4/15/08 The tulips are blooming..

Boulder has real seasons.. it has been so awesome for me having lived my whole life in Southern California.. not easy, but very rich and I am really embracing the variety of temperatures, experiences and willingness to be indoors or bundle up a lot. My boys are also pretty sensitive to cold, they don't like it much.. they don't like to be in the snow for more than maybe 30 minutes, they don't want to bundle up, sled or ski. Remember these are the kids who did not wear shoes or pants for several years. They are beach kids, river kids, water kids, they love sunshine as much as I do.. and warmth..

So we hang indoors when it is cold, I've never spent so much time indoors, it's been an adjustment, but it's been wonderful..
I love change, it makes me feel really alive, I get bored with the same stuff all the time, even beautiful weather. So again I am enjoying our time here very much!

One of the things Boulder is famous for is the Tulips that bloom in the spring.. and they are blooming.. it is very exciting..
Boulder has a 5 block outdoor walk street with shops, restaurants, coffee houses, water fountains for kids to play in, mini play grounds and climbing stuff for kids, street performers, etc.. it's called Pearl Street and it's very similar to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. There are thousands of Tulips that bloom on Pearl Street in April.. it is incredibly beautiful and exciting. I think tulips are my most favorite flower and I especially love the ones that are multi-colored.

Tonight Martha & I had sushi dinner on Pearl St and as we walked after dinner we saw them.. Tulips.. everywhere.. it was magical.. life is so ... present! so beautiful.. so creative and everywhere..

Hooray the tulips are blooming!!

April in Boulder...

we basically have it all here in April.. some nights it's 25 degrees.. it snows once a week or so.. some days it's 75 degrees and we are getting sunburned hula hooping at the park.. we bike riding, Reese is getting good on his new roller blades.. we're having snowball fights and 2 days later water balloon fights.. we are hanging at the Farmers Market, Reese had his first art show and sold 5 pieces.. we are donating 20% of the money to a local charity, we are having a ball everyday seeing what mother nature brings and we are enjoying it all!!

3/20/08 Eldorado Canyon State Park

On our way to attend an event in Denver, we took a new route heading south out of Boulder following the Flatirons Mountains, a beautiful drive .. then i passed the sign for Eldorado Canyon Springs Park.. a week or so later we jumped in the car and headed south just exploring.. and we found our way entering the park.. gorgeous sandstone rocks towering overhead, snow frozen creek, snow dusted trees, red rocks and green trees, we spent the whole day there and saw less than 20 people, we practically had the park to ourselves. We hiked, rock climbed (folks come from all over the world to climb here) threw rocks and broke through the ice, watched hawks and looked for critters, and took in the amazing natural beauty. Did I mention this is 7 miles from our house??

3/9/08 The Big Lie!!

Since arriving in Boulder, we've discovered a new game called Go! It is an ancient Chinese strategy game, looks like Othello, plays more like Chess and a group gathers every week at the library on sunday afternoon to play. They have adults there to teach and there are usually 30 or so folks and they all play each other for 3 hours or so.. Reese had been attending for 4 weeks or so when they announced that they were having a tournament that the kids could come and compete in. The day of the tournament was a day they were spending with Steve and I gave him all the details so they could attend. Two days later Reese was back with me and I asked him about the Go Tournament, he told me yes they went, he spent 20-30 minutes telling me about each of the 4 games he played, he told me that he beat out his friend Gunner (who is 10) and about his other 4 matches and he said that he placed 2nd overall. He gave me lots of details about each of the kids he played, what happened in the game and so on.

Later that day we had a playdate with Gunner and I asked him about the tournament and he said yes, he really enjoyed it and he told me how he did. I asked him about the match he had with Reese and he said Reese was not there, he had not shown up. I was so surprised!! Yes, Reese has definitely experimented with lying before, I think most kids did, I certainly did probably more than most kids do. But never before had he had such an extravagant lie, so detailed, lasting almost 30 minutes.

Later we talked and I tried to dialogue with Reese and ask him why he told such a tale, what was going on for him.. after much thought, he was blank, unsure so I offered up some ideas and asked him why when his dad asked him if he wanted to go the the tournament he said no, he did not want to go.

After some talk, he admitted that he was nervous about the tournament, he was not sure he'd actually like it, a bit intimidated I think.. it reminded me of our experience with Ameritowne, after 2 days of preparation he did not want to attend the day of the event. I don't know how it will be, what it will be like.... of course you don't .. we never know how things will be before we do them.. so that spurred a great discussion about openmindedness and closedmindedness and contempt prior to investigation. I suggested to Reese that maybe he told the lie to make up for the fact that he missed an event that he really wanted to attend but he let his fear dictate his actions. He really saw it and vowed to be more openminded and more available for life, it was a beautiful moment. I feel like this is really homeschooling, using the activities of life to fuel discussion and learning, learning from our experiences, with counsel and assistance, to see what works well in life and not so well, and be able to adjust and grow. what a gift. I am so appreciative that I have the intimacy with my boys, this open discussion, to explore ouselves, our motivations, why we are inclined in the ways we are and to question our fears and how they operate in our lives and limit us..
what could be more important??