we had a busy holiday weekend.  nate ran in the bolder boulder with a new friend we met.  then afterwards went on a hike with our new friends.  it's fun meeting people that are like minded with similar interests.  it's not too hard to find people that like to get outdoors.  it's boulder!

we hopped over to the boulder creek festival throughout the weekend.  it reminded me a bit like comfest except much bigger with a health vibe.  they had every kind of health, sports, nutrition booths you could imagine.  there were 4 different stages with great music.  a kids area with activities and rides.  and on the last day we stumbled upon the "fair."  it was kind of funny to see a fair set up in downtown boulder.  of course we had to get a funnel cake.  who knows when i'll see another funnel cake stand in boulder!?

on memorial day we went to a cookout.  another new friend we had met.  they had this beautiful farm and the views were amazing out there.  it was fun to chat with new people but nate and i both left the party missing our friends back home.  the evening was just so familiar, a cookout we would've had with our friends.  the only thing different they weren't OUR friends.  nate and i are constantly torn about our decision to be out here.  we love the way of life here and what colorado has to offer us.  the beautiful surroundings and great weather.  the people and their mindset.  but we often think about friends and family back in ohio.  we miss them deeply.  it makes us sad that we're missing the little and big milestones in our friend's and family's lives.  we continue to wonder and pray what is the best for our family.

we walk to the farmers market every saturday.  lucy has to stop and smell all the flowers.  the BMoCa is free on saturday farmers markets.  we checked it out last time. they also have a little kids art station set up outside that lucy enjoys.

there seems to be a festival every weekend now that its close to summer.  and we live right in the heart of it all!  the boulder creek festival as well as the bolder boulder 10k are happening this weekend.  i love that we can walk to all the festivities.

a little conversation lucy and i had yesterday after i picked her up from school.

me: "did you play outside?"

lucy: "yes"

me: "what did you play with outside?"

lucy: "sandbox"

me: "who did you play with in the sandbox?"

lucy: "little girl"

simple answers to simple questions, but this conversation filled me with so much happiness.

it's our first real back and forth conversation.  i didn't want it to end. 

the tulips are in full bloom along pearl street and it seem like spring happened overnight here in boulder.  all the trees are no longer bare but with lush green leaves.  and the change on the mountains surrounding us is truly amazing.  the mountains have always been bare and brown since we've been here.  not knowing we just thought thats how they look year round.  so wrong, they are lushly green with wildflowers!

we've been getting out and doing a lot of hiking.  we even picked up a boulder hiking book.  our little family is really getting into hiking.  lucy enjoys it and so do i.  i even tried the pack the other day on a pretty laid back trail.  i was surprised it's easier then it looks.  of course thats on a pretty flat trail, but we really enjoy the ones that go up!  we checked out the mesa trail this weekend which led us to bear canyon trail where there's bear sightings.  i think we made it about halfway up bear canyon trail and we saw this spot under a big rock that looked like it could've been a perfect bear den.  we got a little spooked and quickly turned around. ha!  they really don't mess around with the bears and mountain lions out here. they clearly mark on the trails and advise you about what to do if you see a bear or mountain lion.  honestly i hope we never run into either.  

lucy also started going to a little preschool here in boulder.  she goes two mornings a week. and so far she's been really enjoying it.  they have chickens that lay eggs and a garden with a strawberry patch and vegetables. they told me today that she enjoys feeding the chickens grass.  we hope this will make up for the lack of kids interaction she's gotten since we moved here.  we had such a great supportive goup of moms and kiddos back home that i often worry she's missing out here.  i hope she will continue to enjoy it at school.

lately lucy has also been saying some funny stuff.  she uses the word remember perfectly.  she will take my phone and look at pictures and show me and say "remember blah blah blah" its really funny and cute.  still amazes me how she picks up words.  she also uses the word too all the time now.  i'll say "i'm hungry" and she quickly says "i'm hungry too"  or basically anything nate and i say she'll tag along with a too.  last night she turned to me after our bike ride down the street for some desert. she said  "my stomach hurts" and i thought i'd heard her wrong because she's never really communicated a physical emotion or feeling. so i asked her "what's wrong?" and she replied, "my tummy hurts."  it wasn't funny but i laughed because it was so sweet and cute.  i told her "my stomach hurts too it's from all the desert we ate."  i can see how fun it is going to get as they get older and can communicate more.  she's also been asking me "what's that?" about everything that she doesn't know a word to.  i'm sure the "why?" will be coming on shortly.  i love it though it's great to watch her little brain work like a sponge and soak everything in.  

i had a great mother's day! hope everyone else did as well!

we did some hiking then checked out the tulips on pearl st.  i also enjoyed a little lunch with nate at our sunday spot. 

lucy and nate made a handmade card for me as well as a poster board of some fun pictures.

it's been busy around here.  working on trying not to be so busy. =)

nana and papa are here

nana and papa are here and lucy is pretty thrilled about that!

she got a bunch of new hair clips one of them being a mickey mouse one.

she loves it when papa gets her from her crib.  i've never seen her snuggle the way she does with papa.

she loves nana reading to her.  she makes her read the books over and over.

one day we went to the butterfly pavilion and a butterfly landed right on her finger.  she had a silly grin on her face and seemed pretty happy until a minute later she realized it wasn't going away.  then she wanted it off.  i was afraid she was going to smash it but she just kept saying "no, no, no"  we shook the butterfly off and it flew back again.  i wonder if she's going to want them to land on her again.  she usually goes in there and immediately puts both hands out in hopes a butterfly will land on her.