Poco Mountain Girl

The little reds and I got the grocery shopping done on Friday, and since Caleb was working and David was on call at home, the three of us spent Saturday down in Boulder. Boulder is just above 5400 ft in elevation, and the almost-4000 ft-difference between there and where we live (less than an hour away) equals about 20 degrees in temperature.  At 52 degrees and sunny, Saturday felt like summertime to us wind-whipped, chapped-lipped, scarf-wrapped, white chicken-skinned mountaineers.

We had almost forgotten what sun on skin felt like as we shed our layers and soaked in the warmth. You can see there is still snow in Boulder–that hill in the distance is covered. People were sledding there, but the kids wanted to be as far from their snowpants as possible.  There were other adults walking around bundled up in coats and scarves, but I was in bare feet and a tank top, hah. They probably wondered where I came from.  About 50 minutes vertical of here.

It felt amazing, like coming alive after a long hibernation in the snow.  Our snowiest time of year in the mountains (spring) is yet to come, but I really love the warm days interspersed throughout winter and spring on the Front Range.

Our clothes were completely filled with sand when we got home.

Zia is all about Shopkins these days. They are the hot trading item at school, and even Cash admires them–he swoons over “June Balloon” and “Marty Party Hat” at Target. I can’t quite feel the love for Shopkins, but of course I’m out of touch–I’m that weird kind of mama who hammers small bits of copper and thinks beetle-eaten tree trunks are the greatest thing ever. Expensive little plastic objects with eyes don’t hold much thrill for me.

But oh! they ARE simply thrilling! So I let her spend all her money on them.

The Shopkins-obsessed child

and the Shopkins-unimpressed mother, haha.

Shopkin lovers or no, there is nothing like sticks and sand and sun to make you come alive with happiness. So sorry for all you Easterners with your icy snowstorms. If it makes you feel better, this morning it was 10 degrees out when the kids left for school and the water bucket in the goats’ barn was frozen solid.  But this weekend should be in the mid 50’s again in Boulder, and we’ll be there, with sticks and sand and Shopkins. 🙂

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2016 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Colorado, The Great Outdoors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.