Mountain Living

One of the risks of living in the mountains is the risk of wildfires.  Today has been an exceptionally windy day; the curtains are blowing as though the window was open.  Clare and I got home around 1:30 at which time the wind was blowing hard but otherwise it was a typical Monday afternoon.  Unfortunately a wildfire began just southeast of us later in the afternoon.

The Lower North Fork fire is burning in Conifer tonight, an estimated 3,000 acres have burned including a handful of homes.  We are fortunate that we’re not near the fire, and actually haven’t even seen any of the incredible smoke that’s been flowing into the metro area.  The news is reporting that Pleasant Park area is where the fire is, and where homes have been evacuated; Pleasant Park is about 10 miles southeast of us. 

As everyone on Facebook and TV were reporting about the smoke and how unbelievable the views were I couldn’t help but look west and think of how beautiful the sunset was over the mountains. 

We are blessed tonight.  

Beauty Shop

Tonight, for the first time, I used the hairdryer on Clare's hair.  She was pretty excited about the process, she kept running around laughing and then come back to feel the warm air on her hands.

I love her hair, it's like gold silk.

I love this girl...

My heart melted today.  Clare wanted to hold hands while we ate lunch, she never wants to hold hands!

Weekend Recap

This weekend Jeff suggested we drive over to Breckenridge for lunch, I’m not sure who was more excited about the idea, me or Clare who was immediately ready to get in the car.  I love having little family adventures, making memories, and Jeff hardly ever suggests them so when he does I feel like they are that much more exciting and enjoyable. 

It was a beautiful day and the drive was relaxing.  We hoped that Clare would nap, but she decided she’d rather share the pretzels and look out the window with us.  Oh well, she was still in good spirits when we arrived and headed to Downstairs at Eric’s for lunch.  She asked for pizza, and ate the entire mini pizza that arrived at the table, high altitude makes her hungry. 

After lunch we did a bit of window shopping and checking out the local shops.  I knew Clare would love the toy store, the Hobby Horse in the back proved to be a favorite, but not as much as the kitchen and grocery cart. 

The train table was also a big hit, she loved pushing the trains around and saying 'Chooo Chooo!'

Clare is expressing her independence more and more, this weekend it was in the form of refusing to sit in the stroller.  The sidewalks weren’t too busy, but busy enough that I would have preferred her to be in the stroller, but she was having none of it!  Jeff and I finally decided we should head back to the car before she lost her cool.  On our walk back to the car we saw some horses, which thrilled Clare. 

Clare’s current obsession is horses; all things ‘horsies’ are her favorite.  When we drive we point out all the horses, we neigh like horses and talk about horses.  I hope we can orchestrate a visit with some horses or even maybe a ride on a pony this summer.   Sunday evening while Clare was eating dinner the horses that live behind us came over to the fence, of course we went out for a quick hello.

Both horses came up for a nose rub from Jeff.  Clare was pretty excited.

This horse is completely brown, dark dark brown, except for his right back foot which is white.  Wonder what it's name is?

I’m loving spring up here, I can’t wait for summer.  

Giddy Up Mama!

There’s nothing quite like waking up and walking into your daughters room first thing in the morning to discover she’s puked all over everything during in the night.  This morning after I took my shower I heard her calling my name, when I walked in I discovered her less than great night, she and everything in her bed were covered.   I asked her if she felt ok and she pleasantly said ‘yup’, when I asked if her tummy hurt she said ‘nope’ and wanted to get dressed.  Jeff helped her get dressed while I began the process of cleaning everything up; poor girl had a rough night. 

Resting on the couch while watching Mickey seemed to help. 

So, Jeff stayed home with her while I went off to work. I’m sure they had a good day and enjoyed staying home.  Thankfully Clare did well and didn’t get sick again by the time I got home she was acting like her normal self. 

When I got home Clare was happy to see me, and I was happy to see her back to her sweet self.  She had pulled every toy off the shelf and was playing puzzles on the floor with Jeff.  I didn’t get my stuff set down before she was reaching for my hand and saying ‘play puzzles Mama, play puzzles’ I wish you could hear her say the word puzzle, it’s the sweetest thing.  So, down on the floor I got, how do you say no to such a sweet girl.

While on the floor Clare decided she wanted a ride, and began asking me to get down so she could climb up on my back.   I’m not the best horse, but it’s fun to take her for a ride.  Please pardon the wonderful view of my backside, yikes!

Jeff is a much better horse; he’s a little wild and makes her laugh.

I sure hope we don’t have a horse in our future, maybe Kai will let her put a saddle on her and ride around. 

Thankfully Clare went to bed without any issues and is sound asleep. I’m crossing my fingers for a good night, although I did tell her that if her tummy hurt she could call for me and I’d come help her.  I sure hope she doesn’t have another rough night. 

Privacy Please

Up until now Clare hasn’t had much interest in actually sitting on the potty, talking about the potty is however a favorite topic.  Now, we can hardly use it without her asking for a turn.  I suppose this is a good sign on the potty training front. 

I think her favorite part is pulling the toilet paper off the roll.   

Sunsets, Horses and Deer

Clare loves to be outside, she has always preferred to be outside if at all possible.  With the nice weather recently she and Jeff have been exploring the area around the house.   Everyday she wants to check on the horses, look for reindeer and explore in the woods. 

There was a herd of deer in the back yard one morning this week.  Clare did NOT want to get down and has since asked to see out the window.  Guess I shouldn't have let her stand on the kitchen counter, whops. 

The house ‘behind’ us has a few horses; sometimes they are hanging out right by the fence where Clare can see them.   Every morning, and throughout the day, she wants to go look for the horses.   Sometime we see them, other times we have to explain that they aren’t there and maybe they are sleeping or eating.    I hope she doesn’t ask for her own horse someday.

Looking for horses.

Clare has been loving exploring the woods and sitting on every stump, rock and or ledge she can find. 

Look Mama, pinecones!

A different view of the house, with Clare on a stump.

There is no better view in the world, my loves and the sun setting over the mountains.  Life is good.

She also likes to look for horses as we drive, fortunately there are two pastures very close that have horses, if we have time we’ll stop the car so Clare can say hello to the horses.  There is one particular horse that stands right by the road; he waits for a woman that comes to feed him each evening. Clare and I have decided that the horses name is Patience, he waits so patiently for her to come, standing by the fence and then eating from the bucket that she brings while she pets him.  Maybe we’ll see about riding a horse this summer, or maybe a pony. 

We have also been taking advantage of the deck, it’s so nice to have such a big deck where we can watch the sun set and play in the evenings. We have to be careful when playing on the deck, we need to do some work before deck season officially starts; it’s not the safest place for a curious 2 year old. 

Clare brought her bike out one evening this week; she gave Minnie a ride after Jeff gave her a ride.   Kai also likes the deck; she spends lots of time patrolling the property from the deck.

Clare also had fun kicking the ball for Kai.

Tonight we’re getting some serious wind and cooler air, I guess our warm spring weather is gone for now, hopefully it won’t be long before we see some more warm days.