all the rest of april

From the looks of it, April was a quiet month...........either that or all the fun deserved posts of it's own.  The weather was unseasonably beautiful and the month was rather relaxing as we rolled into Spring and began to daydream about the end of school and the lazy days of Summer.

Dad was finally along at REI so I let Ben climb to the top of this rock.

April showers (sometimes come without lightning so we can play in them.)

sun-bathing while the snow melts

he still LOVES this book

Mod Pizza is our new fave.  Nice thin crust and one price for any and all toppings.

Grace pretending Hayes is still a lap pup.

Some days were nice enough for water play.  I've trained him well.

The sushi place across the street from our hood does not disappoint.

naked painting on a day off school

Ryan's honey seared cod with brown rice and bok choy.  

Blue Apron meal delivery service made a short stay at our house this month.

working hard to transfer sight words recognition to hand written words

Sunrise or sunset, I'm still in awe of our views many times most days.

rockstar

Poor Ben has been fighting a mystery illness that we are thinking must be related to his humidifier.  He got sick (only once) one night last week and was fine all weekend in Breck.  He got sick again Sunday night but was quickly fine in the morning and spent Monday night with Nana and Papa so Ryan and I could attend a meeting at his school Monday.  

We thought we had the problem identified and solved but he was clearly not feeling well again Wednesday afternoon and fell asleep on the couch right after school.  He had no fever and no other symptoms so I chalked it up to a less than stellar night's sleep.  Wednesday night also happened to be his Spring music performance at school.  Not only had he practiced hard at school, but we had prepped him lots at home for how the evening would look and what the expectations were.  He had been singing snippets of songs for weeks and music with Ms. East was BY FAR his favorite part of school.  

When Ryan rolled in, I was still struggling to get Ben off the couch and dressed.  I was already ready to throw in the towel.  We got him mostly happy to head out the door, but any confidence ended when we entered his classroom and large families of both his session and the morning session filled his already small classroom.  We finally left him in tears and let the para know we'd be standing by if the tears didn't end. We took our seats and waited anxiously and I tried many times to pry off Ryan's death grip on my arm and run to save my baby.  Boy, oh boy, did Ryan hear "thank-you," and "you were right," non-stop for the next several days.  Ben ROCKED it!! He sang his 3 songs and sat patiently while the other classes sang theirs.  In these videos he is just to the right of the big red circle on the top row.  I sat watching with tears of joy as this performance with so many distractions for Ben would have been a miracle in it's own right, but adding the sickness made it all the more amazing.

The promise of post-performance cupcakes had been motivating Ben for weeks so when I saw the promised "treat" was instead cookies, I knew we'd have to take matters into our own hands.  
 We took him to Whole Foods and let him choose any dessert he wanted.  The choice was easy as there in the case was a star for our star.

So, so proud of you Buddy!! You are a rockstar in our hearts everyday, but we're so excited for how you showed your star to the world tonight!

breck

MeeMee happened to call one day and ask if we had any interest in a little trip to Breck just as I had been looking at and planning just that.  It was the boys last chance to ski, and our last chance to get up there during "Winter."

We headed up on a Thursday so the boys could ski on a less crowded Friday with plans to head home Saturday.  

This was Hayes' first introduction to the "mountain house."

 MeeMee joined us Friday morning because of a late Thursday meeting.

(Meanwhile, mom was in the hot tub)

There was so much new snow forecast Saturday that we stayed an extra night.  After a short ski with Ben Friday (he hadn't taken him to a kid-friendly spot,) Ryan ran into a work friend in the lift line.  Wade is one of a handful of people Ryan knows who can ski almost ;) as good as he can and they planned to meet the next morning.


(Meanwhile, mom was in the hot tub)

Getting home Saturday would have proven nearly impossible so it was a great choice to stay.

(Meanwhile, mom was in the hot tub)

Ryan claimed it was the best powder day of his life.  He had already claimed this once this season so I was sure to qualify, but there was no doubt this was his, "Best ski day EVER."  There is a link here of a little video he made.

Luke taught Hayes how to hide in the shower when we start cooking breakfast in case the sensitive smoke alarm goes off. Hayes kept bopping in and out and was very confused.

We got home Sunday to lots of shoveling and wishing the relaxation of Grand Lodge didn't fade so quickly.  Ryan got a season pass for next year and we all vowed to make better use of the day use options MeeMee's home away from home so nicely provides.

buddies

buddies.......

Kite Festival 2.0

I chatted with Amy this week about plans for the weekend and she reminded me the Kite Festival in Arvada was upon us once again.  Kite Festival 2.0 did not disappoint and Ryan had lots more fun knowing what to expect and how to fly his kite.  Ben was mostly interested in the bouncy slide that he had remembered from last year and this year there was an additional bouncy obstacle course.  Ben was very smart to sneak to the hidden corners and bounce away rather than quickly moving through the course.  So, for me the day consisted mostly of waiting in bounce house lines and supervising at the playground.  

MeeMee and her friend David met us for a bit and they also had fun trying to fly a couple different kites.  Seeing Grace and Uncle Ryan have so much fun flying his kite was reward enough for me and dinner on the Lineberry's deck made for a great finish to a great weekend.