Memorial Day Weekend (2015)

One of my favo(u)rite parts of May was our Memorial Day weekend camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park here in Colorado.  We booked our site 6 months beforehand and had been looking forward to it ever since then.

Despite the weather being rather temperamental, we had a great time but did end up leaving a day early.  And, it turns out that was a great choice since it ended up snowing later that morning!!  Brrr.

All packed up and ready to go in the minivan we borrowed from Gramma.  Look at all that stuff!

Getting closer...

And, after 6 hours in the car, we found the dunes!

This poor guy was sick and snuggly the whole weekend.  I don't think he got down on the ground once, which actually made it a really easy camping trip for us in some ways.

Late night reading of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Bike trailer naps are the best.

Loaded up and biking down to explore the dunes the next morning.

An awesome river (from the snow melt) forms at the base of the dunes.

Hiding in our tent from the afternoon thunderstorm.

Attempting to tube down a dune...not so successful!

In his element...running wild and free.

Despite the amazing dunes, Kai said that climbing these trees at our campsite with neighboring kids was the best part :)

We brought along all kinds of good food, but were too cold to prep it on our last morning, so a quick breakfast of hot chocolate and oatmeal it was.

We took the scenic way home and stopped in one of our favorite Colorado towns, Buena Vista.

Then it was back home for more adventures.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to Lake Loveland.

An Interview with our five and a half year old

When your son is 5 and a half, don't forget the half.  It's important.

A friend of mine showed me these questions that she had asked her son, so I sat down and asked Kai to answer them...no prompting was allowed which means that awkward waiting silence did ensue at times.  At other times there was zero hesitation.  

Here are the Qs and As.

Me:  What is something I always say to you? 

Kai:  Hmmm, this is harder than I expected...

Me: (Thinking, "Oh no...what do I always say?  Is it going to be something bad?!)

Kai:  I love you!

Me: (Aww...Phewf!)

Me:  What is something that makes me happy?

Kai: When I'm nice to my brother.

Me:  What is something that makes me sad?

Kai: When I hurt my brother.

Me: How do I make you laugh?

Kai: Tickling me.

Me: What was I like as a child?

Kai:  I don't know!  Hmmm, sneaky?

Me: (Well, now you know where you get it from I guess.)

Me: How old am I?

Kai: 23...no 33.

Me: How tall am I?

Kai: 40 feet.

Me: What is my favorite thing to do?

Kai: Read to me.

Me: What do I do when you're not around?

Kai: Sleep.

Me: (I wish.)

Me: If I become famous, what will it be for?

Kai: Because your son is famous and you'll learn from him and then you'll be famous too!

Me: What am I really good at?

Kai: Eating dessert.

Me: (Very true.)

Me: What am I not very good at?

Kai: Doing handstands.
Me: (Also true.)

Me: What do I do for a job?

Kai: Take care of me.

Me: What is my favorite food?

Kai: Desserts.  All of your teeth are sweet teeth.

Me: (Wow, this kid knows me so well.)

Me: What makes you proud of me?

Kai: For washing and polishing my micro machines.

Me: (Wow, it's so easy to impress a 5 1/2 year old.)

Me: If I was a character, who would I be?

Kai: I don't know.

Me: What do we do together?

Kai: Play with Anders.

Me: How are we the same?

Kai: I don't know because I'm a boy and you're a girl! Maybe because we both eat lots of desserts.

Me: (Ok, enough with the desserts!)

Me: How are we different?

Kai: Because you're a girl and I'm a boy.

Me: How do you know I love you?

Kai: Because I'm special.

Me: (You really are buddy.)

Me: Where is my favorite place to go?

Kai: Dessert places.

Me: (Really?!  Ok, maybe you speak the truth.)

Me: How old was I when you were born?

Kai: I don't know.  Twenty?

Oh my!!  This made me laugh, as well as realize that my life is apparently far too focused on desserts.

Love you Kai-bo!

May 2015

Apparently in Colorado April showers bring May showers.  While our winter was (mostly) warm and sunny, we had a really rainy spring.  That's okay though because it meant I got to wear my rain coat and rain boots which previously had only been collecting dust in the closet.  And, Kai is pretty used to playing outside even when it's rainy and cold.

Here's what we were up to this, I mean, last month! #alwaysbehind

Not a very good picture, but we had to document the last ski day of Spring 2015 for Kai.
It's been a fun year at A-Basin.

Busy boy.

Kai decided he wanted to make a painting for his room.  He found a piece of wood in the garage, sanded it, distressed it, carefully painted a dinosaur scene (of course!) on it, and hung it in his room.
I love this boy and how hard he works on whatever he puts his mind to.

These two love playing together.

Spring program at school.
Kai chose his own outfit and went proudly up on stage with his serious performance face :)

Kai's idea of rainy day indoor fun.  I think I'm too old for this kind of fun.

As usual, the boys spoiled me with a fun Mother's week ending in a trip up to Estes Park.

My little Canadian with the chubbiest of cheeks.

I always make my boys take pictures with me on Mother's Day.

Exploring at Lumpy Ridge after naps.

Luke and Lindsay visited us while we were up in Estes.

 

If we can't beat the rain, we'll join the rain.

Kai has started making a new chalkboard sign each month.  This is his one from April, but I liked it so much I had a hard time taking it down.

We live right by UNC, which is a great place for an evening bike ride.

 

Celebrating the wedding of two friends from our small group.

The sun came out!  And, when you don't have a kiddie pool, the sandbox lid works pretty well.

Making a plan for our potted garden.

Last day of preschool and he got to be the class leader.

He was pretty thrilled about that!  And, he was even more thrilled to do show and tell...his stuffed dinosaur, calculator and fishing rod (a string and clothes pin), all of which were explained in detail and demonstrated.  So very cute :)

Last day of school relays. 

We don't let the cold stop us from ladder golf.

Kai thinks it's great fun to put ridiculous hats on Anders at Target.  Anders apparently feels the same way.

Teaching little brother the ways of his favorite park.

So fun to have friends from Portland come and spend a weekend with us in Estes Park!