Snow + aspens
A special day today all of us up on the gondola to see the aspens and a nice amount of snow...gorgeous together...last day the gondola is running until ski season starts so really glad we were able to get up...
XOXO
Jeeping Buffalo Pass, late summer
- It's technically still summer, and warm enough for it, but it sure looks like fall around here...
- I had no idea Buff Pass was dirt. And rutted, rocky dirt at that. I suppose you could bring a regular car up here, but I wouldn't want to...
- I can't even tell you how much our rocky picnic spot reminded me of being a kid in Colorado...love that feeling of giving my kids the same outdoorsy childhood that I had...
- Aspen trees if you hug them are cold. The dead ones are not...
- I love how when the leaves fall on pine trees they look like Christmas ornaments...
- The leaves are nowhere near their peak...another weekend? Two? I'm not sure we'll drive here again this fall but we'll be checking out the leaves elsewhere for sure...what a beautiful drive Buff Pass is, though...highly recommended...
Fun with kids: September, 2016
Ah, September. The last bits of summer, which is always too short. And the start of fall, and I love love love love love fall in Colorado. I also love looking ahead and planning ways to make the month special. Here's what I'm thinking for September, 2016:
Celebrate Labor Day
We've got some awesome red-and-white-and-silver sparkly garlands to put on our porch railing. And our flag, of course. And we have lots of little fabric flags in a box...perhaps we'll make a centerpiece out of them. Also we have color changing bulbs in our dining room lamp that we'll set to red and blue. But the best part of Labor Day will be little Jeep trip with a super summer-y picnic...can't wait...
Make a list of all the things you wanted to do but didn't this summer*
Put it where you'll see it at the start of next summer. Make sure to make time for those things.
Get back to a schedule
Things have been pretty loosey-goosey around here this summer...on purpose...and it's been great, has led to lots of impromptu evening hikes, evening hot springs trips etc. etc. But I'm ready to get everyone back on a schedule, especially in terms of having dinner together and getting the kids to be on time (8:30)...our bedtime routine always takes longer than I think it will...want to make sure to have plenty of time for baths, tooth brushing, goodnights, drinks of water, stories, tuck-in, back scratchies and songs and kisses from Mommy...
Go hiking
Hiking in the fall is the best...the crowds are gone, the leaves are turning, it's cool but not cold. I hope to do one new trail a week with the kids this month. Plus I feel like their hiking ability has just taken a huge leap forward, so I'm feeling like I can take them on some harder/longer stuff which is so exciting...
Do some crafts
We've barely done anything crafty, being out-of-doors all summer, but I'm psyched to start doing some things with the kids again. What I'm looking forward to the most is painting with custom-mixed colors (and teaching color theory along the way)...I got washable red, blue, yellow, white and black paints recently and the kids and I are having fun mixing up colors and painting with them...I also want to get some simple white frames so we can start hanging some of their creations in their rooms...wanting to start to make their rooms a little more personal and a little more them...but that's a whole other post...
September 12th is National Chocolate Milkshake Day
And we have a great little diner where we can take the kids for said treat...
Make pizza from scratch
We've had a "no oven" rule all summer, partly to keep the house cool (there's no AC here) and partly to just focus on simple grilled and/or uncooked dinners (which was actually a really nice way to do food for the summer...we'll probably do it again.)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to cooking again and one of the things I've been looking forward to the most is making pizza dough with the kids...it's easy and kneading it will be so much fun for them. I'm on the hunt for some good regular pizza dough and paleo pizza dough recipes...will share what I find at some point in the future...
A special school pick-up
One of these days for no reason I'm going to pick the kids up at school with balloons (one of the things they love most in the world) and then take them to the park for the rest of the afternoon...
Movie Night
Another thing we've abandoned with the long summer nights, but Sunday night family movie night is so fun. Each person gets a turn picking and we can make popcorn and/or some other special and fun snacks, curl up together on our big sofa...Heaven...
Celebrate the Equinox (September 22)
We do this with a special meal (including dessert, which doesn't happen in our house that often), and also my brother has a theory that you can balance an egg longways on the counter on the equinox only, so we will be trying that...
Clean, organize, and make the house cozy
Don't get me wrong, we are going to be squeezing all we can out of summer around here, but after the Equinox it's going to be nice to put our fall/winter bedding on the bed, the electric blankets back out on the porch (where my husband and I sit and talk after the kids go to bed almost every night), put candles back out and warm throws and start using our fall napkins on the table, get our closets switched out to cold weather clothes...and also clean out clutter/things we no longer use and get things organized in the process...all feels so good...
Eat apples and pears and on September 29th, a blackberry treat
Love love love love the fruit that's coming into season. And a little known feast day called Michaelmas is September 29th, during which it's tradition to have blackberry something*, and so we're going to do that...
Figure out what you're doing for Halloween*
I know it seems so early, but Halloween is a realllllllly big deal at our house, with my mother-in-law making costumes and so we have to plan ahead. There's lots of anticipation this way too. And less stress when the holiday finally does roll around...
Hope you all have a lovely September!
XOXO
*Credit goes to the book Simple Abundance for these ideas...
Steamboat with kids (and for artsy parents): September, 2016
Some things we're looking forward to this month:
Sep. 3 and 4: Wild West Air Fest
We went to this last year and it was such a beautiful warm day, and the air show was super fun. There were also some fun kid things eg a bounce house and big plastic bubbles that rolled around in water. They also do airplane and helicopter rides, which I would love to do with the kids...they've never been on a plane, can you imagine that being their first experience? But it's super expensive, so... Learn more
Sep. 8-11: Crane Festival
I think we're going to do the Friday Sep. 9, 5:30-8:00 event, "Family activities, dessert, and crane viewing." Yum...s'mores... Also Sunday Sep. 11, 10:30–2:00, live owls on the library lawn... Learn more
Sep. 10, 11 AM: Rubber Duckie Race
We happened upon this last year at the library, it was charming to watch all the little duckies in the river...will be fun to have our own in the race and also to watch them get put into the river this year... Learn more
Sep. 10, 7 PM: Big Lebowski Festival
My husband loves this movie...this will be a fun little date night. It's at the Chief Theater which is such a cool downtown venue... Learn more
Sep. 24, 3 PM: Steamboat is Magic! Family Show
How fun will it be to take the kids to a magic show?? Learn more
Sep. 28, 7 PM: Free Foreign Film
"The Automatic Hate," which is actually an American indie film...trying to go to this series each month for a little culture and adult time...
Leaves Turning
The peak should be the latter part of the month...I'll be doing some drives with the kids and as a family we'll go out on the Jeep trails a weekend or two...
I love fall in Colorado...
XO