Picture jumble

Building cairns. Boyd's is the last one standing last I checked.

The river down the street was a frequent hang out spot for us daily.  I think everyone pictured would agree there is something glorious about the river.

Good Old Days a festival in Lyons allowed Boyd the opportunity to try this experience.

Prior to going in he told me he created a signal for when he wanted to come out (basically tight prayer hands). Can't believe I caught the moment on camera.

Initial excitement

Boyd loves fancy cars. He knows so much about them and shares this information often. When driving he has startled me numerous times due to his excitement seeing something special. One night on the trip the whole kitchen had been a buzz of conversation when Boyd patiently waited to interject something on his mind, "What's your favorite Nissan?" His question was answered with a pause and answers of colors, a free one, etc. He was not amused by our lack of knowledge. One one of the last days we all painted. Boyd started painting a car but quickly switched to sharpie. He drew detailed cars for hours from the front, back, side, and engine view. A budding art it on our hands.

Artists at work.

Good old days had a pretty big car show.

Reading with Mimi and Sir Quacksalot

Mini golf with Kylee and Tyler and the purple gorilla.

Kylee taking a rest and Boyd crossing back and forth along a river route.

We visited a garage sale where the owner collected Ducks. She had bins of Ducks and Boyd had his heart set on the biggest duck there. Meet Sir Quacksalot.

Painting rocks. A Colorado summer must.I know there is a current summer craze of painting and hiding rocks but Boyd has told me he has no interest in that.

Wonderwoman to celebrate Kirk's birthday. These seats are amazing.

Kylee and Tyler were constantly creating competitions and Boyd joined in the fun. This was rock and stick baseball. The goal was who could hit it the farthest. Boyd was sad when he set out to play it the next day and the stick was gone despite the fact he hid it.

Sillies in line for the hipline at the park.

The car show had a racing game set up. Boyd was on the leaderboard for a few minutes. 

Climbing with Mimi

Basketball camp during week 4 was Boyd's first organized experience with basketball. He learned a lot and was thrilled to receive a basketball card his last day.

Puzzlers. Every summer we do a huge puzzle. Little by little we worked on this one and then all at once we became obsessed and in the end everyone chipped in to finish.

Hiking with Boyd means watching him play lava  rocks along the route.

The falls.

Like a dog getting underfoot.

Boyd and Aunt Chris. He loves her so much. Always an adventure.

Rocky Mountain National park. Boyd fell asleep on the drive and suddenly from the backseat we her a loud, "Oh WOW!

I ice in the river almost daily so one day Boyd asked if he could jump in the watering hole. I said yes and he prepared for a swim. He took one step in and exclaimed, "How do you sit in that?" He decided to stick to his feet getting wet.

With camps and just outdoor fun, not to mention trying to keep up with the big kids there were many days I found Boyd zonked out.

Buttonrock is another one of our favorite places. Boyd even asks to go here when he is home in Virginia. We always take Macie with us so this was one of our earlier outings.

Boyd wanted it to look like he was jumping into the falls.

We love this girl too. Kylee you are always the sweetest.

Beauty in the rock formations.

First time paddle boarding for either of us. CeAnn was a brave captain taking Boyd while I watched from the beach.

Water balloon toss with Tyler and Chris.

Ninja warrior camp had him doing lots of tricks he would try later.

Finding fish in the how few rocks to cross stream.

In week 3 Boyd did a five day ninja warrior camp. Yup, just like the show, They worked so hard. His favorite was the warped wall and the neighborhood runs they would do. I liked when they had to throw fake rocks to try and cross and you never knew quite where the rocks would land. I have so many videos but they never send from my phone.

Tuesday afternoons were activity day at the Lyons library. A lego build, a lego robotics, and chemistry day were all fun events. We also went to the library multiple days a week for books. Boyd completed their Summer reading challenges.

Action from basketball camp.

The river was pretty high the whole while Boyd was here. One of the last days the tubing ban was lifted and Chris and Tyler were brave enough to tube. Boyd played lifeguard from the side and ran along to make sure they were safe.

Day one of cairn building.

Throwing sticks for Macie.

Hoops on the sport court. We really need this in our backyard.

Our days and weeks in Colorado were the perfect mix or rest and fun. Boyd enjoyed the sport court in the backyard and we spent hours shooting hoops, playing frisbee, and hitting the tennis ball. The second week we were here Boyd participated in a baseball camp through Longmont high school. He was in his element. I am so proud of his ability to enter new situations where he doesn't know anyone and thrive. I could hear his chattering being a good teammate, umpire, and friend having fun out on the field daily. They also had baseball trivia questions of the day and stump the coaches. Bubble gum was a plenty. Boyd worked really hard daily trying to win the hustler of the day award. The person chosen was given baseball cards. He was so happy when his name was announced on the third day.  

Field of dreams. If you look closely the mountains are in the background.

Hustler of the day. All the kids called him bandwagon because he wore a different teams shirt everyday and kept switching his favorite team. It was cute. He ended up seeing a kid from camp at the pool a few weeks later and Boyd asked, "Are you the one who started calling me Bandwagon?" He was.

Obligatory picture at mini golf in front of the purple gorilla. 

Arcade fun. He won the car race and a free game. WE also won the plinko type ball return and in return free games of golf.

Frisbee. This was the best frisbee we had ever played.

Lyons has such great street art. Boyd liked this one. Bear hugs anyone?

Playing mini golf

Piano man

Kids river at Meadow park (also a great place for mom to ice bath while the rivers were high and wild)

Always a party at the house. Not, really but always filled with good company, laughter and love.

Tightrope walking.

The river was raging most of the time Boyd was here.

In Colorado you can drive and just pull off random places for a trail hike. We later found out this was the west side of Sanitas and also a spot known for mountain lions. I guess that's where it got it's trail name, Lion's Lair.

He climbs on everything.

This was from our first week. A visit to the Farmette. Somewhere I have a picture of Boyd in this exact spot four years ago.

Building with blocks.

Playing at the high school field one evening. The sky was stunning. 

Schools Out Early

Boyd's last day of school. He wasn't thrilled with the math packet he was given  and tried to give it to his dear friend since before kindergarten. 

Well, I am finally getting around to blogging and posting pictures of our last month +. We started out summer three weeks early. With my selection to the U.S. World Championship marathon team a training trip to altitude was in the plans and Boyd was more than ready to accompany me. He loves Colorado and voiced that it was pretty much a tragedy that we hadn't spent a summer there in four year. So we said goodbye to school early and set out on our Colorado trip. 

Clearer picture of some 2nd grade peers. That look he is giving Alicia cracks me up. They met before kindergarten and then were seat mates in kindergarten. She is the sweetest thing.

A trip to Colorado meant leaving dad to hold down the fort. 

and to our friend Gotytom

A year end surprise from Chocolate Grandma

Shopping shenanigans

A final play in the sandbox for a while. This outing he made a neat volcano.

Thanks to his 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Stewart for only requiring a 10 sentence paper to complete the year, She was sad to see him go and wished I would have taken a handful of other children out early instead.

Day 1 in Colorado. Boyd admitted it seemed like we were home because everything was so familiar. DOn't be fooled by the tourist in the hat, she's a local.

Newly rebuilt Meadow Park was one of our first stops. The last summer we were in Colorado, Lyons had a catastrophic flood. This was was feet under water. Now, it is probably my favorite place on earth.

Boyd agrees