SHAW-KNOW

On my Facebook page, I (fittingly) titled these photos "Beer, Brats, Cheese Curds, Cults, Tarv & Panzers". Lochlan & I took a trip to SURPRISE!!! my aunt Biddy by flying in to Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Thursday evening. We were there until Monday evening and had a great time. One of my best guy friends from Crested Butte now lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and drove down for a couple of days with his fiance, Amy, to hang out with us. Amy made a comment over the weekend about how if anyone asked what I did on my vacation, I would answer, "Oh! Looked at a boat lift and a refrigerator on the side of the road". That pretty much summed it up, although it was much more fun that it sounds. Can't wait to go back in August with Matt & Lochlan.

Collection from the past couple of weeks

I haven't had a chance to sit down and write a blog for the past couple of weeks, as we have been busy looking at homes in Colorado Springs. I have neglected almost all of my domestic duties (i.e. cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc), because I've been so absorbed in looking for AND at homes in the area. Here is a collection of photos from the past ten days that I wanted to share.

Sulfur Soaking

We had a Meetup on Saturday through the Natural Parenting group at the Cottonwood Hot Springs in Buena Vista, which is about ninety minutes from here. When I lived in Crested Butte, I used to go to these hot springs all of the time, but haven't been in four or five years. I met a really cool mama, Molly, on one of the hikes last week through the Colorado Mountain Mamas hiking group, and invited her to go along to the hot springs. She brought her nine month old daughter, sweet Eloise, and we packed up my car with Lochlan and got on the road. I also invited an old friend from Crested Butte named Kristin and her son, Baryn, who are currently living in Golden. Kristin & Baryn met us at the hot springs, along with my friend, Jamie, her husband Emil, and two boys, Evan and Avery. (Jamie & I are in the Natural Parenting group together and help organize/coordinate it).
Matt was at beekeeping school all weekend, so he didn't make the adventure with us.
Eloise & Lochlan were good babies and didn't interrupt us the whole ride. The entire way there, I talked Molly's ear off with my life story and I'm sure she was ready to get out of the car as fast as possible when I skidded into the gravel parking lot at the hot springs.
When we got to the hot springs, we talked to Kristin & Baryn for a bit, then got changed in our swimsuits. We were able to soak in the warm pools for awhile (not sure how long, but I'm thinking about an hour and a half or so). The kids started getting a little pink, so we decided to get out of the sun and go get something to eat at a restaurant in town. I won the child abuse award for the day and completely forgot Lochlan's swimming shirt and sun hat, but somehow he didn't fry his ghostly-looking skin. We packed up the kids and cars, said goodbye to Jamie and her family (who were soaking longer and staying at a local hotel overnight) and headed to dinner at the Coyote Cantina.
On the way home, Molly told me her life story and she is an amazing person. Though we are completely different, I know we'll be good friends for a long time.
We finally made it home much later than we initially expected, but it was such a great day in the fine Colorado sun with great people and kids!
Here are some photos from the day: