a very blue thursday

anyone who knows me, knows that i will do just about anything to avoid spending a prolonged amount of time waiting in the hot, hot sun. i decided to put myself aside and take the kids to see a free BLUE MAN GROUP show yesterday...which was outside and required an hour of waiting in 95 degree weather. it was totally worth the amazement afton showed at marshmallows being caught in blue mouths and pink gumballs turned into spray paint art. and she caught a piece of the paper string they shot out into the audience (which of course i cannot ever throw away).

we had a pretty good view

the kids patiently waiting for the show to start

the show was at the children's museum in denver (which our richmond membership transferred to) so we enjoyed a bit of inside play before the show.

afton making giant bubbles

abel showing off his climbing skills

our new friend

there are two must finds in a new home town for a mom and kids: a great park and a great library. we have found both and hooray! both are just as wonderful as you would expect them to be in boulder. the park has a cool rocket climbing toy, a super slide and plenty of baby swings. the library hosts two very large trout tanks, an entertaining and animated storyteller and excellent a fun collection of toys: flower pots to plant and pluck, huge felt boards and the biggest bead roller coaster ever!

finally some photos

Check out some shots of our family road trip:

goodbye green Virginia

the first rest stop stretch. lucky us there was a small trail to trek.

the videographer...who quit after on stop!

charleston, west virginia

kentucky horses

one of my favorite highway sights...rolls of hay

abel, happy to be out of the car again (now in Indiana)

sun sets on day one

st. louis arch...so beautiful to actually see. and where the cardinals play

favorite animal at the st. louis zoo

have you ever been this close to a hippo?

my grizzly shot. isn't it awesome?!

a stop in kansas city to see my cousin and her family. and my uncle jerry and aunt donna. there was 4 kids to entertain my kids and a cool, fun place to stop and stretch for a few hours.

day two ends somewhere in kansas

one of the many, many oil drills in kansas. i think these are so graceful with a bit of destruction!

afton and abel happy with new toys

patrick loading us up with water and adult fuel

the amazing race: kansas

the amazing flowers in kansas

the amazing clouds: kansas

the amazing kids sleeping!

the amazing co-pilot

welcome to boulder!

on vacation permananetly

One of my favorites parts of moving is shedding all the to-do's, schedules, and routines and having that lovely lull of open time until my life fills up with play dates, errands and callings again. We are in heaven living the hotel suite life (full with a free breakfast and pool/hot tub) here in beautiful Boulder. It's so clean and so open.

Afton loves to check out the mountains and spot any snow left on the tops. Abel loves all the air traffic we get from smaller airports. Every day a glider is pulled into the sky and we watch it circle down, down, down. Afton loves eating a donut or muffin every morning and Abel loves climbing up a few stairs and sliding down on his bottom.

Patrick is so psyched to work at Crispin. He is so happy being challenged creatively and giggles every time someone rides by his deck on a bike or skateboard. He is on the hunt for adult size wheelies to travel around the warehouse style office in. He is working a lot, but the kids get 2 hours of Daddy time in the morning (while I go to the gym) so it evens out.

I am so happy here! I am narrowing down home choices and will hopefully put an offer in tomorrow for a great town home (yes with guest spaces, a pool, gym, trials and more!!). I need to make a few friends but that will come in time. I'm reading a lot, watching abc.com shows and learning all about the home buying process.

When I find my camera cable I will upload lots of photos. I took so many on the road trip, mostly documenting our trip via highway window shots state by state.

Afton Mountain

On Saturday, we drove to Afton, VA and up Afton Mountain. Our Afton was tickled to see her name on so many signs and to stand on her very own mountain. Patrick and I enjoyed one last take in of the Virginia greenery (one of the few things we will miss about living here).

oodles of photos

Here are photo highlights of our 11 day run of family visiting. Thanks to all who made the trek to see us and sleep on our floor! We LOVED having you, your attention and help!

tony and abel, post grad play

afton and grandma, pretty in brown

afton and caleb, doing the egg race

the big cousins

mom and dad with the girls, the boys and the moms