As we drove down the street he turned it on and covered the entire crowd with what might be called a heavy mist. Most people thought it was funny....some did not, no sense of humor I suppose! At the end of the parade the sky let loose with a real downpour and if they survived our misting they were soaked by the real rain. All of the boys rode in the raft and used water guns and bubbles, they got third place in the float contest and a fancy ribbon. It appears the monsoon rains are here a bit early. It was a gorgeous hot and dry June and although we need the rain, the hot sunny days are missed already! Next week it is Challenger soccer camp. Summer is flying by!

Camp week

Colter loved his Lil' Wranglers camp that included an overnight at the Circle K ranch outside of Rico. He went on 3 trail rides and practiced for the horse show that the parents were invited to on the last day. He also got to go "crawdaddin'" one day and caught the biggest crawdadas ever! That as well as zip lines, all kinds of tag, hide and seek and plaster art projects rounded out the week. It was a huge success and he is already looking forward to camp next year.
Dylan went to his first Ah has school art camp this week called Ice, Ice, Baby. He made his own ice cream bowl, painted and glazed it AND made vanilla ice cream to eat on the last day. He declared it his favorite class ever and wants to go back next week.
The weather continues to be spectacular and we are enjoying every minute possible outside. We love summer!!!!!!!!

Summertime and Butterflies

We have spent the last couple of weeks in the Ridgway/Ouray area. We went on a new hike to Cascade Falls and part of the perimeter trail, soaked in both hot springs, played at the park and explored the area around Modee and Pappy's house. The boys went on a fun four wheeling, motorcycling and all things boy camping weekend with Trevor to Peach Valley and Rabbit Valley. We have been mountain biking, hiking, swimming, building, planting flowers and anything else we can think of just to be outside enjoying this amazing weather! This year we have seen a ton of butterflies and the boys have enjoyed catching, observing and drawing pictures of the different types. We also went to the Ridgway Railroad Museum and watched the test run of the Galloping Goose 4 after its restoration.we were in Telluride the day they moved the Goose from its display spot on main street a couple of years ago, so it was very cool that we got to see the test run of the final product. Dylan has been working on his animal skills and the kitties love to snuggle with him on the front porch. Sylvester gets along well with the other animals at Modee and Pappy's house. We will be moving down valley in a couple of weeks and are getting very excited to play in the banana belt for the rest of the summer.

Dylan's preschool graduation

It was a very sweet ceremony of nursery rhymes and silly dancing and singing. He is so grown up and looking forward to pre k. His best friend from school is Carson and they have so much fun together. The cute pic of Colter and Dylan was taken in front of Mom's house.

Arizona and Spring skiing

And now to try and catch up to date. We had lots and lots of snow in Feb. and March has been really warm and dry with only a couple of big storms. So we have been doing all kinds of winter, spring and summer like activities.

Our trip to Fountain Hills, AZ included fun activities every day. Bumper boats, go carts, mini golf. The boys of all ages like the bumper boats the best.


I love that we got to warm up and see the palm trees in the middle of winter. So nice of Grandma and MacMac to let us come and crash their warm party.

We had school time each day and Colter made this desert picture for Grandma and MacMac.

Lizard hunting is still a favorite activity and the boys can find them everywhere. We also did some rock scrambling and plant identifying along the way.

The Phoenix Zoo is fabulous! We could easily spend a couple of days wondering around that place. I appreciate that the spaces for the animals are big and comfortable looking, not just small cages with bored animals. The walk through Monkey area was high on the boys list, and of course the giraffes.

The cheetah and alligator or were very fitting choices for the boys. Thanks MacMac for letting them do this, they still talk about it.

We went "real" bowling after all of our practice sessions with the Kinect. Just so it is clear, GRANDMA was the big winner that day! The boys tried several different ways of getting the ball down the alley and each developed their own style

They both enjoyed snorkeling in the heated pool and hot tub. Swimming is still a developing skill for these mountain boys, but they are improving each time. Tree climbing, however, is pretty well mastered.

Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am. Dylan loves Dr. Suess and we have The Lorax and many others memorized right now. He is very interested in books and reading and is starting to recognize letters and words.

Fat Tuesday celebration at Oak, the new Fat Alley, is always a crazy, busy and very interesting experience. Love that all my boys dressed up in their Mardi Gras best to meet me out for dinner.

All of the families in our neighborhood have great kid/gear hauling methods. This is the basic line up at the base of Lift 1 and 10 on any weekend day. Each of these represents a family in our neighborhood and we were all out on the slopes that day.

The kids are growing so quickly. Colter skied his first double black diamonds this year and can pretty much go anywhere on the mountain. Dylan skied his first black runs this year and is an amazing little athlete with a great attitude. Runs skied this year include Happy Thoughts (Colter), Plunge, Milk Run, Coonskin, Runaway Train,  Log Pile and so much more. Next year I will have to really step up my game! And for those of you that have not skied Telluride, the blues on this mountain could be blacks on other ski resorts. It is a steep and bumpy mountain, the kids that grow up skiing this will be able to ski most anywhere they like and do it well.

Homeschool crayon art. Entertaining and a little messy, boys were happy.

Sylvester is growing bigger all the time. He is a sweet kitty and he and Colter are best buds.

Glitter paint is the best, Dylan likes to make big banners for me.

Ok, we are getting closer. Time seems to be moving faster.

Quick trip to Durango

We spent a beautiful day biking, boat swapping, swimming at the Rec Center and building solar Lego cars at the Discovery Center in Durango. Love that town! On our way home, we enjoyed the Super Moon as it came over the peaks. It was one of those happy, active family days that makes me love living in Southwest Colorado.