Christopher is in Denver this week!

Just wanted to post that Christopher is getting to spend this week with me. He was so excited to see me at the airport yesterday, it was nearly overwhelming (for both of us!) at first. Now he seems to have settled into just having fun.

Yesterday (Saturday), we did some gardening and yard work. Christopher put the support cages on the tomatoes. And he played in the yard on his slide, scooter and with his birthday RC car while the lawn got mowed and the vegetable beds got worked and ready for this year's planting. The compost even got used in the bed that seems to have spontaneously sprouted up potatoes for the second year in a row... The spinach is and has been growing happily. Now I just need to find some basil, rosemary, peppers and have my zucchini and cucumbers and other squash/melons sprout up. Christoph is most excited by tomatoes and zucchini so those get beds all to themselves.

It was the first lunch of the Summer on the back porch and we had hot dogs. Later, Grandma Mo visited and hunted roly-polies with Christopher during some of the more serious yard work phases. Then Christopher, me, Gwen and G'Mo had a yummy dinner. Gwen made grilled chicken and grilled zucchini. I think Christopher ate like 3 zucchinis himself! After dinner, we played Sorry and Christopher won handily, but perhaps only because Gwen withdrew due to Christopher breaking his nose-picking deal with her...

Today (Sunday), Christopher slept in a bit and then we had blueberry pancakes (clearly a household fave if you hadn't noticed!) before heading up to Ft. Collins for a walk in old town/historic downtown and a big lunch followed by ice cream. Then further North and West to Shambala Mountain Center. I've been wanting to go there since before moving to Colorado! There is some gorgeous land on the way and certainly there. Once there, we hiked to The Great Stupa.

I'd never seen a Stupa. It was fantastic--even if it did rain on us a bit going. In the Stupa, we lit some incense, made the bowls sing and looked at all the pictures and decorations. It's definitely beautiful and peaceful. Christopher said, "I never want to go out of this place." He just loved the huge Buddha there.

And the pomegranate seeds on the floor was such a creative touch (Christoph's favorite!) Afterward, we went to the visitor center to see the video explaining how it was built and had some hot herbal tea (which was perfect since we were still a bit damp and chilly). Christopher was still whispering at the visitor center and on down the path too for some time.

Critters: We helped a worm cross the road on the way up. Back to the car, we saw about 7 mule deer, a rabbit, many birds, a chipmunk and closer in to the Center, two cats. At the gift shop, we got some Great Stupa prayer flags for the house and a coloring book. Then on the way back to Denver, I finally got to stop at Johnson's Corner for some cinnamon rolls! We really had a day of being tourists in Colorado--a staycation!